Srinagar, July 28
The state Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes before and after the speech of senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh wherein he said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s name figured among those in the sex scandal.

While the proceedings of the House were going on, NC president and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah watched the proceedings from the Speaker’s gallery. He, however, had left moments before Beigh made his speech.

Later addressing a press conference at PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s Gupkar residence, Beigh said the copy of the list that he had procured was confidential one given to the High Court by the CBI, investigating the case.

They were not among those who were chargesheeted in the case, he made it clear, adding that the name of former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah also figured in the list at serial number: 38. When asked why he had not disclosed it in the Assembly, Beigh said he had withheld the name for Farooq Abdullah was not a member of the House.

The opposition members, both from the PDP and BJP, were up in their arms with the beginning of the proceedings with Question Hour for listed questions from the members.

The opposition members of the BJP, the Panthers party and others from the Jammu region raised slogans alike “Jamhoori nizaam ko lagoo karo, gunda gardi nahin chalaygi”.

The Speaker asking the PDP members, particularly Mehbooba Mufti and Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, said: “I know you, both of you, sit down.”

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar had to intervene and advised the opposition members that they would be given time after question hour and advised the members “not to create a scene”. However, there were hated arguments between the Speaker and Ansari.

In his speech on the Shopian incident and human rights violations, Beigh referred to various incidents during the past seven months of the coalition government.

He continued with the reference to the sex scandal and gave details of the developments that had taken place. He handed over a sheet of paper to the Speaker saying that the name of the Chief Minister appeared on senior number 102. That came as a surprise to many of the members in the House and shock to the NC members and ministers. That followed a ruckus in the House with the Speaker repeatedly asking the members to maintain decorum.

The PDP members after the Beigh’s speech left the House refusing to listen to the Chief Minister, who was sitting in the House. “Yeh baap beta kya jawab deingay”, Mehbooba Mufti while leaving the House said.

Before the Chief Minister could speak, Sagar said the PDP members “can go to any extent”. On this the Chief Minister addressing the Chair said: “Please tell them to listen to me, if they have made an allegation.” That did not stop the PDP members from moving out of the House.

Jammu¸ July 28
The leaders and supporters of the NC today held protest in Jammu and burned the effigy of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti against the “derogatory” remarks made by the party against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Assembly today.

They raised slogans against the PDP leadership and alleged that the party was not performing the duties of a healthy opposition in the Assembly and was trying to take political mileage by wrongfully mudslinging on the Chief Minister.

“We strongly condemn the statement made by senior PDP leader and former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh on the Chief Minister. The PDP doesn’t have any real issues to discuss in the Assembly, rather than its leadership is indulged in mudslinging on the Chief Minister,” provincial president of the NC, Jammu, Ratan Lal Gupta said.

He said: “Beigh tried to involve the name of Omar ‘sahib’ into the infamous Srinagar Sex Scandal by saying the CBI had named him, whereas within minutes the CBI made it clear that it had not named any member of the Abdullah family into the case.”

Gupta said: “We demand the resignation of Mehbooba Mufti who misbehaved with the Speaker in the Assembly yesterday.”

He said the chain of events that unfolded today had shown the real character of the PDP and exposed the PDP leadership of cheating the people.

“They have no agenda, this is the Budget session of the Assembly and the people of the state have various expectations from this session. But as the PDP has no agenda its trying to rake up the emotional issues and disrupting the proceedings of the house,” Gupta said.

The anger on the faces of the NC supporters could be seen as they raised anti-PDP slogans and praised Omar for his “bold step.” “The Chief Minister today proved to all that he and his party is not power hungry,” a NC supporter said.

New Delhi, July 28
With Chief Minister Omar Abdullah resigning, coalition partner Congress today described the "crisis" as temporary and said there was no need for Governor's rule as a solution would be found.

"By giving his resignation, he is standing on a high moral ground.. He is confident that he will win both politically and morally," state Congress chief Saifuddin Soz told reporters here while commenting on Abdullah's resignation in the wake of allegations of his involvement in the 2006 sex scandal.

