Jammu, October 8
The emergency and general wards of the Government Medical College (GMC) and Hospital and its associated hospitals today wore a deserted look as the indefinite strike of doctors continued for the fourth day here today.

The peripheral health care services in the hospitals also remained affected. Similarly, no surgeries could be conducted in all major hospitals of the city while patients and their attendants were visibly disappointed.

As the ODP services have come to a stand still, patients, especially coming from far-flung areas and poor, are a harried lot.

Pyare Lal (40), a daily wage labourer from Madhya Pradesh, who is suffering from eye disease, was shocked to see no doctor in the OPD. “The vision of my eyes is fast deteriorating due to an ailment. The strike is continuing. I cannot afford to consult doctors as well as get surgery done from outside,” he said and expressed hope that the stir ends soon.

Dr Satyainder Singh, president of the Doctors Joint Action Committee (DJAC), today decided that the District Hospital, Gandhi Nagar, and the Government Hospital, Sarwal, would also be brought under the purview of the strike and no health care services, including emergency services, would be allowed there from tomorrow.

Dr Rajinder Singh, Principal of the GMC and associated hospital, said, “The strike has parlayed OPD services, and no general surgeries were being conducted in the wake of stir.” He added, “Senior doctors and faculty members were struggling to run the emergency services.”

Earlier in the morning, doctors from the GMC Hospital and associated hospitals, besides medicos from peripheral areas assembled at the GMC Hospital and protested against the lackadaisical attitude of the state government for not considering their demands seriously.

Meanwhile, the DJAC claimed that their counterparts at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) expressed solidarity with them and went on a day token strike today. 

New Delhi, October 8
For young Ruksana, who killed a militant to protect her family, tomorrow will be a day to cherish, as President Pratibha Patil has decided to meet her during her visit to the Jammu region.

Though the meeting was not on her itinerary, the President has carved out time especially to meet the brave girl who elicited praise from across the country for her daredevil act, official sources said.

Ruksana (22) has been praised by Home Minister P Chidambaram and also awarded by the state government for her act of bravery.

Ruksana had killed a top Pakistani militant belonging to the Lashker-e-Toiba and injured another at Kalsian village in Rajouri district on the night of September 27. She, along with her sibling, had overpowered the terrorist, snatched his rifle and fired at him, killing him on the spot.

The President will be visiting forward areas of the LoC in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch to assess the overall situation along the border and boost the morale of security forces.

She would get a briefing from the field commanders on the overall security situation along the border during her visit, sources said.

The President would also take stock of the border fencing work and anti-infiltration measures taken in the forward areas, besides interacting with troops on the forward posts, sources said. — PTI

Srinagar, October 8
APHC chairman Syed Ali Geelani has called for a strike on October 18 on the occasion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s proposed visit to the state. He has also called for a general strike on October 27, when the Army landed in Kashmir in 1947.

According to a statement, Geelani said the bandh call on October 18 was not against Manmohan Singh, but to register their protest on the arrival of the Prime Minister against the atrocities being committed by the security forces in Kashmir.

He alleged that the security forces continued to indulge in excesses against people, particularly women. He reiterated the stand on the right to self determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for a permanent solution.

Udhampur, October 8
Buoyed up by the announcement by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz to constitute an Advisory Board, members of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) have stepped up the campaign for the implementation of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission in the state.

Notably, OBCs comprise 24 per cent of the total population in the state, but they have been given only two per cent reservation in the name of Other Social Castes (OSCs).

Though the Mandal Commission report - granting 27 per cent reservation to OBCs - has been implemented in other parts of the country, the case is not the same for Jammu and Kashmir due to the special status of the state.

For the past 15 years, OBCs in this region have been fighting to get, what they claimed, their constitutional rights. Although successive state governments have promised to do justice with the OBCs, their assurances remained only on paper.

During the last one year, OBCs have intensified their campaign and the support of some ruling Congress leaders has boosted them.

Recently, the Congress organised an OBC convention in Jammu in which all Congress leaders endorsed the demands of this community. After the convention, PCC chief Prof Saifuddin Soz, on Gandhi Jayanti function, promised to constitute an Advisory Board for the OBCs.

A meeting of different OBC organisations was also held at Udhampur in which participants vowed to take their fight to the logical end.

The state-unit of the All-India Confederation of SC-ST-OBC Organisations has also started a campaign in this regard. Chairman of the Confederation RK Kalsotra said the organisation has repeatedly brought this matter to the notice of successive state governments.

Udhampur, October 8
Following protests by residents of Karzai village of the Paddar area against the atrocities of police, the Kishtwar police today dismissed two Special Police Officers (SPOs) for allegedly beating some villagers. The dismissed SPOs were also arrested by the police.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Kishtwar, Hasib Mugal while confirming the dismissal of two SPOs from the service, told The Tribune that the police had started an inquiry in the case.

The incident took place yesterday after family members of Zahida lodged a missing report in the police post in Kishtwar district. The family members alleged that Farooq Ahmed of Karzai village had kidnapped Zahida.

