Srinagar, August 14
Governor NN Vohra has called upon all political parties, social, cultural and religious organisations, and all other stakeholders to work together for restoring normalcy and achieving the goal of peace, progress and prosperity in the state.

Once normalcy was restored, there was a need to commence a purposeful dialogue with all those agitating recently, the Governor said. The Centre would need to launch and vigorously pursue a sustained political initiative, he added.

In his message on the eve of Independence Day, the Governor said the liberal democratic framework of the country allowed an enormous scope for divergent viewpoints and various differences could and must be resolved through a sustained dialogue and discussion and not through confrontations and violence. He said a pragmatic initiative for early resolving the political issues, which concerned the people of the state, needed to be carried forward. Multiple meaningful dialogues were also required to be carried out among all divergent groups and between them and the mainstream political parties in the state.

Vohra stressed on the high importance of every element of society urgently organising itself to play a proactive role in promoting sanity and harmony. He observed that due to the sad happenings in Kashmir in the past two months, the normal life continued to be disrupted by an unending series of stone-throwing protesters, burning of public property and attacks on the law enforcement agencies. These incidents, he said, led to continuing confrontations with the security forces and generated a cycle of violence, resulting in loss of a large number of human lives, many of them young men and even women and children. “The loss of lives is an extremely sad consequence,” the Governor said and expressed sympathy with the families who had lost their near and dear ones in this tumult. He said the security forces, the personnel of which had also been injured, need to revisit their strategies and tactics of crowd control for securing the maximum protection of human life.

The Governor referred to the recent natural calamity in Leh causing a huge loss of life and property, and conveyed his heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families.

“While taking every possible step to immediately restore normalcy, we must also keep in mind the continuing threats from across the LoC and the very high danger of inimical elements exploiting a disturbed environment in the state,” the Governor said. He held that while there was a decline in terrorist activities in 2009, there had been a significant increase in infiltration attempts since the beginning of this year. In this context, while the security forces continued to make supreme sacrifices in safeguarding the frontiers and combating militancy in the hinterland, they would also need to ensure that the rights of the people were respected and the law abiding citizens were not put to any avoidable inconvenience, the Governor said.

Srinagar, August 14
Expressing grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the turmoil in the Valley recently, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah conveyed heart-felt condolences and solidarity with the bereaved families here today.

“My heart bleeds and in their hour of grief, I am with the bereaved families who have lost their dear ones. The victims of the unfortunate events are my own brothers and sons and I am in gloom and bereavement,” he said, adding that nobody could be so stone-hearted as not to be touched by such happenings and no eye could be without tears over the loss of lives.

In his address to the people on the eve of Independence Day, The Chief Minister also expressed grief over the loss of lives in the recent flash floods in Leh. He said the government would take every step for the rehabilitation of the affected families and the restoration of the public service infrastructure.

Omar said no economic or employment package could heal the wounds, but economic development was also an essential component of the well being of the state and its people and so could not be ignored. He announced that 50,000 youths would be engaged by the government in the next few months. He added that the Prime Minister had constituted the C. Rangarajan committee to address the unemployment problem in the state on the occasion of Ramzan.

He said right from the day he took over as Chief Minister he had focused on enhancing the employability and expanding the orbit of employment for the youth of the state. He said during the last 18 months, his government, besides focusing on “pani, bijlee, sadak, sehat and taleem” as the most five important sectors of economic welfare, had laid emphasis on providing solution to the unemployment issue.

Omar welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement at the all-party meeting regarding autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. He added that this would help remove the trust deficit that had crept in due to its erosion. He also welcomed the Central government’s recognition of the fact that the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India had taken place under unique circumstances. “This is a historic opportunity for us and we must take advantage of it,” he said and appealed to the separatist leaders to come to the table for talks and play their role in solving the Kashmir issue.

Jammu, August 14
Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced to visit Leh to enquire about the hardships being faced by the flash flood victims, no state minister, MLA or any political leader has visited the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here where 19 victims of the Leh floods have been admitted since August 10.

These fear-stricken persons were airlifted to Jammu from Leh and were taken to the Emergency Block of the hospital. Later they were shifted to the Disaster Block and at present they were kept in the Spinal Ward.

