Srinagar, January 4
Even as weather conditions improved across the region, traffic on the 300-km long Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, the only surface link connecting the valley with the rest of the country, remained suspended for the second consecutive day today.

No traffic was allowed for Jammu from here today in view of the slippery conditions on the road between Qazigund and Banihal. The road condition around the Jawahar Tunnel on this stretch of the highway was slippery due to snowfall and rain yesterday, officials at the Traffic Control Room here said. Only stranded vehicles on the highway were cleared to move today, they said.

However, air traffic to Srinagar, which remained suspended due to snowfall and rain yesterday, was resumed today. There was no report of snowfall or rain from any part of the Kashmir valley and its upper reaches today. The day temperature, however, has come down by five to seven degrees Celsius due to snowfall and rain during the past 48 hours. The Kashmir valley and its upper reaches received the first snowfall of the year and this season.

The high mountain tourist spots of Gulmarg and Pahalgam recorded snowfall between one and two-and-a-half feet yesterday. A number of winter sports lovers and tourists from different parts of the country have been thronging Gulmarg after the fresh snowfall. The scenic spot known for its best skiing snow slopes attracts many tourists during winter months.

According to the Met Department, weather is expected to remain mainly dry during the next few days. The maximum temperature was recorded at 5.6°C here today. Meanwhile,any decision to open the highway to normal traffic between the summer and winter capitals of the state would be taken tomorrow morning, the officials said.

Jammu, January 4
As many as 1,000 passengers stranded due to the suspension of traffic on the national highway had a harrowing time as they had to spend the day and night on Sunday in a shelter provided by the police at Banihal.

A senior police official said 200 passenger vehicles were stranded on way to Srinagar and 130 vehicles on way to Jammu near the Jawahar Tunnel for about 24 hours. A long queue of trucks and buses was seen there, he said.

Abdul Aziz, a passenger, told this correspondent on the phone that “commuters had a harrowing time as snowfall continued till Sunday midnight. Finally, we got some respite when the police gave shelter to stranded persons at Banihal to spend the night.”

The state government had already announced a holiday in public departments and educational institutes in the valley and higher areas of the state.

It is pertinent to mention here that all defence and commercial activities take place through this route. However, vehicles were stopped by the traffic police at various places in the Jammu region to avoid any mishap.

Alok Kumar, SSP, said, “Finally, after 11.30 am, the 10-km snow-covered road on the either side of the Jawahar Tunnel was opened for vehicular movement today.”

He added that snow cutters were used to clear blockades and throw open the highway for traffic despite continuous rain.

Besides upper areas, lower areas of the state, including Jammu, Kathua, Samba and RS Pura, also witnessed dense fog in the morning and brought life to a standstill. The sudden decrease in temperature has made life hard for people, as they had to lit fire to save themselves from chilling air.

According to Met officials, the temperature would remain the same in the coming 24 hours and the upper areas could see snowfall again.

Jammu, January 4
Intensifying its protest against the “controversial” report of Justice (retd) Sagir Ahmed, the BJP burnt copies of the report across the Jammu province today.

As part of BJP’s mandal-level programmes to register protest against the Working Group’s report on strengthening the Centre-state relations, party activists took out rallies and burnt copies of the report in various blocks of the province.

In Jammu, party president Ashok Khajuria, leader of Legislators Party Chaman Lal Gupta, national executive member Nirmal Singh and Vikram Randhawa led the party activists and burnt copies of the report at City Chowk, Talab Tillo Chowk, Gangyal Chowk and Gole Market Gandhi Nagar, respectively.

Party leaders said Justice (retd) Sagir Ahmed had prepared the report on the diktats of National Conference (NC).

Justice Ahmed worked as a mere scribe of the NC and it was clear from the fact that the report was a re-worded autonomy manifesto of the NC, they said. Instead of submitting it to the Prime Minister it was handed over to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who later submitted it to the PM as if it was a document of the National Conference, they added.

