Jammu, August 3
Though diarrhoea cases have been reported in the Jammu region, the number of cases of waterborne diseases like malaria and typhoid have started increasing dramatically during the rainy season.

With the onset of the monsoon, the number of persons complaining of malaria and typhoid at the OPD of the Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu, alone is more than 50 on any odd day. On the other hand, the number of diarrhoea patients visiting the GMCH is approximately Rs 200 per day while at Shri Maharaja Ghulab Singh Hospital nearly 30-50 patients (children below five years) are reportedly visiting the OPD everyday.

Health experts at the GMCH maintain that incessant rain leading to stagnation of water in low-lying areas, besides a sudden fall and rise in the temperature have been causing diseases. They believe that poor sanitary conditions, contaminated food and wrong dietary habits are also responsible for the spread of diseases during the monsoon. The malaria and typhoid cases are more prevalent among non-vegetarians, they add.

“The under-construction sites, potholed roads and lanes, pits in and around the localities provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other disease causing germs,” says Dr Bharat Bhushan Gupta, Head of Department, Medicine, and Head, Division of Gastroenterology at the GMCH.

“People should take care that water in the water-coolers are changed periodically, as stagnant water could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” he said. “Flies and mosquito repellants should be used, boiled water, hygienic food and only pasteurised milk should be consumed.”

Another physician, Dr Kewal Krishan, says the symptoms of weakness, cold and tiredness should not be ignored, as these could be the symptoms of typhoid. “People should immediately consult a physician for headache, backache, diarrhoea, constipation and loss of appetite.”

“If tongue becomes dry and develops white patches in the middle causing oily tastes in the mouth, it could also be a symptom of typhoid, besides inflammation of bones,” Dr Kewal adds. “Patients should take complete bed rest and live on liquid or easily digestible diet till the fever subsides,” he recommends. 

Jammu, August 3
Expressing concern over the grave situation in the Kashmir valley, the BJP today asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to confess his inability to handle the state and resign.

Addressing a press conference here, BJP spokesperson Nirmal Kamal said the Chief Minister had miserably failed to deliver and hence he should own his failure and resign. She also targeted Congress leaders from the Jammu region for maintaining a silence over the situation.

“The Congress leaders from this region also need to resign from their respective positions as they are equally responsible for the deteriorating situation and the negative effects of Kashmir have started showing effects in Jammu,” she said. “The terror let loose by the separatists in connivance with their mentors across the border and a mindless approach by the Union government without any policy for the state have cumulated the adversities of the people.”

“There is a need for tackling the problems at political, economic, administrative and judicial levels firmly. The BJP opines that Omar has failed on all fronts. Therefore, he should confess his inability to govern and step down. The complex situation should not be handled by an inexperienced Omar,” Nirmal observed.

The BJP spokesperson said the people of the state had been suffering due to the wrong policies of the Congress. She said despite being a partner in the coalition regime, the Congress leadership had failed to take a decision on the prevailing situation.

Another BJP leader Ramesh Arora charged Omar with following in the footsteps of his grand father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

Jammu, August 3
The Congress high command has snubbed the dissident leaders who are camping against the style of functioning of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz in New Delhi. Annoyed with a campaign launched by the dissidents at this juncture, the Congress high command has asked the “rebels” to immediately return to work and restore peace in their respective areas.

Sources in the party said the Central leadership had taken a serious note of the campaign launched by the dissidents at this time when the state has been passing through a crucial juncture, especially when the Kashmir Valley is on the boil.

One of the senior dissident leaders, who has been camping in the national capital, admitted that response of the central leadership was “cold” as the timing of launching a campaign against the PCC chief was not appropriate. He disclosed that their visit to New Delhi failed to yield any result as the central leadership was not ready to listen to any complaint against the PCC at this time.