Without getting approval from the higher-ups, the SPOs, Mohammad Ayoub and Noor Hussain, who are relatives of Zahida, called some villagers of Karzai village at Shashu police post and beat them up yesterday.

As the SPOs were mercilessly beating the villagers, a fear-stricken youth, identified as Mohammad Haneef, jumped into the Chenab and he was still missing.

A large number of people came on road and held protest against the atrocities of the police.

They also demanded action against the SPOs. Senior police officers rushed to spot and pacified the protesters. The police officers ordered dismissal of the erring SPOs from the service.

SDPO Pardeep Gupta said legal action would be taken against them for beating the innocent people.

Jammu, October 8
The death of a youth in custody of the Srinagar police on Tuesday night triggered violent protests by his family members and relatives, who damaged a bus and blocked traffic on the Janipur road today morning. Rajnish Sharma, 29, a Jammu resident, was picked up by the cops a few days ago after he married a Srinagar girl, Anchal Sharma alias Amina Yousuf, 25, who had converted to the boy’s faith and changed her name. Things went horribly wrong when Rajnish reportedly died under mysterious circumstances at the Munshi Bagh police station.

To make matters worse, the police in an embarrassing goof up announced it had identified the youth who was arrested as Pawan Sharma, the deceased’s younger brother, adding the police papers sent for the postmortem examination were in his name. However, the deceased’s real identity came to light only when his family members saw his body last evening.

Demanding action against the “killers” an angry mob including aged relatives of the dead boy burnt tyres, damaged a minibus and shouted slogans against Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as well as the state police.

As passions ran high two official vehicles carrying as many high court judges, two police buses transporting prisoners to a court and several other vehicles remained stuck for over an hour in the huge traffic snarlup before being diverted.

Rajnish, whose business dealt in aluminum doors and windows, had married Amina in a Jammu court on August 21 and the same day the couple also tied the nuptial knot in a temple in Janipur here. The boy’s family says it has a video CD in its possession in which the girl has reportedly stated she was marrying Rajnish “of her own free will” and also changing her religion as well as her name.

Talking to reporters, Anil Sudan, Rajnish’s brother-in-law, narrated the ordeal the entire family had to undergo because of alleged police atrocities. “On August 29 evening the police searched Pawan’s house in Rehari and since then his whereabouts as well as those of his family members are not known”,

Rajnish’s family members have decided not to cremate the body till “stringent action” is taken and a few other relatives, missing or in police custody, are not released.

Later, Sudan told The Tribune that Pawan, who was missing with eight other family members, had arrived at their house.

Demanding justice a wailing Raj Kumari, Rajnish’s mother, said that her son was brutally murdered and could not have committed suicide.

However, Pawan, who suddenly turned up at the morgue to take possession of his brother’s body, claimed the police deliberately used his (Pawan’s) name to eliminate his younger brother. “After marrying Anchal on August 21 Rajnish had come to my house in Rehari on August 29. He told me about stiff opposition to his interfaith marriage put up by Anchal’s family. On August 29 the police searched my house at around 1:30 am. Though I managed to give the cops a slip they arrested my brother”, said Pawan.

Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, BJP, Shiv Sena, RSS and other Hindu organizations have strongly demanded action against the “guilty” police officers.

Srinagar, October 8
As part of the biannual “Durbar move”, the Civil Secretariat and other government offices will be closing here on October 31 and reopen in Jammu, the winter capital, on November 9 for the next six months.

The seat of the government functioned in the summer capital here for the past six months since May last.

Since the Chief minister Omar Abdullah took over as head of the NC-Congress coalition government on January 5 this year, the Civil Secretariat and other offices were already functioning in the winter capital.

An official spokesman said according to the government order issued by General Administration Department, the government offices observing five-day week shall close at Srinagar on October 30 after office hours. The offices observing six-day week would close on October 31 after office hours. All the offices would reopen at Jammu on November 9, the spokesman added.

The departments have been directed to send their advance parties on October 26. These would comprise one gazetted officer and four-five non-gazetted officials. The advance parties would receive the records at Jammu.

All departments of the Civil Secretariat, including Chief Minister’s Secretariat, personal staff of ministers, Director, Estates and Department of Civil Aviation would be moving in full. Other departments, most of them functioning from outside the Secretariat, would be moving in camps, the order said.

The State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) would be making available sufficient number of buses in good condition for transportation of Jammu-based employees on October 31 and November 1, and for Kashmir-based employees on November 7 and 8. Trucks would also be made available for shifting of records from Srinagar to Jammu as per the requisition made by the departments.

The police would be escorting employees and the records convoy all along the route up to their respective destinations.

SP Security, Srinagar, would supervise packing-loading of records of the offices located outside the Secretariat and issue clearance certificates to the drivers who in turn would show it to SP Security, Civil Secretariat, to allow them to be included in the convoy.

The Health Department would arrange medical facilities at Qazigund, Banihal, Ramsu, Ramban, Patnitop, Kud, Udhampur and Jajar Kotli on the days when the employees are travelling from Srinagar to Jammu.