The document was not a report based on judicial consideration of various opinions that were submitted to it by the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions, they said.

The report catered to the whims and fancies of a section of Kashmir-based elements, they added.

The BJP leaders urged the Prime Minister to reject the report as it had not dwelt on the aspect of the Centre-state relationship and was anti-Jammu, anti-Ladakh and anti-national.

They declared that the party would adopt different democratic modes in the coming days against the report and would not rest till the same was totally rejected by the Union government.

Similar programmes were held in all the mandals of Udhampur, Reasi, Kathua, Ramban, Kishtwar, Bhaderwah, Samba, RS Pura and Akhnoor areas of the Jammu province. At Ramban, the party activists had a scuffle with the police as they were being stopped from burning the copies of the report.

Jammu, January 4
The Panun Kashmir today endorsed the decision of the Kashmiri Pandit organisations to observe January 19 as “Holocaust Day”.

According to a statement issued here, Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president of the Panun Kashmir, said the state has been witnessing various political scenarios for the last couple of months. The issues of silent diplomacy, autonomy debate, withdrawal of security forces and the recommendations of the Working Group have made the situation further complicated.

“While the autonomy debate has the potential to take the state back to the 1952 position and plunge it into a Constitutional and social crisis of an unprecedented dimension, the withdrawal of forces will create a terrible security scenario for the minorities in the state,” said the president of Panun Kashmir.

While rejecting recommendations of the Working Group, the Panun Kashmir urged the people of the state to rise to the occasion and protect their rights as the stake holders of the state.

Virender Raina, a spokesperson of the organisation, said the proposal of the Working Group’s report regarding doing away with the Article 356 of the Constitution in regard to the Jammu and Kashmir state is dangerous, since it is a frontline state.

He said in the event of an emergency, the Centre would not be able to invoke the provisions of the Article 356 and people of the state would be left at the mercy of the situation.

Jammu, January 4
Justice J. P. Singh of the J&K High Court today dismissed a writ petition filed by Raghubir Singh Bal, holding the rank of Commandant,CRPF, on an ad hoc basis, seeking promotion as Additional Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Central Reserve Police Force, along with consequential benefits, maintaining that since the enforceable rights of petitioner are not offended, interference by court is unwarranted.

Contesting the petitioner’s claim, the Union of India strongly opposed the maintainability of the petition stating that pursuant to the petitioner’s arrest on January 1, 1998, following an FIR lodged in Amritsar for rash and negligent driving, snatching the service rifle and assaulting policemen, he had been facing trial in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Amritsar, and because of the pendency of that, he was not considered for substantive promotion.

The high court while declining to interfere with the writ jurisdiction held that holding the rank of commandant on an ad hoc basis, the petitioner had no right to seek promotion as DIG. The petitioner holding the ad hoc position, would be entitled to service benefits, including promotion, only if he was acquitted of the charges in the criminal trial, held the court.

Jammu, January 4
Governor NN Vohra has greeted people on the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh.

In a message, the Governor said Guru Gobind Singh was an apostle of peace, compassion and love. He said the values underlying the teachings of the great Guru would continue to inspire future generations to strive for establishing a healthier society and a just social order.

The Governor expressed the hope that the auspicious day would be a harbinger of peace, progress and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir and further strengthen the bonds of communal harmony, brotherhood and secular traditions which have been the hallmark of the glorious heritage and composite ethos of the state for centuries.

Srinagar, January 4
Former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has hailed the peace initiative between India and Pakistan and described the move launched by leading media houses of the two countries as a much needed shot in the arm of the forces of sanity.

On the inevitability of normalisation of relations between the two countries, the PDP patron urged the present leadership to respond to the strong urge for peace and friendship that “negates the frozen position of the establishment that has been calling the shots in utter disregard of realities and aspirations”.

