Jammu, June 23
The Army troops today continued to scan deep jungles near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district to track down a group of suspected Pakistan ultras with which they had a brief encounter last evening. An Army officer, Lieut Nikhil Basmit, was injured in the gunfight.

“It’s a big area, a jungle where searches are on to track down the suspected ultras,” Brigadier General Staff of 16 Corps, Brig Gurdeep Singh, told The Tribune. We seized four AK magazines, some eatables and a bag from the site of the encounter that took place around 7.30 pm yesterday. No contact had been established with the militants again, he added.

“It seems that some elements have managed to cross the LoC and are hiding between the LoC and the fence. The search and cordon off operations are on to hunt them down,” Brig Gurdeep Singh said. They might have returned to the PoK but we could not take a chance, he added.

The officer, however, rubbished reports that Pakistan troops had violated the ceasefire to push in armed ultras. Lieut Nikhil Basmit, who received bullet injuring on knee and hand, had been hospitalised, he said.

However sources said the Army had trapped three to four militants between the LoC and the fence at the Kalsa forward post in the Kerni sector of Poonch last evening, but after a brief encounter the militants managed to escape. They said Pakistan troops had provided a cover fire to the militants to push them into the Indian territory.

Around 500 ultras had been moved to launch pads on the other side of the LoC and the international border and more misadventures by Pakistan troops and Pakistan Rangers were expected in the coming days, the sources said. They said the first three months this year had already witnessed 65 intrusion bids while the security forces shot dead 53 terrorists.

Jammu, June 23
Repeated claims of the government of having retrieved encroached land notwithstanding, the illegal practice has been going on unabated due to political patronage.

Encroachers with support from their political masters have especially been targeting forest land in different parts of the Jammu region and the authorities have been finding it difficult to retrieve the land due to political interference.

Highly placed sources in the Forest Department told The Tribune that officers were aware of the activity, but they hesitated from taking action due to political pressure. “After last year’s incident near Jammu, when a team of the Forest Department was attacked, no officer of the department is initiating to remove encroachments,” a senior officer said.

Last year, when a team of the Forest Department had gone to get its land vacated, it was attacked by the land grabbers. Instead of taking action against them, the authorities targeted department officials.

On the outskirts of the city, some people, with the support of influential politicians, have encroached upon forest land, but the authorities have not taken action against them. The practice has been going on unchecked even in some remote areas.

The sources informed that recently some families encroached upon forest land in Rajouri district, but the authorities refused to take action against them. Recently, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had also raised the issue and alleged that some influential politicians had encroached upon a huge chunk of forest land on the outskirts of Jammu city. She had demanded that the process of retrieving forest land should be started in those areas where politicians had constructed palatial houses. According to official data, 14,359 hectares of forest land has been encroached upon in the state.

In the remote areas of the Jammu province, people encroach upon forest land to increase their agriculture production while on the outskirts of Jammu city there was a nexus between politicians and land grabbers to develop colonies on government land.

Recently, the government had announced that the Forest Department had taken all possible measures to get the encroached forestland vacated but the announcement so far remained only on paper.

Srinagar, June 23
Normalcy returned to Srinagar after two days of bandh called by the Hurriyat Conference and other organisations in protest against the killing of a youth, Javed Ahmed Malla,in CRPF firing in the city on Sunday.

Shops and business establishments reopened and educational institutions and banks also resumed functioning. There was a heavy traffic during the peak hours. Frequent jams were also witnessed in different parts of the city, particularly Lal Chowk. Attendance in government offices was normal.

While the investigation in the killing of Tufail Ahmad Mattoo on June 11 is in progress, the government has ordered an enquiry into the death of Malla.

Meanwhile, the Hurriyat Conference (Mirwaiz) has called a meeting of separatist organisations and other social and religious bodies here tomorrow to plan the future course of action against the increasing number of deaths allegedly at the hands of police and security forces in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has reiterated that his government will not allow the misuse of power by security forces or the state police.