Ten days have passed, but still tears roll down their cheeks, as they have not only lost their houses and money, but also family members in the tragedy. “Still our leaders have no time to visit or meet these ill-fated persons to console them,” said a hospital employee.

A majority of the Leh victims belong to Chhattisgarh and are labourers. They have even lost the hope to survive, as they have lost everything they have earned till the floods struck them.

Suraj Kumar and his wife Savira, both injured and residents of Chhattisgarh, met this correspondent at the GMCH. They revealed that they did not have even a single penny.

“Whatever we earned during our three years’ stay in Leh, we have lost it in the flash floods. We have some hopes from the Union government only, which can give us some relief. Otherwise, the state government has failed on all fronts, as no minister or political leader of any party has come here to enquire about our health,” they said.

They asked, “Is it not the duty of the state Health Minister to enquire about the health of the victims of the Leh cloudburst?” They added that the minister should at least come here to check the arrangements made for them, as they were annoyed over the services being provided to them in the hospital.

Besides, 17 more victims of the Leh floods are facing a similar problem. “We are outsiders and ineligible to cast votes in the state. So, politicians are least concerned about our condition,” added another victim.

The names of the injured are: Konchak Stanzin, Shanti Dass, Nima and Mohd Qassim, all residents of Leh; Savira Blai, Suraj Kumar, Sulchwara, Krishan Lal, Vijay Kumar, Tsering Dolkar, Rajneeta, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Dharmendar Kumar, Sanju Kumar, Parmanand, Rathu, Puneeta, Rameshwar, and Pirtu Ram, all residents of Chhattisgarh and who worked as labourers.

Srinagar, August 14
The state government will award the Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal (SKPM) for Gallantry to 14 police officers and officials, Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal for Meritorious Service (Independence Day, 2010) to four police officers and officials and the Sher-i-Kashmir Police Medal for Meritorious Service (Independence Day, 2008) to three police officers.

According to a notification issued by the Home Department here today, the SKPM gallantry awardees are constables Aurangzeb, Khursheed Ahmad, Ashok Kumar, Zahoor Ahmad, Nissar Ahmad, Hilal Ahmad, Shahid Mushtaq, Manzoor Ahmad, Mohammad Rafiq, sub-inspector Taranjeet Singh, Khem Raj, Shiv Krishen, DSP Abdul Qayoom and Inspector Varinder Singh.

The SKPM Meritorious service awardees (Independence Day, 2010) are Gopal Reddy, IPS, Mohammad Amin Tak, SSP, Security Transport Workshop, Javed Iqbal Farooqi, SP, PCR, Srinagar, and Syed Fayaz Ahamd, Inspector.

The SKPM Meritorious Services awardees (Independence Day, 2008) are Sheikh Owais Ahmad, IPS, Rouf-ul-Hassan, IPS, and Tilak Raj.

Jammu, August 14
Much like the previous years, this year’s much-publicised programme of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to hoist the Tricolour in Srinagar on the occasion of Independence Day turned out to be a mere political stunt, as a group of morcha activists were not allowed to even cross Jammu city today.

The activists of the BJYM, the youth wing of the BJP, were arrested by the police when they were addressing a rally at Manda on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway before proceeding towards Srinagar.

All senior leaders of the BJP were present in the rally that was scheduled to proceed towards Kashmir. A heavy contingent of police was deployed on the spot to prevent the BJYM activists from proceeding towards Srinagar. The police had also created barricades on the highway to stop their vehicles.

Interestingly, the BJYM leaders had claimed that hundreds of party activists would gather at Manda to start a march towards Srinagar but they failed to mobilise not more than 50 activists. The policemen deployed at the spot outnumbered the BJYM activists and hence all of them were taken into custody without any resistance.

Meanwhile, the BJYM leaders alleged that the government had denied them their constitutional right to unfurl the National Flag by preventing them from proceeding towards Srinagar.

BJYM state president Munish Sharma, while expressing resentment over the government decision not to allow them to proceed towards Srinagar, said the Kashmir valley had been facing militancy for the last 20 years. “This militancy has forced the Kashmiri Pandits to leave their homes and hearths. The nationalist people, including the Muslims, who have been working to strengthen the nationalist bonds in Kashmir, are being demoralised and the writ of the separatists and anti-national elements is allowed to prevail and run everywhere in the state,” he said.

