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Law Minister’s Statement Lambasting CRPF
Mehbooba, CPM condemn killing of youths
Amarnath Yatra |
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Hideout busted in Mandi
PDP youth wing activists hold protest
Two rescue teams stationed
at Sheshnag, Poshpathri
Harsh Dev questions method of deciding ceilings
ETT exams not deferred in Jammu province
Three mines defused near border
CRPF exercises utmost restraint while dealing with mobs: Special DG
Chief Electoral Officers’ meet begins
Youths snatch gold chain
Protest against traffic problem
Free langar for sadhus
Car falls into river, 1 killed
10-day acting workshop begins
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Law Minister’s Statement Lambasting CRPF
Jammu, June 29 Even the coalition partner Congress has taken exception to Sagar’s statement. “Instead of indulging in blame game, it is high time to work unitedly for the restoration of peace in the state in general and the valley in particular,” said Ravinder Sharma, spokesperson for the Pradesh Congress Committee. “The security forces are here to assist the police and the paramilitary forces like the CRPF have been working under the command of the local police,” Sharma told The Tribune. He added that without the completion of the inquiry initiated by the state government it was unwise to arrive at a conclusion and hold the CRPF responsible for all incidents. Without mentioning the Law Minister, the Congress spokesperson said responsible persons should act with maturity at a time when anti-social elements were trying to take advantage of the prevailing unrest in the valley. He, however, said protecting lives of the citizens should be the first priority of the security forces. Reacting strongly to the statement, BJP state president Shamsher Singh Manhas said, “The security forces are being demoralised by the Chief Minister himself. He favours the withdrawal of troops, revocation of the AFSPA and rakes up the issue of human rights violation.” “The coalition partners are busy blaming each other for the present situation in the state,” a Panthers Party spokesperson said, adding that the security of the state as well as integrity of the country had been endangered by the present government. They also sought invoking Section 92 of the J&K constitution and imposing the Governor’s rule in the state.
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Mehbooba, CPM condemn killing of youths
Srinagar, June 29 Mehbooba said the death of two more young men in Anantnag today came as another big shock from a government that had forfeited every moral right to govern. “The boys, along with others who sustained serious injuries and are battling for life, have received bullets in heads even as there was no grave law and order problem in the area,” she added. Commenting on the government intention to deploy the Army for containing the widespread unrest, the PDP chief said it would be a remedy worse than the problem and was not the option in the changed scenario. Mehbooba said it appeared the government had convinced itself of the situation having reversed to 1990 when the armed forces had to be deployed to fight militants. At a time when the discourse had transformed to the withdrawal of troops from civilian areas and revoking the AFSPA , the government pronouncement sounded outrightly sinister and motivated. Describing as unfortunate the comments of the Union Home Secretary yesterday, Mehbooba said the lack of appreciation of the ground realities in the state was obvious from his observations. Meanwhile, the CPM also expressed shock over the recent incidents of killing of youths in the Kashmir valley. It said there was a complete lack of any political initiative by the Central government. Referring to the recent killings, it observed that these had further alienated people. Despite repeated assurances by the Central and state governments of zero tolerance towards human rights violations, little had been done to punish those responsible for such heinous crimes. CPM’s state secretary and MLA MY Tarigami called on Governor NN Vohra at the Raj Bhavan here on Tuesday. They discussed wide-ranging issues, including the recent developments in the state, during the meeting, an official spokesman said.
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Amarnath Yatra
Jammu, June 29 The yatra will commence tomorrow morning. The first jatha will leave the base camp at 5 am. Last minute arrangements are being made at the scheduled places for the stay arrangements of sadhus and devotees here. The organisations that will serve langar to the pilgrims have also started camping at their allotted places. Fearing militant attacks, the security agencies have advised the police to make three-tier security arrangements for the langar venues as the places allotted for langar are very close to drains and nullahs, which have proved to be a route of infiltration in the past. A senior intelligence officer told The Tribune that they had communicated to the police either to provide high security at the langar sites or change the venues. “A letter has been sent to the police mentioning the names of the nullahs, including Sharp nullah, Babar nullah, Ujj river, Basantar nullah and Tarnah nullah in Samba and Hiranagar areas, that can pose danger to the yatra anytime as these are very close to the langar sites,” said the officer. He further said to thwart any attack on the Yatri Niwas in Bhagwati Nagar here, they had given an advisory report to the police to keep a round-the-clock vigil. Meanwhile, a huge number of policemen and CRPF jawans have been deployed outside the Yatri Niwas here as devotees from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pardesh and other states have started arriving in the city. All major roads in the city are giving a festive look with a large number of sadhus chanting slogans.