Talking to mediapersons belonging to the electronic media here yesterday, Omar expressed profound grief and sorrow over the recent tragic death of youths in the valley.Castigating separatists, the Chief Minister said some elements were instigating the youth to shed blood for their vested interests while their own children were leading luxurious lives in and outside the country. “I believe instead of shedding blood, youth must sweat it out to solve their problems”, Omar commented.

Referring to the incident here in which Javid Ahmad Malla was killed, Omar said the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir,was investigating the matter and as soon as the report was received, the guilty would be brought to justice.

Jhangar, June 23
Nearly 2,000 families of forward border villages in the Jhangar area in the Nowshera sector are ‘caged’ between the 10-feet high barbed wire fence on the one side and the Actual Line of Control (ALC) on the other.

The fence, instead of being on the ALC, has been raised nearly 7 km from the international border, thereby cutting the forested villages in the forward areas from the rest of the country.

After 8 pm, the Army closes all three gates in the fence, namely Cheeta gate, Jhangar gate and Sarya gate, and sets electric current into the fence.

The villages, including Sarya, Bardi Makrdey, Choti Makrdey, Ser, upper and lower Kadaliyan and Numb, find a place in the revenue records, but the villagers say they feel like living in a no man’s land. “We are living in a state of undeclared curfew and it is becoming a life-long bondage,” said villagers at Shahlakh Ziarat, deep inside the fenced area.

“The transport facility is very poor here. We used to walk 4 km to reach the main road but because of the fence now we have to walk 7 km or even more,” said a resident of upper Kadyaliyan village.

There is a Hindu shrine near the Khamba fort inside the fenced area and people visiting the shrine have to wait for permission at the gates. Those who don’t have identity cards are denied entry.

People like those living in mohalla Paitha near the Jangar gate though have their farmlands near their homes, they have to walk extra distance to work in their fields due to the fence. They cannot be in their fields during late and early hours.

Instead of giving them a sense of security from Pakistan soldiers and infiltrators, the fence, villagers believe, during any exigency can prove fatal for them.

“We are being used as a human shield. In case of a possible aggression, we will not be able to escape. Otherwise also, militants infiltrating from across the border can easily hold us hostage,” they fear.

The villagers, who demand the fence be pushed to the actual line of control, maintains that the Army can help them in many ways. “The outsiders, mostly relatives visiting us, are made to wait at the gates. If the Army lifts the blockade and fences the border, we will feel physically and economically more secure,” the villagers stated.

“The villages are mentioned in the revenue records and people are living there at their own risk,” said SDM, Nowshera, Harvinder Kaur. She added, “The fence does not demarcate the ALC. The Army has erected the fence for the safety of its own dwellings since the pickets are far from the fence.”

“People had some grievances against the Army but these have been settled,” the SDM said.

Jammu, June 23
Reiterating the demand of the party to get abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, the BJP today vowed that party workers would intensify the struggle for total integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country.

Addressing a function organised here to pay tributes to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee on his death anniversary, former Mayor of Jammu Municipal Corporation Kavinder Gupta said the abrogation of the Article was must for the development of the state. He said that it was all due to the sacrifice of Dr Mukherjee that the permit system to enter Jammu and Kashmir was removed. He asked party workers to fulfill the late leader’s dreams.

BJP general secretary Sat Sharma said Dr Mukherjee had the distinction of being the second best Parliamentarian of Commonwealth of his time. He said Dr Mukherjee was also the youngest Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, besides one of the most educated ministers in the first interim government headed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Rajesh Gupta, while speaking on the occasion, said that Dr Mukherjee was a great patriot who considered Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India like other states and had raised his voice against the permit system and provision of a separate Constitution in the state.

The BJP organised a camp in which party workers donated blood.

Jammu, June 23
Intensifying its drive to implement the ban on the use of polythene bags, the Enforcement Staff of the Municipal Corporation along with the police today seized about 10 kg of polythene bags from shopkeepers, vendors and other outlets in various areas.