To a question, he said: "Governor's rule is out of the question." He said the Cong and the National Conference, which is heading the coalition government, were together. "The crisis is temporary... We will find a solution to this crisis... We are all together. All MLAs are together. We shall go by consensus and democratic norms," Soz said. — PTI

Srinagar, July 28
The CBI may have completed its probe and chargesheeted all the accused, but the ghost of sex scandal seems far from buried in the state as political, bureaucratic and police rivals exploit its accompanying moral stigma to target one another. And Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is only the latest casualty, and also the most prominent one.

It would be in the fitness of things to revisit the lurid saga, which surfaced in the first half of 2006 after sex CDs surfaced in Srinagar and the subsequent probe sent a string of legislators and top government officials behind bars, something unprecedented in terms of number and stature of victims it claimed.

The then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad ordered a CBI probe on May 1 as the state police was accused of shielding the high and mighty.

The CBI questioned several suspects in the case but could not find evidence against many of them, thus letting them off while chargesheeting the rest of them.

The list of all suspects was not made public for obvious reasons, and it only provided grist to conspiracy theorists in a state, especially in the valley. One will often find officials and politicians in corridors of powers maligning those they don’t like with “his name also figured in the sex scandal” allegations. Sources said many people claimed to carry the list naming all those whose names cropped up during the probe and different lists have different names depending upon who is carrying them.

Current Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand was accused by his own party colleague Madan Lal Sharma prior to the assembly elections of “figuring” in the CBI probe, with Sharma alleging that Tara Chand survived only after the intervention of the high command to save party honour. Both Congress leaders fought an acrimonious battle but now represent their party; Tara Chand in the Assembly while Sharma in Parliament.

Hakeem Yasin and Ghulam Hassan Khan, both MLAs, were among those questioned but subsequently let off as no evidence was found against them. Despite the hue and cry raised by the moral brigade in Kashmir, Yasin comfortably won the 2008 elections but Khan lost after being dropped by the PDP.

Ghulam Ahmad Mir of the Congress was one MLA who was chargesheeted and spent months behind bars. He also managed to win from his constituency in Dooru in an almost one-sided contest.

All accused from government services, including then BSF DIG KC Padhi, IAS officer Iqbal Khandey, have since been reinstated.

With the CBI finishing its probe long back, there is no legal value to be found in these allegations but they continue to flourish due to their high damage quotient.

Srinagar, July 28
Demanding action against people involved in the Shopian incident and removal of security forces from the valley, the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners today said the government in the state follows ‘diktats’ of the security forces while discharging daily obligations.

Addressing mediapersons here, Prof. Jagmohan Singh said the committee visited the Shopian area and enquired into the reasons responsible for the killing of Neelofar and Aasiya. “We demand action against the culprits and it should be ensured that bail is denied to the police officials arrested in this connection,” says Prof. Jagmohan.

The committee member said the government should immediately release detainees lodged in various jails.

Jammu, July 28
Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti today joined hands with various student organisations of Jammu in their protest against the suspected shifting of the proposed central university to the Kashmir valley.

To take the ongoing movement for establishing the central university in Jammu to its logical conclusion, various students’ organisations on the initiative of the samiti today came on a platform and constituted a new front, Central University Andolan (CUA).

The new front, which has taken over the control of the ongoing struggle, would now chalk out a strategy to give a shape to the ongoing struggle for the varsity.

“For the past many days, student organisations have been protesting against the alleged proposal to shift the central university to Kashmir. So we decided to bring all of them to a platform and give a perfect direction to the agitation,” said Rajesh Gupta, a member of the samiti’s core committee and state vice-president of the BJP.

He added, “Today, we formed a core committee of five members and the representatives of various student and other organisations. We have also appointed two secretaries, who would decide the course of action in the coming few days.”

The core committee of the new front would have 17 members from the student organisations, five from the samiti and three from the Trade, Transport and Bar Association Jammu.

Gupta said the new front would not hesitate to launch an agitation similar to it had launched last year for the Amarnath land, against the proposed shifting of the central university.

“We are not against two central universities, but we only want that the central university be first established here,” the CUA said.

Jammu, July 28
The two-day pen-down strike launched by non-teaching and non-gazetted employees of Jammu University to highlight their demand for the Sixth Pay Commission benefits left hundreds of students high and dry. The strike of the employees hindered the admission process on the first day.