Sharma said as Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India, every citizen had a right to hoist the National Flag anywhere in the state. He added it was indeed unfortunate that the anti-national elements, who provoked people and even burnt the Tricolour, were being treated like VVIPs.

Jammu, August 14
On the eve of Independence Day, a militant was believed to be killed while two others were engaged in a gun-battle with the security forces in the Sheriwala area near Bagla village in Thannamandi tehsil of Rajouri district this evening.

The ultras, it was suspected, were the same who had ambushed an Army convoy and a passenger bus near Thannamandi on August 11. A woman was killed and 18 others, including two soldiers, were injured in the ambush.

“The encounter in a thickly grown maize fields is on since 1.30 pm and one of the three ultras is believed to have been killed in the gun-battle,” SSP, Rajouri district, RK Jalla told The Tribune.

Two others militants were still hiding in the area and the operation was on, he added.

Though the area was almost the same where the ultras had ambushed an Army convoy and a bus on August 11 but as of now we could not confirm whether they were the same ultras, said Jalla.

However, the DIG Rajouri-Poonch range, SDS Jamwal said the militants engaged in the encounter today could be the same, who had carried out the attack on August 11.

“Troops of the 38 Rashtriya Rifles under the command of the Romeo Force have laid a cordon around a maize field in a thick forest where an operation has been launched since 1.30 pm,” said a senior Army officer.

The officer added that further details were awaited.

Sources said the security forces were already on a look out to hunt the fleeing ultras.

The area lies close to Shahdara Sharief where Gujjar girl Rukhsana, had killed a Lashkar commander and injured another in recent times.

They said the villagers had spotted three armed ultras in Army fatigue in Kanda village in the Shahdara Sharief area on the intervening night of August 12 and 13.

Since August 11 the security forces had been scanning jungles in Thannamandi, Dera Ki Gali and Darhal to track-down the fleeing ultras.

The security forces had already been put on a high alert in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.

Jammu, August 14
Militancy-hit Abdul Qayoom (35) and Khushi Ram (42) of Doda, who migrated to Jammu fearing threat to life, have been rendered homeless by the local administration.

Both, Khushi Ram nd Qayoom, are daily wagers.

The migrants have been putting up in government quarters at Panchayat Bhavan near the local railway station. They said they were forcibly expelled from the quarters yesterday along with eight other families, who were allotted accommodation in Nagrota Migrant Camp. But their families got no shelter last night.

The aggrieved families alleged that they were assured of accommodation in the camp but had not got any and the administration was not paying any heed to them.

“I and Khushi Ram are making rounds of government offices for help but in vain,” rued Qayoom.

He said: “I am suffering from TB, my wife is also ill and my children are on road. I am a poor man and cannot afford a rented accommodation.”

“Our clothes, quilts and even edibles are wet due to rain,” Qayoom’s wife Shamima Begum (25) said.

Narrating the plight, Khushi Ram’s daughter Anita Thakur (23) said: “I am pursuing B.Ed and have examinations next month. I do not have a place where I can prepare for my examinations.” Khushi’s son Baldev Raj (22) said: “I am depressed as we have lost home at a time when my wife is pregnant.”

Both families alleged that the authorities wanted money due to which they had not been allotted accommodation.

Refuting the allegations, relief commissioner Vinod Koul said they had been residing in the quarters for last few months only while other families had been there for over 10 years.

“On the direction issued by the divisional commissioner, we have allotted one-room tenements to other families, We will surely consider their case if we find them genuine,” Koul added.

Jammu, August 14
A MI-17 chopper of the Air Force that landed in the Doda police headquarters this evening sent the Doda police and the district administration into a tizzy. The reason being that neither the administration nor the police had sought the services of the chopper.

“Around 4 pm today, a MI-17 chopper suddenly landed on the small helipad in our police headquarters, surprising us all,” a police officer said.

The helipad is meant for small choppers, of course not for MI-17. Further, it appeared that the pilot, identified as Manjeet Singh Virdi, had come to meet an Army officer and his wife, he said.