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Hideout busted in Mandi
Jammu, June 29 Official sources said a joint team of the Army and the police busted a hideout. One AK rifle and 12 rounds were seized in the operation. Acting on a tip-off, troops of 12 Grenadiers and the police busted the hideout in Mandi area. Meanwhile, a blast occurred today in a park in Poonch, but no body was injured in the incident.
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Protesters defy curfew in Sopore
Srinagar, June 29 Sources said defying the curfew at various places agitated youths took to the streets and pelted the security forces with stones. However, the security forces exercised restraint and resorted to a mild cane-charge at certain places to disperse the agitated mob. The police said the situation was under control and additional reinforcement had been called to maintain law and order in the town. “Though the situation is tense, it is under control and additional forces have been called in to maintain law and order in the town,” said a senior police office. He said barring a few minor incidents of violence at some places the situation was under control. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called on Governor NN Vohra at the Raj Bhavan here this evening The Governor and the Chief Minister discussed various aspects of the present security situation in the state, particularly in the backdrop of the recent developments in the meeting which lasted about an hour. A spokesman said the Governor and the Chief Minister also reviewed the arrangements made for the ensuing Amarnath yatra, which is scheduled to commence from Pahalgam and Baltal on July 1.
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PDP youth wing activists hold protest
Jammu, June 29 Carrying placards and banners, the PDP youth wing activists held a rally in the city and shouted slogans against the government for not taking steps to control prices. They also gave a memorandum to the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu. Addressing the workers, PDP youth wing leaders said the state government had failed to mitigate the miseries of the masses. “Since January 5, 2009, when Omar Abdullah took over as Chief Minister, problems of the masses have been mounting due to the indifferent and casual approach of the coalition,” they said, adding that the state had been grappling with an unprecedented crisis due to the non-availability of ration in government-run depots, scarcity of drinking water in most parts of the state coupled with severe power cuts. The failure of the government to check the galloping prices of essential commodities had compounded the woes of the commoners.
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Two rescue teams stationed
at Sheshnag, Poshpathri
Srinagar, June 29 Governor NN
Vohra, during his visit to review arrangements for the forthcoming Amarnath
yatra, spent some time with the members of the two teams at Sheshnag today. These MRT personnel, equipped with wireless sets and required mountaineering equipment, would move every day at 4 am from their respective locations towards the Mahagunas Top and convey the status of the track to Sheshnag and Panjtarni by around 6 am to the authorities, facilitating a decision by the Camp Directors regarding the movement of the
yatris. These teams shall fix ropes along the critical stretches of the track between Sheshnag and Poshpathri today itself for ensuring the safety of The Governor, who is also the chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board
(SASB), undertook an extensive aerial survey of the Chandanwari-Sheshnag-Mahagunas
Top-Panjtarni stretch of the Pahalgam route today ahead of the yatra beginning on July 1. The Governor also visited
Nunwan, Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panjtarni camps on the way and reviewed all arrangements for the
yatra. He was accompanied by Raj Kumar Goyal, Chief Executive Officer of the
SASB, an official spokesman here said. He had an aerial view of the track from Pahalgam to Panjtarni in the morning and spent over an hour to review the arrangements at the camp. Thereafter, he reviewed the arrangements at
Sheshnag. At Chandanwari, the Governor inaugurated a medical camp set up by the Bharat Seva Ashram Sangh for the pilgrims. He also had a round of Chandanwari to take stock of the
yatra-related arrangements on the ground. Later, he went around the Nunwan base camp near Pahalgam for nearly two hours for an in-depth review of the logistic facilities and other arrangements positioned for ensuring a smooth pilgrimage. He interacted with the officers of the
SASB, district administration, various agencies and the government departments. The Deputy Commissioner,
Anantnag, Jai Pal Singh, informed the Governor that all required arrangements had been completed at the base camp as well as en route the holy cave.