Sources in the party disclosed that the Union Minister and AICC general secretary, who is in charge of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, Prithivi Raj Chavan, during his meeting with the visiting leaders, virtually snubbed the dissidents and asked them to cooperate with the PCC chief rather than launching a campaign against him. Chavan, sources said, made it clear that there was no question of change of the PCC chief at this juncture so all the Congress leaders should work under the leadership of Saifuddin Soz.

Despite being snubbed by Chavan, dissidents strongly registered their protest before the AICC general secretary and alleged that the PCC chief had been working in vindictive manner. They further complained that the PCC chief had sidelined a majority of leaders who were loyalist of Ghulam Nabi Azad. Chavan assured that leaders of every faction within the party would be properly accommodated at an appropriate time, but at this juncture Congress workers must reach to the masses for restoring peace in the state.

Although dissidents today called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, they are likely to return empty hand as their campaign against the PCC chief failed to yield any encouraging result.

Sources said majority of the central leaders, who met with the dissidents, told them that the time was not right to launch such a campaign as the Kashmir Valley was on the boil and priority should be to establish peace there. Over hundred leaders, who belong to anti-Soz faction, have been camping in New Delhi for the last four days to complain to the party high command about the functioning of the PCC chief.

Srinagar, August 3
Even though the Kashmir valley has been witnessing violent protests for the past more than two months, a record number of more than four lakh Amarnath pilgrims have performed darshan of the ice lingam.

Though a section of the media quoting some security agencies had claimed that the yatra could be an easy target for militants wanting to disrupt it, so far there had been no untoward incident and the pilgrimage had been going on smoothly.

As per the latest figures, 4.11 lakh pilgrims had so far performed darshan at the cave shrine and they were the registered ones. If the unregistered pilgrims were to be counted, the number would be much higher. “So far, 4,11,407 yatris have darshan at the holy cave shrine. The figure is quite encouraging,” said an official spokesman.

The yatris, who embarked on the yatra, said they were not afraid of the situation in the Kashmir valley, as they were not only being welcomed by the people of Kashmir, but were also being provided a safe passage by them.

“There were rumours that the vehicles carrying pilgrims were being targeted and attacked in Kashmir, which was totally false. No vehicle was attacked and even when there were protests on the highway, the protesters gave a safe passage to the vehicles of pilgrims while they stopped other vehicles,” said Baljinder Singh, who has been running a langar en route the yatra.

“The people of Kashmir were very hospitable and helpful. They even served us water at many places,” said Kamla Devi, who was on her way back to Jammu after having darshan.

The separatists in Kashmir too had made it clear that the pilgrims were guests and were welcome as the ongoing agitation in Kashmir had nothing to do with the yatra.

Meanwhile a group of 3, 465 yatris, comprising 2,283 men, 747 women, 147 children and 288 sadhus, today left the Nunwan-Pahalgam base camp and 757 yatris, comprising 516 men, 191 women, 45 children and three sadhus, left from the Baltal route.

Srinagar, August 3
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has expressed outrage at the continued killings of young men and women across Kashmir and blamed the government for “declaring a direct war on the people of the state”.

In a statement, Mehbooba said Kashmir at present needed understanding, compassion and a political approach. She lamented that the government at the end of the two-month spell of death and destruction was for more force and brazen threats against the civilian population.

Mehbooba said the decision to introduce the Rapid Action Force in addition to the existing police and paramilitary forces in a highly militarised place to terrorise the protesting people could further deteriorate the situation.

She held that the belated acknowledgement of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that the youths were protesting not under any instigation, as he had been alleging for more than a year, and that the youths were not organised “only means that he has decided to fight them with weapons and force, putting the blame for consequences on the people of  the Valley”.

The PDP president urged the government to try to control violence in the first instance and then talk of a “political initiative”. The threat of using more force was not just adding hostility to the already surcharged atmosphere but also amounted to insulting a people who take pride in their centuries-long history and culture of knowledge, tolerance and civility. “It is now clear that the government has run out of ideas on Kashmir and the totally bankrupt approach in handling the present situation will only add to anger and alienation of the people,” she said.