The officer said in the process of landing the chopper, the pilot damaged a wall of a police memorial raised in the memory of an SP (Mir), who died long ago fighting militants.

“When my men started clicking his photographs, the pilot took off in a haste and again damaged a portion of a compound wall of the police headquarters,” he added. “It seems that he was either to meet some friend or was on a joy ride,” he said.

When enquired, the pilot said he had been asked to evacuate some injured CRPF personnel (a statement that appeared to be fake and concocted). The SP said we had no information about injuries to any CRPF personnel in Doda district, then who required evacuation. The pilot had no business to land here on our police headquarters and we would soon file a complaint to the authorities concerned, the officer said.

Jammu, August 14
The Jammu State Morcha (JSM) expressed concern over the ongoing political developments in the state and warned the Centre against succumbing to the pressure of the separatists and other anti-national elements in the Valley.

Addressing a press conference, JSM leaders cautioned that those creating troubles in the state were only confined to a small section and in small areas while the major chunk was by-and-large peaceful.

“By expressing willingness to grant autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir and the dilution of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) in the recently held all-party meeting in New Delhi, it appears that the Centre has fallen into the trap laid by separatists who are actively aided and abetted by parties like the National Conference and the PDP,” the JSM leaders said.

They added: “This suggestion, in one stroke, has alienated most people of the Jammu province and Ladakh regions and also conveyed a message that their views are insignificant and unworthy of offering any solution.”

The JSM leaders regretted that the Centre had taken the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions, Kashmiri Pandits and other ethnic minorities for granted. The government has preferred to yield to the pressure of anti-India and secessionist forces active in the Valley.

The JSM leaders feel surprised that the Centre only considers Kashmir (that to a particular community that dominates the state polity) as the whole of Jammu and Kashmir state and that the rights and aspirations of others do not matter before it. “The policy to appease the Kashmiri leadership for settling down the Jammu and Kashmir issue has been tried several times in the last 62 years but in vain,” they said.

Virender Gupta, HB Khajuria, Anil Gour, Varinder Magotra, Chandra Uday Sharma, Devinder Singh Jamwal Surjit Singh and Mukesh Raina addressed the conference.

Jammu, August 14
Irked over the alleged harassment and routine checking of bills of goods by the Sales Tax Department, the shopkeepers of Kanak Mandi and Hari Market blocked the City Chowk road here today.

According to the police, the shopkeepers came on the road after officials of the Sale Tax Department checked the bills of goods at a medical shop at Kanak Mandi as part of a routine checking, which irked the shopkeepers.

The police said the shopkeepers locked the officials inside the medical store. In no time, hundreds of shopkeepers from Hari Market, Kanak Mandi and Super Bazaar staged a protest demonstration at the City Chowk. They blocked the main road for over two hours.

A local businessman said, “We will not tolerate this harassment any further.” Taking cognisance of the matter, City SDPO SS Sambyal along with other officers reached the spot and tried to pacify the shopkeepers.

The officials later handed over the seized goods to the shopkeepers. However, the market was reopened in the evening.

Jammu, August 14
About 400 BSNL (landline) customers of Gandhi Nagar locality are worried as their phone connections have been defunct for more than five days.

While talking to The Tribune, a group of affected customers said: “We have been facing a lot of inconvenience for more than five days due to non-functional connections.”

They said besides telephones, they were unable to avail Internet facility due to defunct connections.

“We have been unable to connect with our relatives, friends etc for last five-six days,” the customers said.

Demanding an immediate restoration of the connections, they said despite filing a complaint in the department concerned, nothing had been done so far. Varun Sharma, a customer, said: “My children are studying in Delhi but I cannot contact them due to defunct phone and Internet connections.”

Another customer Rita Gandotra said: “We are feeling almost handicapped without phone and Internet connection.”

However, general manager of BSNL Jammu, Sandeep Savarkar said: “One of our main pillars in Gandhi Nagar locality got damaged as a truck hit it head on last Monday. Thus, connections of about 500 customers were affected.”

“We have restored most connections and we will restore all by tomorrow,” Savarkar added.