Jammu, August 1
Taking a serious note of the assault on a Sikh youth in the Tral area of Kashmir, senior Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) leader and Minister for Agriculture in Punjab Sucha Singh Langah today asked the Congress-National Conference regime in the state to provide security to the minorities living in the Valley.

Interacting with mediapersons here today, Langah said it was the duty of the state government to ensure the safety of the minorities. “Punjab has set an example for the other states on providing security to the minorities,” he said, pointing out that after 1947 not even a single incident had taken place in which minorities were harassed. “All sections in Punjab believe in brotherhood and communal harmony”, he said.

Langah said besides the government, it was a responsibility of the majority community in Kashmir to single out those miscreants who had been involved in such incidents. “Leaders of the majority community should come forward to protect minorities in the Valley,” he suggested.

“The incident at Tral was uncalled for and aimed at disturbing the communal harmony, peace and tranquillity in the Valley”, he said, adding, “Even after exodus of Kashmir Pandits, Sikhs living in the Kashmir valley have always kept the national flag high and it is the prime duty of the government to provide them security”.

He, however, warned that they would not remain a mute spectator if such incidents were repeated in future. “We are with the Sikhs living in the Valley and our party would not allow anyone to humiliate and terrorise the minorities in Kashmir”, he said.

Leaders of the state unit of theShiromani Akali Dal (B), who were also present at the press conference, alleged that Sikhs in the state had been discriminated against in all spheres of life.

Jammu, August 1
By getting Shoaib Lone appointed as president of the Pradesh Youth Congress (PYC), Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz has once again proved that the Congress high command is giving priority to his choice as far as running of the party in the state is concerned.

Although MLA, Banihal, Vakar Rasool, who was the choice of the anti-Soz faction, has been “accommodated” as national general secretary of the Youth Congress, the appointment of Lone is being considered as a severe setback to the detractors of the PCC chief.

The dissidents, who own their allegiance to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, were aggressively pursuing the candidature of Rasool for the post of the PYC chief and this faction had exerted an intense pressure on the party leadership on this issue.

The appointment of Vakar as national general secretary is being seen as an attempt by the party high command to “accommodate” him to keep the anti-Soz faction in good humour. The PYC president’s post became a prestigious issue for the rival factions in the PCC. Both the factions campaigned aggressively for the appointment of their respective candidates.

Insiders in the Congress said the appointment of Shoaib Lone was a clear indication that the high command had given a free hand to Saifuddin Soz to run the party in the state.

The sources added three candidates, namely, Shoaib Lone, RS Pathania and Vakar Rasool, were shortlisted for the PYC chief’s post. The core team of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi had called the trio for the final round of interview in New Delhi.

While Lone’s candidature had the backing of Soz, the PCC chief’s detractors were in favour of Vakar Rasool. Pathania, who is a columnist and an advocate, was a neutral candidate.

As performance of Pathania was good in interview, he was appointed as senior vice-president of the PYC and assigned the job to look after the affairs of the party in the Jammu province.

Interestingly, Pathania is also considered a loyalist of Ghulam Nabi Azad, but none of the faction supported his candidature due to infighting within the group.

“After getting Lone appointed as PYC chief, the PCC chief is going to bring some changes in the organisation of the party as this development has been considered as a big morale booster for his faction”, sources said, adding the PCC chief would replace some heads of the frontal organisations very soon to strengthen his own group.

Srinagar, August 1
The assessment of loss to crops and various structures in north Kashmirs’ Bandipora district, which had recently witnessed flash floods, is under way.

“The Assessment is going on in hilly areas. We are in the process of assessing loss to fruits, paddy and houses”, says Muzaffar Ahmad Peer, Assistant Commissioner, Bandipora.

Due to cloudbursts and torrential rains in the last week of July, most of the mountain streams in north Kashmir were flooded. Bandipora witnessed flash floods on July 28 that threatened several villages, including Malangam, Turkapora and Aloosa. Stretches of agricultural land were inundated, crops and houses damaged in these villages.

“It is not an emergency like situation”, says the Assistant Commissioner, adding eight families were shifted to the safer places as a precautionary measure. He added, “The water level is receding, but there is a problem of soil erosion, so we have held these families back till we are satisfied”.

One person lost his life to flash floods in north Kashmir that inundated several villages on intervening night of July 27 and July 28 and three people were rescued by Army after they were trapped for more than a day in flood waters.

Various teams of the Flood Control, Revenue and Agriculture Departments have already been deputed to evaluate losses. Villagers complain that breaches in river banks led to such floods.

They demanded restoration of protection bunds and repair work of embankments of Arin and Madhumati nullahs on a war-footing.