According to a statement issued here, the team inspected shops and other outlets in the areas of Bikram Chowk and Gandhi Nagar. An amount of Rs 2650 was charged as fine from 13 defaulters, who were using the polythene bags.

The team also made the people aware of the ban imposed by the state government on the use of polythene bags.

Srinagar, June 23
Officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) and other agencies and departments of the state government are working for the clearance of the Baltal and Pahalgam routes to the Amarnath shrine.

All arrangements at the base and various other camps en route the shrine for the yatra, scheduled to begin from Pahalgam and Baltal from July 1, have been put in place.

The Chief Executive Officer of the SASB, Raj kumar Goyal, said here today that the Governor, N. N. Vohra, who is also the chairman of the shrine board, was personally monitoring the arrangements and would visit the base camps at Nunwan and Baltal and other camps in the next few days for ensuring a smooth pilgrimage.

The CEO said as per a government order of June 8, vehicles carrying pilgrims for the yatra would be charged a tax of Rs 2,000 at the entry point for seven days. The tax would have to be paid only at the entry point and there was no ambiguity or confusion in this regard.

Jammu, June 23
Panthers Party MLA Harsh Dev Singh today alleged that there was a shortage of ration and kerosene oil in the entire Jammu region, particularly in Udhampur district.

He said the ration shortage was felt for both below poverty line (BPL) as well as above poverty line (APL) categories. He called for an increase in the ration quota for Udhampur district as also the revision of norms and scales of distribution.

Harsh Dev urged the minister concerned to allow additional depots of ration and kerosene oil for remote and far-flung areas in view of difficulties faced by people inhabiting these difficult areas in procuring ration. He said the applications of several candidates, who had applied for ration and kerosene oil depots, were also pending disposal in the Secretariat with no action had been on them.

The Panthers Party MLA said the procedure for the allotment of ration and kerosene oil depots was so complicated that ordinary village candidates found it extremely difficult to get their cases cleared. He urged for the simplification of the procedure.

Harsh Dev also called for the decentralisation of licensing powers in favour of district heads or the Deputy Commissioners so that complications, inconvenience and difficulties caused in the process could be mitigated. He said this was necessary as several villages were suffering due to lack of depots in their villages or in the vicinity.

Harsh Dev further demanded the holding of a fresh revision of BPL lists so that deserving persons were included in it. He regretted that the BPL lists had been formulated casually and deserving persons had been deprived of their legitimate rights.

Jammu, June 23
The education infrastructure got a boost today with the inauguration of an auditorium-cum-conference hall with ancilliaries and captive power supply at Government Degree College, Thannamandi, in Rajouri district.

The auditorium-cum-conference hall was dedicated to people of Thannamandi by Gautam Sen, Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Northern Command), the General Officer Commanding of the Counter-Insurgency Force (Romeo) and the Surgeon Commander Wahida Prizm, who belongs to Thannamandi.

Wahida had come all the way from Mumbai to attend the event in her hometown.Incidentally, Prizm is the only women officer in the Navy from Jammu and Kashmir and it has been her dream to see development and return of peace to the state in general and the Thannamandi area in particular.

The local population expressed its gratitude to the Army.The area, once a hotbed of militancy, is fast returning to normal.Due to lack of peace, development had taken a backseat and thus deprived the present generation of the facilities and amenities available to fellow citizens in other parts of the country. Education became the first casualty of militancy.

Patience and resolve of the security forces coupled with launching of sustained people’s friendly operations based on hard and specific intelligence ensured elimination of terrorists in the area and paved the way for lasting peace, stability and development.

The Army has contributed largely to building of the infrastructure and facilities in the remote areas of Poonch and Rajouri districts.

The construction of the auditorium has been done under Operation

Sadbhavna by a Rashtriya Rifles battalion under the aegis of the Sector Headquarters, Rashtriya Rifles, and Counter-Insurgency Force (Romeo).