Jammu, August 3
The Joint Forum of Kashmiri Pandit Organisations comprising the All-State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC), the Panun Kashmir and the Non-Camp Migrant Co-ordination Committee expressed concern over the ongoing strife in the Kashmir Valley.

Addressing a meeting held here today, Virender Raina, national spokesperson of the joint forum, gave a brief presentation on the current political developments.

He called the incidents of arson and stone-throwing in the Valley as a primitive and crude form of terrorism.

General secretary of the ASKPC HL Chatta made a categorical demand for the reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

“There are many stakeholders in the state who have full faith in the Constitution and unity and integrity of India. Their core interests deserve to be protected and cannot be bartered away in the name of rehabilitation of stone throwers and terrorists”, he said.

Prof ML Raina, member of the forum, said there was no need for the Government of India to keep any false hope of “settlement of the Kashmir issue” alive and people in Kashmir need to be told that their destinies are linked with India.

“The Kashmir issue is a ploy of Pakistan to undermine India’s position,” AN Vaishnavi, a senior member of the forum, appealed to the community members to exhibit their unity of purpose at this crucial hour of destiny of the state.

He said a lot of sacrifices had been made by the nationalist forces, including the Kashmiri Pandit community for the unity and integrity of the nation in this state.

“There is a paramount need to protect the essence of these sacrifices by being vigilant. Leaders, activists and intellectuals of the community are advised to close rank and file at all levels and remain in close touch with the activities of the joint forum and strengthen it,” said Vaishnavi.

Jammu, August 3
Government Model School, Satwari, organised a plantation drive on its premises here today. The students were asked to plant as many saplings on the school premises as possible. The Chief Education Officer, Natha Ram Dingra, was the chief guest while as the Chief Executive Officer, Cantonment Board, Satwari Cantonment, Kuldip Raj Gupta, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

The plantation drive was inaugurated by the chief guest by planting a sapling of neem and other trees. The guests stressed upon the need to plant more and more saplings in the surroundings and in educational institutions.

Moreover, cantonment members Rajesh Bakshi, Hardev Singh, Bharat Bhushan and others provided infrastructure items like two almirahs, floor mats, chairs, a desk and a water-cooler to the school.

Jammu, August 3
Fearing a risk to their lives in the Kashmir valley amidst the prevailing volatile situation, nearly 200 employees of the Northern Railway deployed in the Valley today returned to Jammu.

Narrating the yesterday’s incident, when some miscreants torched the Budgam Railway Station, Chaman Lal, a railway employee from Jalandhar, said, “The situation has worsened in the Valley and it is not possible to work in such a condition. The mob torched the railway station, but anyhow we managed to save our lives.”

He added, “Since security officials failed to provide us the security, we decided to leave the Valley. We all belong to the Jammu region or other states and are completely unable to survive in the Valley as the towns are witnessing complete shutdown for past many days due to the ongoing protests.”

Not only Chaman Lal, many others like him, including some women, also returned from the Valley today. The employees of the Northern Railway hired some private buses from the Valley and reached the city today.

As soon as they landed at the railway station, they hugged leaders of the Northern Railway Mulazim Union (NRMU) as they had lost the hopes to survive in the Valley.

The employees here chanted slogans against the government and warned it that if adequate security arrangements were not made to them, they will not resume their duties.

Shamber Singh, assistant branch secretary of the union, said, “The government has failed on every front. It is the duty of every government to first protect the lives of those who have come from far-flung places, after leaving their states.” He added: “If the situation remained same in coming days, no one from the Jammu region or other states will go to the Valley in future.”

Later, the railway authorities provided lodging arrangements to those who returned from the Valley.

Jammu, August 3
Despite repeated assurances given by the state government to provide adequate security to vehicles plying on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway with essential commodities, attacks on oil tankers and trucks are going unabated in different parts of the Kashmir valley.