“Our requests often fall on deaf ears. A comprehensive plan is required to protect people, especially those living on the banks of these nullahs, from floods”, say residents. — OC

Srinagar, August 1
Governor N. N. Vohra today reviewed arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra at the Baltal base camp. He had visited the holy cave and Panjtarni camps yesterday in the wake of heavy rain and inclement weather in the past several days.

The Governor, who is also the Chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board(SASB), accompanied by senior officers of the SASB went round the camp and inspected the logistical facilities and other yatra arrangements. He interacted with the officers and agencies concerned who are providing services to the pilgrims.

He also reviewed the arrangements in regard to sanitation, cleanliness, toilet facilities, functioning of the Sewage Treatment Plant, J&K Bank’s ATM facility, power and drinking water supply, medicare, the functioning of langars and other utilities.

The officers concerned were directed to ensure proper arrangements for the collection and disposal of solid waste on a daily basis at the base camp and all other locations in the yatra area.

He laid special emphasis on protecting the environment and ecology of the area.

He asked the langarwalas, shopkeepers and other service providers to daily ensure cleanliness in and around their establishments.

The Governor also interacted with the yatris and enquired about the arrangements.

Srinagar, August 1
Minister for Finance Abdul Rahim Rather, Minister for Rural Development, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar and Minister of State for Tourism and PHE Nasir Aslam Wani today reviewed the law and order situation in Pulwama and Shopian districts and directed the security forces to exercise the maximum restraint to avoid any unpleasant incident.

At a meeting of officers here today, they also directed the district administration to ensure that there was no loss of human lives and the minimum force was used to bring the situation under control.

Appealing to the people to maintain peace, the ministers said the government was making all efforts to restore normalcy to the Valley and sought their cooperation. They maintained that the government was sensitive to the difficulties the public had been facing for the past few weeks and directed the administration to take effective measures to alleviate people’s problems.

The ministers, who rushed to the town, following the directions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah impressed upon the administration to ensure round-the-clock availability of essential services.

Meanwhile, Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control Taj Mohiudin, accompanied by Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir and Minister of State for Agriculture and Medical Education Javid Ahmad Dar reviewed the law and order situation in Baramulla and Bandipora districts at a series of high-level meetings and directed the security agencies to exercise the maximum restraint while dealing with the law and order situation. They also directed the district authorities to ensure that normalcy was restored at the earliest.

Jammu, August 1
Friendship Day remained a lacklustre affair here today with people preferring to greet each other on social networking sites than in person.

There was no special decoration of shops selling gifts and cards and no enthusiasm was seen among residents. The day which is demonstrative more of Western culture than anything else had no takers with youngsters who are the focus of such festivals not knowing what it was all about.

Poonam Sharma, a student of Jammu University, said:” For us , all days are for friends.So, there is no need of such special days. I,however, wished all my friends on Facebook and Orkut and they also wished me”.

She said she couldn’t think of sending special gifts for her friends as was common on Valentine’s Day.

Sunil who runs a shop said:”There were few takers for special gifts like bouquets and greeting cards today”.

Moreover, it being a Sunday also dampened the spirits of the youngsters.

Sheetal Reothia, a student, said:” I remained at home.Maybe if it was not a holiday, we could have celebrated the day”.

Jammu, August 1
The Rajouri police has booked a doctor of a private hospital in Jammu under Section 376 of the RPC (charge of rape) on a complaint filed by a girl of Chandigarh alleging that he made physical relations with her on the pretext of marriage.

Without divulging much information about the case, the police said it had registered a case against the doctor and a search was on to nab him.

“The unabated killings of youths by a trigger-happy government could not subdue people’s sentiments for peace, dignity and resolution”, a spokesman said. The party discussed the strategy to respond to this unprecedented situation and decided that it would in all circumstances stand by the people of the state.

Sources in the PDP said in-depth discussions were held and there would be further consultations in view of the prevailing situation.

Others who attended the meeting included party president Mehbooba Mufti, senior leaders Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Abdul Aziz Zargar, Mohammed Dilawar Mir, Tariq Hameed Karra, Qazi Mohammed Afzal and Mohammad Altaf Bukhari.

The legislators who attended the meeting included Abdul Rehman Veeri, Mohammad Sartaj Madni, Nizamudin Bhat, Murtaza Ahmad Khan, MLC, Syed Bashir Ahmad, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Mansoor Hussain, Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Syed Asgar Ali.

Jammu, August 1
Justice J. P. Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has held that the dismissal of a petitioner’s husband did not suffer from any error of jurisdiction or law warranting interference by the court.