The project was undertaken by the Army to provide a location in Thannamandi which could be used not only by students and the faculty of the Govt Degree College, but also by the locals. Cultural programmes, seminars and debates can also be held in the auditorium. Aspirations of the faculty were taken into consideration before the project was conceived and executed.

Srinagar, June 23
Former Chief of the Army Staff, General V P Malik (retd), said here today that India was engaged in a proxy war with Pakistan not only in the country but also in Afghanistan and stressed the need for strengthening democracy in Pakistan.

He was speaking at a seminar, “Rising India- Challenges of a Troubled Neighbourhood”,organised by the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Memorial here today.

The former Army Chief stressed the need for having a political, social and economic power to avoid votebank politics, which, in turn, led to serious problems like the Maoist menace.

“Our enemy is not Pakistan or its people”,he said, and added the Pakistan Army had “vested interests” in the continuance of the trouble. There was need to strengthen the democratic process in Pakistan through talks.

He pointed out that Pakistan was dependent on China for nuclear technology and smaller arms. “Pakistan is facing very serious political, social and economic challenges”, Malik said, and added that its economic problem was more serious.

Referring to the challenges India was facing as compared to its neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, the former Army Chief held that India had risen, particularly during the past 25 years. “India would have arisen faster than China, but the troubled neighbourhood has affected our rise”, he said. The country had unresolved issues with China and Pakistan. Stating that the challenge faced by Muslims in India is not a challenge of numbers but of power,noted journalist M.J.Akbar said India would rise only if everyone in the country was part of “rising India”.

Srinagar, June 23
Union Secretary for Tribal Affairs G. B. Mukherji called on Minister for Social Welfare Sakina Itoo here yesterday.

The meeting, according to an official spokesman, was held on the directions of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to work out the modalities for the rehabilitation of Gujjars and Bakerwals in the state and for providing them more facilities.

A detailed discussion was held to work out the modalities for providing better amenities to the two communities to ensure their permanent rehabilitation.

Highlighting their problems, Itoo said Gujjars and Bakerwals had suffered the most in all natural calamities as they had to live in jungles and change their sojourn for want of food, fodder and shelter.

The minister laid stress on opening additional mobile schools and establishing Gujjar and Bakerwal hostels in newly created districts, special package under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for opening anganwari centres in all tribal areas, besides establishing new vocational training centres and upgradation of the existing ones.

She said there were around 2500 anganwari centres in the tribal areas in rented buildings at present and asked for funds to construct independent buildings.

The Union Secretary assured the minister that all efforts would be made to accept the demands and action would be taken in this regard.

Srinagar, June 23
Hoteliers in the Kashmir valley are dismayed over the government decision making it mandatory for them to obtain a letter of consent from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) for the renewal of the registration of their hotels or guest houses. They feel ‘discriminated’ against saying the registration of hotels and guest houses is renewed after five years in Jammu while the time period for renewal here is one year.

“The renewal of registration is now with the SPCB. Why this disparity?,” asks Siraj Ahmad, president of the Kashmir Hotels and Restaurant Association. He added that the SPCB came into existence in 1987 while the hotels existed much before it. “The SPCB is a different department and has a different mandate,” he said.

Ahmad said, “When we apply for the renewal of registration our request is not given any consideration. Hotels, guest houses and restaurants are duly registered with the Department of Tourism. They were required to seek the renewal of registration from the Tourism Department. But the department has almost made it mandatory for us to obtain a letter of consent from the SPCB.”

Referring to a joint meeting with Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora and Minister for Forests and Environment Mian Altaf Ahmad on April 3, Ahmad said it was decided that the SPCB should not ask for any project report or completion of other formalities from hotels or guest houses as the Department of Tourism issued them registration certificates after completing such formalities.

“It was also decided that department shall not tag registration or renewal of certificates with the SPCB,” he said.

Ahmad said it was further decided that both ministers would jointly take up the issue of providing basic infrastructure in form of drainage, sewage, sewage treatment plants for the disposal of effluents with the ministry concerned.