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May Day
Canecharge on Kashmiri Pandits
Sikhs condemn Taliban action
Eight hurt in Srinagar clashes
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CM takes Muftis to task for not casting vote
Mufti trying to hide PDP ‘nexus’ with BJP
Ladakh LS Constituency
Hazratbal Assembly byelection on May 30
Khalida unhappy with brother Farooq
EC reviews arrangements
MC drive to clean drains
Bismillah Khan Award for Sumit, Shabir
Flesh Trade
Man rescued, cop among four nabbed
Body found in Tawi riverbed
Fire reports worry Forest Dept
Gp Capt Ghar Singh
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May Day
Udhampur, May 1 Addressing rally of employees on the premises of the PHE office, leader of the INTUC Som Nath regretted that despite repeated assurances, the government had failed to remove discrimination against the employees. Earlier, the employees took out a rally in the town, shouting slogans against the state government for adopting anti-employee policies. The employees vowed to take their struggle to its logical end. The PHE employees of the Jammu region have been agitating for the past four years to get wages at par with their colleagues in the Kashmir valley, but every time their demands were ignored by the government. The employees also demanded the implementation of Mini Wages Act and the Sixth Pay Commission in the state on the pattern of the Centre. Jammu: Meanwhile, various labour organisations and political parties today observed May Day and demanded declaring the day as a national holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act. State president of the Nationalist Congress Party Thakur Randhir Singh, while addressing the labour cell of the party, stressed for strict implementation of labour laws in the country. Meanwhile, the INTUC also observed May Day and paid rich tributes to the martyrs of labour movement. Congress leaders, including Lal Singh and Madan Lal Sharma, MP Sham Lal Sharma and various other Congress leaders spoke on the occasion.
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Canecharge on Kashmiri Pandits
Jammu, May 1 Addressing mediapersons here today, Sangharsh Samiti spokesman Brig. Suchet Singh (retd) said the unfortunate incident happened with the Kashmiri Pandit migrants was a glaring example of government apathy towards the displaced community. He also asked the state government to form a commission to inquire into the police brutalities on the Kashmiri Pandits in Muthi. The government should better do some self-introspection vis-à-vis the displaced community living miserable life under exile after hounded out of the Kashmir valley 20 years ago, he said. Their miseries had been compounded with denial of right to vote and now they feel alienated from society, he said, adding that such incidents will make them seethe in rage. Suchet Singh said the displaced Kashmiri Pandits had been demonstrating peacefully against discrepancies in the voters’ list and cumbersome procedure for them to cast their votes but the police resorted to an unprovoked canecharge. He demanded that the cumbersome procedure laid down for procuring the M Form should be done away with and replaced by Form 12C being used for the other electors. Keeping a separate mechanism for the Kashmiri Pandits was a deep-rooted conspiracy to keep them away from the voting process, he said while hinting at the malafide intentions of the forces inimical to the well being of the community. Continuously dwindling figures of the displaced voters (from 1,10,000 in 1988 to 74,000 in 2009) speak volumes about the malafide intentions of those at the helm of affairs, he said. |
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Sikhs condemn Taliban action
Jammu, May 1 “This is the shocking reminder of what had happened during the regime of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, who had levied a tax in the name of ‘Jazia’ from non-Muslims to allow them to perform their religious activities”, said Virenderjeet Singh, chairman of the National Sikh Front, Jammu and Kashmir The Sikhs have appealed to the Prime Minister to take up the issue with his counterpart in Pakistan so as to stop the atrocities being committed on the minority communities in the state. Meanwhile, various Sikh organisations including Nirbhow Nirvair organisation J&K today burnt the effigy of Taliban and demanded that the Sikhs should be treated as equal citizens in Pakistan. |
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Eight hurt in Srinagar clashes
Srinagar, May 1 Official sources said eight persons, including two cops, were injured when the security forces used force to disperse a stone-pelting crowd of separatist supporters. The downtown remained tense and many shops were closed. The Friday namaz was not offered at the famous Jamia mosque in Nowhatta and the separatists blamed government for it. As Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of a Hurriyat faction,who is also the head priest of the mosque, remains under house arrest, his absence kept people away, officials said. However, Hurriyat said the government prevented people from assembling at the mosque as it feared protests. The Mirwaiz asked the people to hoist black flags at their houses, vehicles, mosques from May 4 to protest the government’s restrictions. Denying the allegation, the police said Hurriyat supporters deliberately kept people away from the mosque to protest the house arrest of the Mirwaiz Shops were open in Lal Chowk and Maisuma today. Traders and officials apprehend that the situation would remain volatile till the elections are over. The other towns of valley saw the return of normalcy as normal life resumed in Anantnag, Kupwara and Baramula. However, in places like old Baramulla town and Sopore, there were reports of sporadic protests. Syed Ali Shah Geelani claimed that people in Anantnag had supported the boycott call by largely keeping away from the elections. Officials, however, rubbished his claims, saying that the turnout at 26 per cent was much better than 15 per cent in 2004.