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Harsh Dev questions method of deciding ceilings
Jammu, June 29 He, however, expressed dismay that the ceilings and targets for district-level plans for the current year, as conveyed to the various districts, continued to be the same as that for the previous year. Harsh Dev said the same size of district plans for the current and previous years had raised doubts about the announcements made by the government and its slogans of transparency and accountability. He said the government needed to explain as to why the size of district plans continued to be the same while the funds allocated had increased by 10 per cent. Harsh Dev further castigated the government for the inordinate delay in the holding of District Development Board (DDB) meetings. The Panthers Party leader further accused the Chief Minister of discriminating between the districts and announcing his participation only in the DDB meets of Srinagar and Jammu districts. He said rural districts that required greater thrust and focus were being ignored with the Chief Minister too declining to participate in their DDB meetings.
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ETT exams not deferred in Jammu province
Jammu, June 29 The board has already conducted four papers since June 21 and six are yet Sanmeet Kaur, a candidate from Punjab, said, “Last evening one on my friends informed me that she has heard about the deferment of the remaining papers. I am worried since then.” Tarun Kumar, another candidate from Bihar, said, “We are confused as some say the board will conduct the examinations while others say these have been postponed.” Meanwhile, it is being reported that some candidates who did not get their roll numbers on time have moved court. As a result the board has postponed the remaining exams. Board chairman Deshbandhu Gupta said the writ petition filed in the court is on a different issue that has no link with the examinations. “We might conduct separate examinations for those students,” said Gupta. The chairman further said the candidates should not worry as the examinations would be conducted as per the schedule in the Jammu province. “We have postponed the papers in the Kashmir province due to the prevailing situation,” he added. Meanwhile, education board secretary Sheikh Bashir Ahmad has appealed to the candidates not to believe rumours. According to a senior board official, about 19,500 ETT candidates are appearing in the examinations being held at over 100 examination centres in the Jammu province. |
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Three mines defused near border
Jammu, June 29 During Operation Parakram forward areas on the international border were mined to ward off enemy’s threat. |
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CRPF exercises utmost restraint while dealing with mobs: Special DG
In the backdrop of Sopore and other related incidents, the CRPF has been accused of highhandedness by separatists and even reportedly by Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar. In an exclusive conversation with The Tribune, the Special DG, CRPF, shared his thoughts on circumstances that led to the present situation in Kashmir. “We are here in the state to assist the Jammu and Kashmir police and our deployment is being made purely as per its requirement,” he said. “We have always tackled the situation exercising the maximum restraint, a fact substantiated by injuries to over 1,700 of our jawans in stone throwing by unruly crowds in Kashmir in the past two years,” said Tripathi. Despite our troopers losing their eyesights and some getting disfigured due to stone throwing, the CRPF always maintained a neat and clean track-record in honouring human rights, he added. “We never fired on crowds but certain inevitable conditions created by unruly mobs led to the firing by the CRPF, that too in self-defence, Tripathi said. He recalled how an unruly mob attacked and ransacked a CRPF camp in Noorbagh on June 20. “Our jawans were inside the camp and not on the road when a mob of nearly 1,000 people returning from a funeral attacked the camp and set a bulletproof bunker on fire, he said. There were jawans inside the bunker, who had to run for their lives, he added. After the mob stoned the camp, the sentry on guard duty opened fire in self-defence, leading to the killing of Javed Malla of Noorbagh. Similarly, on June 25, when the CRPF, in a joint operation with the Rashtriya Rifles and the police, killed two militants in Sopore a mob indulged in heavy stone throwing on the security forces. In that situation the security forces retaliated in self-defence, leading to the killing of Firdous and Bilal, he said. Tripathi added that before the crowd attacked the forces a CRPF Inspector, Rohtas Kumar, was fired upon from the crowd. He was hit in his leg and had to be evacuated to hospital, said the Special DG, adding that a CRPF vehicle was also torched by the crowd. Yet again yesterday a mob of 700 persons attacked another CRPF post in a Cineplex in Sopore. The CRPF, which has religiously adhered to zero tolerance towards human rights violations, had to open fire purely in self-defence and when its camps came under attack, Tripathi said. He, however, said the CRPF would continue to perform its duties in tandem with the requirements of the state administration.