Yesterday a mob damaged some oil tankers at Awantipora in the wee hours and severely injured drivers and their helpers. Reliving that horrible scene, Balvinder Singh, a truck driver, who got a fracture on his right arm said: “First we were stopped by the police outside Awantipora and when they told us to move ahead, a large number of people came on the road brandishing sticks and started damaging our vehicles. When we tried to run away from the spot they thrashed us and pelted our vehicles with stones.”

He asked, “When the mob was waiting for the vehicles to move on the road, why did the police allow us to go ahead?”

Besides Balvinder, others like him received grave injuries and they claimed that one of their companion was admitted to the Government Hospital in Udhampur, as he received an eye injury.

Flaying the government, Devinder Singh, general secretary, Tanker Operators Union, said it had failed in restoring the normalcy in the Valley. “Nearly 200 oil tankers are stuck in the Valley and the drivers are not allowed either to return or unload the fuel. It can lead to a major tragedy, if mob torches any of these tankers” said, Devinder Singh, who also returned from Kashmir to Jammu today.

He further added after crossing the Jawahar Tunnel the route was not safe for drivers.

Till the situation returns to normal in valley, the drivers of oil tankers and trucks have decided not to go there. 

Srinagar, August 3
Shoot-at-sight orders were issued by the police in curfew-bound Srinagar even as people defied the curfew and attacked government installations for the second consecutive day today, prompting the police to open fire and lob tear gas shells in different parts of Kashmir, resulting in the death of five more persons.

The shoot-at-sight orders were announced through the public address systems fitted in police vans in several areas in the city.

In fresh clashes, at least, five persons were killed and 100 others injured while a youth, Riyaz Ahmad, who was injured at Khrew in Pulwama district on Saturday succumbed to his injuries in hospital here today.

Thousands held a procession carrying the body of Anees Ahmad Ganai, who was killed in a clash with the police at Narwara in the downtown area. A large number of people joined the funeral procession after Nimaz-e-Jinazah at Jamia Masjid and raising slogans marched towards Eidgah on a call of the hardline APHC leader Syed Ali Geelani.

People from Khanyar to Safakadal held demonstrations defying the curfew and held protest marches throughout the city. The police trying to disperse the agitated demonstrators opened fire at Safakadal, resulting in injuries to at least 50 persons.

A youth, Merajuddin Lone, was killed and 18 others were injured when the police opened fire on the demonstrators in the Qamarwari area. Three of the seriously injured were admitted to SMHS Hospital. Angered by reports of more deaths, people in the Shlateng, Parimpora and HMT areas also held demonstrations, defying the curfew and clashing with the police, resulting in injuries to at least eight persons with one of them, Suhail Ahmad Dar, succumbing to his injuries in the hospital.

Two others were killed in the clashes in the Frisal area of Kulgam district after demonstrators attacked the local police station, prompting the police to use baton charges, tear gas shells and open fire. At least, 15 persons were injured, some of them seriously, in the incidents. Two of them later succumbed to their injuries in the hospital here.

Meanwhile, APHC leader Geelani, who had called for a march to Eidgah today, was re-arrested after he came out of the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), where he had been undergoing treatment for the past many days. Geelani, detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) since June 24 , was last week released on parole for one month.Besides,asking the people to march to Eidgah, he had also planned to join the march, but was held soon. Assuring of a peaceful demonstration, he had also asked the authorities to lift the curfew.

The APHC has been issuing weekly calendars of protest programmes against the series of killings since June-end.

Meanwhile, a police spokesman said mobs defied the curfew at many places in Srinagar, Budgam, Bandipora, Awantipora, Kulgam and Baramulla and indulged in heavy stone throwing. The mobs attacked public and police property at a number of places. The police post at Bomie was also attacked. In Frisal Sherpora, Kulgam,a police post was set on fire, and houses of a policeman and Special Police Official (SPO) were set on fire by the rampaging mobs. In Budgam also, mobs resorted to stone throwing,prompting the police to fire in the air.