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CM takes Muftis to task for not casting vote
Srinagar, May 1 Addressing a public meeting at Manzagam, he said this party’s BJP face had already got unveiled when its nexus came to fore at the time of election of MLCs and now by wilfully abstaining from voting had revealed their dual policy of “running with the hare and hunting with the hound”. Omar said seeking power by deceitful tactics and serving the interests of the RSS and the Sangh Parivar was the sole aim of the PDP, adding that this party leadership was responsible for creating confusion in the minds of people and dividing them on crucial issues. Omar reiterated that the BJP on the advise of Jagmohan created the PDP in the state. This was Jagmohan’s way of repaying Mufti in lieu of Mufti’s favour as Home Minister for making Jagmohan Governor of the state to unleash an era of atrocities on the people of Kashmir, killing large number of innocents. The other objective of creating PDP was to dilute the voice of autonomy that had received mass support across the state. “This party was asked to divide the people by floating imaginary ideas like self-rule, double currency, demilitarisation etc and scuttle the autonomy proposal projected and piloted by the NC and approved by the state’s Legislature,” he said.
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Mufti trying to hide PDP ‘nexus’ with BJP
Jammu, May 1 “The PDP leadership has been exposed both in the state and the country. This party is actually a creation of the BJP, which funded and supported it to weaken the voice of the people and serve the interests of the saffron brigade,” Sadhotra said here. He added that PDP’s actions were aimed at promoting hidden agenda of the BJP in the state, and the imaginary idea of self-rule floated by the PDP was also done at the behest of the BJP to create a situation of confusion and divide the people on one pretext or the other. |
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Ladakh LS Constituency
Leh, May 1 Namgail Phunchok, village Nambardar said:“All villagers at a meeting yesterday decided to boycott the election as a protest against the leaders for not making any effort to ensure our basic needs. We have been meeting them for long with reminders about the villagers’ demands like telephone connection, electricity, drinking water and health facility but to no avail.” Phunchok added that the decision was also conveyed to the leaders including MP Thupstan Chhewang, MLC Nurboo Galsion and Chief Executive Councilor of LAHDC Tsering Dorjai. Tundup Dorjey, a member of the village monitoring committee,said Chushul had 150 households with 648 eligible voters. “ The boycott decision was also to protest the proposed shifting of block headquarters to Nyoma model village and inadequate border area development funds,” Dorjey rued. Meanwhile, the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) has decided to withdraw its association with the UPA for not fulfilling the commitments made by it during the vote of confidence last year. In a press note, it astated that the LUTF working committee also decided to extend support to the NDA in govt. formation at the Centre.
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Hazratbal Assembly byelection on May 30
New Delhi, May 1 The bylections to the Hazratbal Assembly would be held on May 30, Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan told reporters here. The Assembly seat, which fell vacant after Farroq Abdullah resigned on being elected to the Rajya Sabha, was scheduled to go to polls on May seven along with the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. — PTI |
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Khalida unhappy with brother Farooq
Tribune News Service “My decision to contest the elections is not wrong. I have not done anything like him (Farooq sahib),” she said referring to Farooq’s recent victories from Hazratbal and Sonwar constituencies in Srinagar in the Assembly elections and nomination to the Rajya Sabha. “If my party has decided to field me, what is wrong in it. It is not for the family or any property. There is no law barring such contests,” Khalida Shah said in an exclusive interview to The Tribune here . She is among 15 candidates (two of them women) in the fray from the Srinagar constituency that goes to the polls in the fourth phase on May 7. This is for the first time that Khalida Shah, daughter of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, is contesting any election, though she believes she had worked a lot for people. The ANC contested most of the Assembly seats last time, but failed to open its account. Over the past some years, the ANC had been planning to conduct an intra-Kashmir conference to discuss the resolution of the Kashmir issue. Khalida thinks such a meet would help find some solution to the issue. Khalida pointed out that the ANC’s top priority was to put an end to atrocities on common people by the security forces. “There is an unspecified number of missing youths”, she said. She added no one was feeling safe with special powers to the security forces. “Our party favours an atmosphere of peace, safety and a life of dignity.” Commenting on the poll-boycott call by the separatist organisations, Khalida said vested interests were getting benefits out of such measures. She said it was against the interests of the people of Kashmir, particularly those dependent on tourism. The business community in general and tourist traders in particular suffered on account of such general strikes or boycott calls.