Srinagar, October 8
In a bid to push up tourist traffic in a year when civil strife and Taliban scare hit the industry hard, the government will hold a two-day Kashmir festival beginning October 10 and host a colourful Sufi music festival on October 18 and 19, Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora said yesterday.

Despite a disastrous impact of a series of shutdowns over the Shopian killings of two women and reports of suspected Taliban presence, the tourists’ arrival was likely to reach 10 lakh this year, a decent number, he said. This includes close to four lakh Amarnath pilgrims.

“We want to lengthen the tourist season, which begins winding up after September. The opening of the Tulip garden has successfully advanced the season by over five weeks and the festivals should extend it,” Jora told mediapersons.

He asked the media not to exaggerate negative news as the valley had been largely secure for tourists. The food and flower festival, besides other exhibitions of Kashmir’s intrinsic strengths would be held in the coming weeks to attract tourists.

Asked if the frequent statements by security officials regarding the number of militants, infiltration figures and likelihood of more militant violence hit the vulnerable tourism industry, Jora answered in the affirmative and said the state government had taken up the matter with the Central government. These statements come at times on “inopportune” occasions and security officials should be more “cautious”, he said.

Jora said his department had been improving infrastructure in tourist stations like Verinag, Kokernag, Aherbal and Doodhpathri and tourists should venture beyond much-visited destinations like Pahalgam, Sonmarg and Gulmarg, besides Srinagar.

Jammu, October 8
The ongoing strike by employees of the Jammu and Kashmir State Roads Transport Corporation (SRTC) today completed 44 days, even as 63 employees of the corporation courted arrest.

The employees, who have been on an indefinite strike against the non-issuance of salary for the past five months, today held a “peaceful” protest march from Bikram Chowk to Jewel Chowk where 63 employees courted arrest before the Nowabad police station.

“We want the government to release our salaries immediately,” said Paramjeet Singh, general secretary of the SRTC employees union.

He said it was criminal conduct on part of the successive state governments that their contribution of GP and CP fund was being deducted, and was not being deposited in any account.

Paramjeet said the corporation and the government need to come up with an answer as to where the amount has gone and in which account they have deposited the money.

“I have been working in the corporation for the past 30 years and it is only for the last few years that the problem has started. Earlier, everything was going on normally but now the situation is this that we haven’t received our salaries for the past five months,” said Sham Lal, an SRTC employee.

The president of the union Ashok Mehra said in solidarity with their male colleagues, the female staff of the corporation marched towards the police station but again due to unavailability of female police staff they could not court arrest.

The employees are also in process of constituting a committee that would soon go to New Delhi to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. And if she does not give them time, they propose to hold similar demonstrations outside the Parliament.

Meanwhile, the regional committee of the CPM, Jammu, has extended support to the agitation. “It is unfortunate that the government is silent on the 
issue although the workers are demanding their legal rights,” said Sham Prasad Kesar, regional secretary, CPM.

Leh, October 8
The six-member expert committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the formulation of syllabus for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the Sowa-Rigpa medicine system has started collecting inputs from experts and grass-roots level workers.

The Sowa-Rigpa medicine system was recently given approval by the Union Cabinet to recognise it in the country under AYUSH. Dr. Ghagwan Dash, chairman of the committee, and its members are in Leh on a four-day visit to Ladakh for collecting inputs for the purpose.

For interaction between local experts and the practitioners of Sowa-Rigpa and the expert committee, a one-day workshop on Sowa-Rigpa medicine education was organised at the Conferecne hall in Leh on Tuesday. It was organised by the Ladakh Amchi Sahba and the Sowa-Rigpa Research Centre, Leh. Around 100 participants attended the workshop. Experts representing different institutes that offered degree courses in Sowa-Rigpa presented their syllabus to the committee during the workshop.

Representative of various NGOs, who had been working for the promotion of Sowa-Rigpa, urged the committee to protect and promote the Amchi lineage and suggested to include a provision of certificate course in Sowa-Rigpa for the Amchi, the traditional practioners of Sowa-Rigpa.

The vice-president of the Ladakh Traditional Medicine Society said, “Amchi has been an integral part of the public health system in Ladakh and health needs of 50 per cent of the population are covered by the Amchi in rural areas. In return of their services, villagers help them in farming and exempt all village duties to the Amchi family.”

Dr Tsewang Rigzin, representing the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS), Leh, urged the committee to prepare a universal syllabus as many institutes in India offered degree courses in Sowa-Rigpa. The CIBS, Leh, also offered a bachelor six-year degree course in Tibetan Medicine and Surgey under the affiliation from the Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.

Prof G N Tsamten, Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnat, presenting the syllabus for the Sowa-Rigpa medicine system, said, “The university offered two courses for graduation and postgraduation in it and postgraduation has started from this year’s academic session.”

The representatives expressed concern over the recognition of the Bhotia language in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution as it was the language of Sowa-Rigpa.