The Mufti hoped that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would display his trademark political will in neutralising the voices of discord and lead the subcontinent back to the peace process that had yielded unprecedented dividends since the historic Vajpayee initiative in 2003.

Mufti Sayeed said Pakistan had launched a full scale war on terror and India needed to extend a helping hand to the peace constituency there to make South Asia more secure. Undue pressure from India could not only increase the existential threat to Pakistan but also could bring the great game being played out in and around Afghanistan with its fall out too near to us for our own comfort, he said.

“It is time for the statesmen in our country to take control of policies in order to realise the vision of a global power with friendly neighbours,” he said.

Stressing the need for civil society in the state to speak up effectively in support of the initiative taken by the media groups, the Mufti said no one had greater stakes in peace than the residents of the state. He said Jammu and Kashmir and India-Pakistan friendship could not be imagined in isolation of each other.

Jammu, January 4
A day after the Pakistani Rangers denied having any role in abetting infiltration, the BSF late last night foiled another infiltration bid.

Senior BSF officers said personnel deployed in the Narania area of the Ramgarh sector in Samba district noticed suspicious movement near the international border and opened fire. There was,however,no retaliatory action.

“ It seems the intruders managed to escape back to Pakistan as they perhaps wanted to take advantage of the thick fog without being noticed”, the officers said.

After the incident, the BSF launched a search operation.

Due to the heavy snowfall along the Line of Control which led to the closure of various passes, the militants and their supporters are trying to make infiltration bids.

This is the same sector in which a senior BSF officer of the rank of DIG was killed last year when militants planted an IED after the force foiled an infiltration bid.

“ The jawans posted on the international border are on high alert as the focus of infiltration has now shifted from the LoC to the IB.

We have not lowered the guard and jawans are ready to foil any attempt by anti-national elements”, the officers said.

Just a day ago the senior officers of the BSF and the Pakistani Rangers held a flag meeting in which the Indian side lodged a strong protest over the recent IED blast on the border in which five BSF personnel were injured.

However, the Pakistani side had denied having any knowledge or hand in the blast and the infiltration attempts.

Srinagar, January 4
Separatists may term militancy as an “indigenous struggle” but it is becoming clear that it is militants from Pakistan active in the valley who are at the forefront of terrorism, while local militants, whose number is going down , have largely been reduced to playing foot soldiers.

Recent attacks on the police and security personnel across Kashmir have been planned by top Lashkar-e-Toiba commanders, all of them of Pakistan origin, but entrenched well in their areas of operation and enjoying some amount of local support.

Last week’s ambush on police personnel in Pampore, which left two cops dead, and the one on CRPF personnel at Warpora in Sopore were planned and carried out by the LeT.

Security officials connected with the anti-terror network said the LeT had been the main force behind the series of shootouts in Srinagar and was the main suspect behind the shooting of two BSF personnel in Soura a few days ago.

Other Pakistani outfits like HuM and Jaish-e-Mohammad have maintained hold in some areas of Kashmir, while the fortunes of Hizbul Mujahideen have been dwindling away. Even in its once stronghold of south Kashmir, it is the LeT led by Abdul Rehman of Pakistan which is shaping the dynamics of terror operation. While in Sopore, which has highest concentration of militants for any urban centre in the valley, it is again LeT militants from Pakistan led by Abdullah Uni who are launching one attack after another on security forces.

In fact, there are several instances of HM militants changing allegiance to the LeT, whose cadres are driven by single-minded terror agenda of the outfit and flush with fund. Latif Kachroo, whose brother Rayees Kachroo was a top HM commander and killed last year, and Mushtaq Ganderbali were such examples, a senior official said. Both are Kashmiris and joined the LeT because they found the HM too weak in their area. However, officials added that the outfit still holds a asignificant presence in many areas and in no way could be written off. In many terror operations, its local cadres have provided logistic networks to outfits like the LeT.

Official sources said the increase in number of infiltrators last year had made up for the loss the LeT suffered in encounters and it had dozens of militants hiding in forests of Kupwara and Handwara who are waiting for directions by their senior commanders.