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EC reviews arrangements
Srinagar, May 1 Talking to mediapersons here this evening SY Quaraishi said the related arrangements were discussed with the leaders of 10 political parties. A separate meeting was held with the state Home Secretary and the DGP to review the security scenario Quaraishi said that the political parties appreciated the conduct of a free and fair poll in the last three phases of the LS elections There were suggestions for shifting a couple of polling stations. Meanwhile, DGP Kuldeep Khuda held a high-level meeting to review the security arrangements. An official spokesman said the meeting was attended by senior officers of the police, CRPF and other security agencies. The DGP issued instructions for ensuring security for smooth and peaceful polling in Srinagar. |
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MC drive to clean drains
Jammu, May 1 Mubarak Singh said the corporation had received complaints from the residents of various localities that prompted the corporation to take immediate steps in this direction. Describing the chocked drains as nuisance for both residents as well as for the corporation, he said the drains chocked with polythene bags, rags, plastic and other waste materials always obstructs free flow of water. This stagnated water and accumulated garbage increase the chances of spread of epidemics in the city, he added. JCB machines and dumper loaders are being used for lifting the garbage that is dumped into Tawi beds at Bhagwati Nagar. In the absence of a proper dumping ground, the corporation dumps 300 tonnes of garbage into the Tawi beds everyday. |
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Bismillah Khan Award for Sumit, Shabir
Jammu, May 1 This is for the first time that two youths from J&K are to be conferred with this prestigious award. The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a "tamrapatra", will be presented by the President in New Delhi next month.
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Flesh Trade
Jammu, May 1 Official sources told The Tribune that the brothel was being run in house number 507 in sector 3 extension of the posh Trikuta Nagar locality where the police conducted a raid this afternoon and nabbed a woman, two girls and two youth. The woman has been identified as Bimla Devi of Kanachak, near Akhnoor. She had been running the brothel from a rented accommodation, the Jammu SSP said. One of the girls hails from Ludhiana, while the other belongs to Kishtwar. The arrested youth have been identified as Ajay Kumar of Sanwal Nagar in New Delhi and Sunny Mahajan of Rehari, who had been working at a chemist shop on the Shalamar road here. “We have sent the girls and boys for medical examination,” the SSP said adding that a case has been registered. |
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Man rescued, cop among four nabbed
Jammu, May 1 The police also seized a loaded single-barrel gun from the kidnappers and seized the car used in the crime. Dheeraj owed Rs 1.35 lakh to the kidnappers of which he had paid Rs 1 lakh but the latter asked him to remit double the amount. Dheeraj was abducted from Talab Tilloo in a car by the four accused, Sohan Singh Chib of Paloura, Sanjeev Rattan of Jawahar Nagar (New Plots), constable Havan Kumar of 5th Battalion, a resident of Toph Paloura, and Mohan Lal of Bahu Fort. A police officer said Dheeraj forwarded an SMS message to his friend about his kidnapping, leading to the interception of the car at Toph Paloura within two hours of the incident. A case under the RPC and the Arms Act has been registered against the accused. |
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Body found in Tawi riverbed
Jammu, May 1 “Aged between 40 to 45 years, the deceased was wearing a shirt and a trouser. The body has been shifted to Government Medical College for identification and autopsy,”
he said. |
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Fire reports worry Forest Dept
Udhampur, May 1 Recently, the authorities managed to extinguish the fire in the Dhonya area of Ramnagar tehsil after two days. A large portion of forest in the higher reaches of the Chenani area has been reportedly gutted in the fire that broke out on late Thursday. Fire tenders and employees of the Forest Department had already been rushed to the spot to stop the fire from further spreading in other areas. Initial reports said about 15 hectors of forestland had been gutted in the fire. |
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On the occasion of May Day, the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) vowed to launch an agitation against the coalition government for its anti-worker policies.
Srinagar, May 1