“The petitioner’s husband, who was neither an officer nor a subordinate officer, could thus well be dismissed from service.The dismissal order passed by the Commandant, Headquarters, IG, BSF, STC, Dhar Road, Udhampur, cannot, thus, be said to suffer from any error of jurisdiction as stated by the petitioner’s learned counsel. The Commandant was competent to pass the order, which cannot, thus, be faulted”,ruled the court.

Krishan Lal, a cook in the BSF, was dismissed from service in 1986 for his prolonged unauthorised absence from duty. Before his sack, he had suffered eight convictions under Section 19 (a) and 19 (b) of the Border Security Force Act, 1968 while serving in the 60 Battalion and the 58 Battalion of the BSF. After his death, his wife approached the High Court seeking grant of family pension.

On being informed that her husband had been dismissed from service, she withdrew the writ petition with liberty to file a fresh plea.She subsequently sought the quashing of her husband’s dismissal from service and release of pensionary benefits on the ground that the dismissal of her husband, having been ordered by an incompetent officer, was void abinitio having been passed without holding an inquiry.

Jammu, August 1
The Corps of Signals celebrated its centenary by organising various adventure activities in military stations. The Crossed Swords Information Warriors also celebrated the centenary in Akhnoor.

All ranks and their families of Akhnoor and Tanda Garrisons today witnessed the performance of various teams of the Corps in the Sangha Auditorium.

The General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the division was the chief guest.

Besides many cultural items, the audacious display of various techniques by the team led by Havildar Anup Saikia raised the adrenalin of the spectators and left them spellbound. The chief guest felicitated the participants for their enthralling and scintillating performances.

The GoC wished the Corps of Signals success and exhorted the Crossed Swords Information Warriors to rededicate themselves to the pursuit of excellence in all spheres.

Jammu, August 1
The Jammu and Kashmir People’s Forum (JKPF) today warned the Central government against succumbing before the pressure of separatists and observed that the present turmoil in Kashmir was a result of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched from across the border to challenge the sovereignty of the Indian state.

Addressing a seminar on “Present Turmoil in Kashmir” organised by the JKPF here, prominent intellectuals of the Jammu province termed the ongoing violence in the Valley as “gun-less terror” to disintegrate the country. They urged the government to tackle the situation with an iron hand.

Speakers said the present turmoil in the Valley was an outcome of the nexus between some faction of the NC and the PDP, adding the “immature” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had failed to control the situation.

They regretted that instead of working as head of the government, the Chief Minister had been acting as leader of opposition because ever since he took over as Chief Minister he had been giving confusing and provocative statements. “One the one hand, Omar Abdullah has been stating to take stern action against the stone throwers and on the other, he has been announcing an economic package for them,” speakers said, observing that such statements have been creating confusion among the people in general and the administration in particular.

Terming the locking of the Civil Secretariat by Mehbooba Mufti a shocking incident, speakers said “This action speaks about the helplessness of the government.” They warned that the situation had been worsening with every passing day and the government had lost control over the administration.

Prominent among those who spoke in the seminar included eminent advocate and social activist Sheikh Shakil Ahmed, former DGP MM Khajuria, eminent scholars KN Pandita and Daya Sagar. Speakers appealed to the people of the Jammu region to maintain communal harmony and brotherhood at any cost.

Jammu, August 1
“Hawalaat”, a Hindi satire written by playwright and satirist Sarweshwar Dayal Sexena, was presented under the direction of Neeraj Kant here today at Natrang Studio Theatre.

The play is a satire on the democratic set-up which has failed to tap youths, the most energetic human resource of any country.

The outcry of dejected youths has been beautifully portrayed in the play.

The story of the play revolves around three youths who have no place to live. They find themselves searching for food and shelter on a cold winter night. Since nobody is ready to offer them a shelter, they think it proper to have the same in a police lock-up.

For this, they pose as criminals. But a cop on duty is not ready to believe in them and asks them to establish their credentials by demonstrating the expertise in crime. The cop doesn’t get convinced by any of their logics given to him.

To avoid them, the cop agrees to take them to a lock-up (hawalat). Instead of taking them to the police station, the cop misleads them go round at one cross road and finally leaves at the place from where they had started. The play, through its dialogues and funny situations, tries to expose exploitation of the youth by the present system.

It has impeccably depicted how the people in power continue to sell the young generation dreams through their hollow slogans, as a result of which the prime of the young generation is getting wasted. Politicians have been befooling the youth since Independence in the same way the cop played with them.

The role of the cop was played by Mohit Sharma, who was at his best in portraying both the inner and outer conflict of such a complex character. The characters of three youths had been played by Rohit Verma, Pankush Verma and Rahul singh. The music of the play, which complimented and enhanced the emotional appeal of the play, was given by Rohit Verma. The lights were designed and executed by Sona Singh. While Pawan Verma gave the presentations, the show was coordinated by Sumeet Sharma.