Jammu, January 4
Kashmira Vaahini was launched today to create political awareness among women for achieving homeland in Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference here, a member of the organisation,Dr Khema Kaul, said an enrolment drive would be launched to widen its operational base after which the organisational structure of the Vaahini would be disclosed.

The newly formed body condemned the silence of the government on the security aspects of the recently announced employment package of 3,000 jobs in the valley.

It demanded that the government should exclude the bonds made in the package and provide jobs to the Kashmiri Pandit youth in Jammu.

Calling the employment package a joke on the community, members of the organisation said the terms and conditions of the package would not be accepted by them.

Expressing anguish, they said: “It appears as if our youth are to be sent into concentration caps as criminals or prisoners of war. It is a plan aimed at discouraging and frightening the candidates. ” They also opposed the sharing of this package with internally displaced migrants of the valley and other Muslim migrant categories. Members said they would spread awareness among the Kashmiri Pandit women about their rights and would organise a movement against the cultural genocide of the community.

Jammu, January 4
Daily wagers of the Power Development Department (PDD), who have been on an indefinite strike for the past 43 days, today demonstrated in front of Raj Bhawan and sought the Governor’s intervention for the fulfilment of their demand for regularisation of services.

After staging a demonstration at the gate of Raj Bhawan, the protesters submitted a memorandum to the Governor.

BR Sharma, Commissioner/Secretary, Power, had recently assured to release their pending wages for the past 12 months within seven days. He had also assured to expedite the process of regularisation.

Earlier, several PDD daily wagers assembled at their division office and then started marching towards Raj Bhawan.

The protesters condemned the state government for its alleged adamant attitude and for not fulfilling the commitment made to them. According to them, more than 3,000 employees qualify the criterion for regularisation, but the government was not considering their case.

“Most of us have not got any hike in the wages for the past several years while the prices of commodities have gone up drastically. In most of the cases, employees do not get remunerations regularly,” they complained.

They also flayed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for not settling their long-standing demand. They further alleged that the lathi-charge on their rally was uncalled for and it brought to the fore the brutal face of the government.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Power Employees Union has warned the government to fulfil its demands before January 11, failing which the employees would stop collecting revenue from the Jammu province.

In a statement, chairman of the union Shakti Gupta appealed to all the power employees to stage demonstrations in front of the gates of every subdivision office till the demands were met.

Srinagar, January 4
Protests were held against erratic power supply and unscheduled cuts at various district headquarters and other places across the Kashmir valley today. The police had to use force to disperse the demonstrators at various places, reports reaching here said.

The reports of protests against erratic power supply have been received from the district headquarters of Ganderbal, Bandipore and Kupwara. Protests were also held in Budgam district, as angry residents took to the streets at Chrar-e-Sharief and Chadoora towns. Normal life was disturbed as angry demonstrators protested at the main chowk in Ganderbal town, near here, disrupting vehicular traffic on the road.

Protests were also held in the Mattan area of Anantnag district.

Most parts of the valley have been reeling under acute power shortage due to an increase in its demand due to cold conditions.

The Gas Turbine generating 75 MW was also started last week, but the gap between power supply and demand had been on the rise. Transformers at many places had also suffered damage due to heavy load, disrupting the normal power supply.

Srinagar, January 4
As part of the ongoing road traffic safety week, the traffic police today organised a road march with the participation of school children to create awareness about traffic rules. The traffic police is observing the traffic safety week with a theme “Life is Safe, if Driving is Safe”, which began here last Friday.

Students of Police Public School, Srinagar, participated in the road march here today. It started at 11am from Traffic Police Lines and culminated back after two and a half hours during which it passed through many congested areas of the city. The purpose of the march was to disseminate traffic awareness programmes among the road users, the police said. Cops made people aware of the traffic signals and demonstrated the road accident emergency techniques.