Many students had come from distant areas to get admission forms as the admission process scheduled to begin today.

Expressing resentment over the authorities concerned, Gagan Deep Sharma, who had come from Udhampur, said: “We were informed that the admission forms will be made available from today but when I reached here the scene was altogether different. No official was available here.”

Madhavi Gupta, another student, who had come from RS Pura said: “It was the responsibility of the authorities concerned to inform us about the cancellation of admission process in advance through the media.”

Besides, hundreds of other students from various parts of the state and the country were also left disappointed. Some of them had come to know their results that were withheld by the university while others had come to get their migration certificates.

Sehar, who had come from Doda district, said: “The university has withheld my Bachelor’s degree results. I came here just to know the reason but the officials are not responding to my query properly. I am totally depressed as I do not know what to do now.”

Manisha Sharam, a student from Jaipur, said: “I came here to get my migration certificate. I was not aware about the strike and I have already taken my train reservation for Jaipur tomorrow.”

However, the varsity employees would continue the pen-down strike tomorrow.

Surjeet Singh, president of the Non-teaching and Non-gazetted Employees Union, said: “If the government fails to take a decision immediately, we can also extend the strike. The government alone will be solely responsible for the sufferings of the students.”

BPS Sehgal, Dean, Academic Affairs, Jammu University, said: “The employees should have thought about the sufferings of the students before holding the strike. As we were not aware about the strike we failed to inform the students on time.”

He said students could take admission till August 10. With a late fee, it was allowed till August 13.

Udhampur, July 28
A middle-aged woman was killed and about 24 houses were damaged in heavy rains and a windstorm that lashed many parts of Gandoh tehsil of Doda district. About 75 per cent of the maize crop was also washed away in the floods and heavy rains, which started on Sunday evening and continued for 48 hours.

Imam Din, SDM, Gandoh, told The Tribune that the authorities had been collecting information about total losses. “Exact figures will emerge within a day or two as most of the remotest areas of this tehsil were affected due to the hostile weather,” he said and admitted that initial reports said a woman was washed away in a nullah due to flash floods.

Neema Begum, 46, wife of Mohammad Sharief Malik of Batyas, was swept away by the windstorm. She fell into the nearby nullah and reportedly was washed away in the strong water currents. “We have not received her body yet,” the SDM said.

Though the entire Gandoh tehsil has been witnessing heavy rains and windstorm, Dharabai, Changa and Jakyas panchyats were the worst affected areas. A number of houses in these three panchyats were reportedly damaged due to incessant rains. “Keeping in view the hostile weather conditions, it is not possible to reach each and every village,” the SDM said. He informed that joint teams of revenue, horticulture and agriculture departments had been constituted to visit the affected areas to assess the losses.

Quoting initial reports, the SDM said 75 per cent of the maize crop had been either damaged or washed away due to the rains. Due to a delay in the monsoon, farmers sow maize just a few days ago, but heavy rains have damaged the crop.

Meanwhile, many areas of Gandoh were cut off from the tehsil headquarters due to floods in the seasonal nullahs and streams.

Jammu, July 28
Residents of Hira Nagar and Kathua today held a protest demonstration against the station house officer (SHO) of Hira Nagar Narender Singh, for his alleged high handedness and arrogant attitude towards the people and unduly harassing the Kandi belt Congress president, Kathua district.

The residents alleged that the SHO had kept Sudesh Kumar Sharma under unlawful custody in the police station and had beaten him and his supporters outside the police station on July 19.

Addressing mediapersons, Sudesh Kumar Sharma and his supporters charged the SHO of disregarding and not obeying the order of the court. Sudesh alleged that the SHO had not granted anticipatory bail against his arrest on the alleged fabricated charges registered against him on a false complain lodged by a person from Hira Nagar, who had some personal score to settle with him.

Sudesh alleged that as he produced the court order of his bail to the SHO at Hira Nagar police station, the later threw the same on his face, abused him and stripped him.

“He dragged me into his office room and kept me under unlawful custody for one hour. On his order, policemen pushed away and abused my supporters who had accompanied me to the police station, ” Sudesh said.