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Chief Electoral Officers’ meet begins
Srinagar, June 29 The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Navin Chawla, presided over the function. Election Commissioners of India SY Qureshi, VS Sampath and Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, BR Sharma were present on the occasion. The agenda points of the conference to be discussed are the status of electoral rolls revision, storage and diagnostic checking of electronic voting machines, election planning and MCC application for states going to polls, IEO/DJ planning at the district level and expenditure monitoring and accounting in the election process. The conference discussed measures to be taken for curbing money power in the elections so that the sense of discipline and transparency was ensured in the electoral process, an official spokesman here said. It was also discussed that the completion of electoral rolls across the country by July-end should be ensured so that bogus and ineligible voters were deleted from the lists, besides the process of the completion of photo identity cards for eligible voters should be completed on the priority basis. The Chief Election Commissioner sought suggestions on various agenda points from the Chief Electoral Officers so that the innovations were incorporated in the election process for making it more transparent. Earlier, Election Commissioners SY Qureshi and VS Sampath spelt out various measures for making the Election Commission more vibrant and responsive. The state Chief Electoral Officer, BR Sharma, suggested various measures to be taken by the Election Commission so that people’s faith was further strengthened. A photo exhibition on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission of India was inaugurated by Chawla. The main facets of the election process of the country from Independence till date are being depicted in the exhibition. The exhibition shall remain open for general public.
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Youths snatch gold chain
Jammu, June 29 According to the complaint, the woman was going to the market when two persons on a motorcycle snatched her gold chain. She failed to read the registration number of the vehicle. A case has been registered. — TNS |
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Protest against traffic problem
Jammu, June 29 Dimple urged upon the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to solve the traffic problem in the city and construct flyovers at Rehari Chungi, Jewel Chowk and Bikram Chowk He also demanded to start metro rail, mono rail and construction of circular roads to minimise the traffic problem. Dimple also demanded funds for the better medical facilities in the city. |
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Free langar for sadhus
Jammu, June 29 According to a statement issued here, the langar was organised on the premises of the temple that was inaugurated by District Commissioner Manoj Dewadi. Identification cards would be issued by the government to the sadhus through this helpline centre for visiting the Amarnath shrine. —
TNS |
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Car falls into river, 1 killed
Jammu, June 29 The police was called in and a rescue operation was launched. Manohar Singh of Surku, who was driving the car, died on the spot while another employee of the Fire Department, Sardar Singh, a resident of Hiranagar, and Pooja of Janipur were critically injured. They have been shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital here. The body was handed over to Manohar Singh’s family after pos-tmortem. A police officer said they were trying to ascertain the reason behind the mishap. |
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10-day acting workshop begins
Jammu, June 29 Speaking on the occasion, Balwant Thakur said it had been the endeavour of Natrang to provide training opportunities to the aspiring actors. “In the recent years it has been observed that there is a growing demand of actors and the young enthusiasts are showing keenness in learning the art of theatre and acting.” During the workshop, focus would be on the exploration of abilities to express themselves through body language and voice modulation. Thakur said: “Theatre training has recently witnessed sea change and devices used have been proved to be one of the most effective tools of personality development.” |
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agencies have advised the police to provide extra security at langar (community kitchen) venues along the
Jammu-Srinagar National Highway being organised to provide free food to pilgrims going on the Amarnath
yatra.
Jammu, June 29
Jammu, June 29