Jammu, September 10
The Congress leadership has finally admitted that there is no ground-level coordination between the workers of the National Conference (NC) and the Congress.

Differences between the NC and the Congress have been widening as their leaders have taken divergent stands on vital issues like the proposal of autonomy to Kashmir and the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA).

In the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Minister for Health Sham Lal Sharma had publicly admitted that the workers of both parties were finding it difficult to work together at the grass-roots level. In a rally at Bhalwal on September 6, Sharma had regretted that though the two parties were running the government, there was no coordination between their workers.

Sham Lal’s viewpoint was also endorsed by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz, who too had admitted that there was no coordination between the ruling partners at the ground level in the state.

Soz, who is the chairman of the coordination committee of the two parties, refused to give reasons for the lack of coordination but said running a coalition was a difficult task.

Sources in the Congress said a section in the party, especially leaders from the Jammu region, were not happy over the way Omar had been demanding the revocation of the AFSPA and emphasising on granting autonomy to Kashmir without taking into consideration the wishes of the people of the Jammu region. Jammu-based Congress leaders were much aware that such sensitive issues being raised by the Chief Minister would have a negative impact in their respective constituencies and hence they had been exerting pressure on the party leadership to consider the viewpoints of all regions before accepting Omar’s demands.

The Congress leaders’ concern over Omar’s demands was visible in the party’s rally held at Journain in Akhnoor tehsil on Wednesday last, as one leader after another said the aspirations of all regions and sub-regions should be accommodated while arriving at a solution for the Kashmir issue.

In an obvious reference towards the demands repeatedly raised by the Chief Minister, Lok Sabha member from the Jammu-Poonch constituency Madan Lal Sharma and Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla sought to dispel the apprehensions of the people that the Centre was going to grant autonomy to Kashmir.

Jammu, September 10
After strengthening itself in Udhampur and Samba districts, the Panthers Party is trying to expand its base in new areas. A team of the party leaders led by its working chairman Harsh Dev Singh has conducted an extensive tour of the hilly areas of Kathua district, which concluded today, to strengthen the party base in the belt where it has a negligible presence.

Accompanied by MLA, Samba, Yashpal Kundal and other senior party leaders, Harsh Dev addressed a series of public meetings in the hilly belt of Kathua district and urged upon people to strengthen the Panthers Party. The leaders highlighted discrimination against the Jammu region and asserted that only the Panthers Party could get this injustice removed.

Important to mention here that the Panthers Party has strengthened its base in Udhampur and Samba districts and now the party leadership is trying to expand its activities in the areas bordering these two districts.

Addressing a rally at Machedi, Harsh Dev castigated the ruling coalition for its utter failure on all fronts and the total collapse of its administrative machinery resulting in public unrest and resentment among the masses. He said the law and order situation had worsened and the development activity had come to a grinding halt. The rural areas were the worst sufferers under the present dispensation with people lacking basic amenities and the government exhibiting lack of concern and response to their basic issues, he added.

Harsh Dev said corruption had assumed alarming proportions and the frequently parroted slogans of accountability and transparency had fallen flat. He slammed the coalition ministers for the abuse of authority and loot of public exchequer in the absence of an accountability mechanism in the state. Kundal urged upon the people to strengthen the party so that the people of the Jammu region could be empowered and assured of their due rights. He said the party would highlight the issues of discrimination against the Jammu region in the forthcoming session of the Assembly, besides exposing the acts of omission and commission of the coalition government.

Jammu, September 10
An emergency meeting of senior leaders and state office- bearers of the BJP was held under the leadership of state president Shamsher Singh Manhas here today.

It took serious note of reports regarding the special package on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr by the Central government to the state like the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the state, financial and political packages to stone throwers and their families and release of political leaders who were responsible for the deteriorating situation in the state.

The meeting cautioned the Centre against succumbing to the pressure tactics of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

It was observed that any hasty decision at this crucial juncture would be disastrous for the state. Those present at the meeting drew attention of the government to yesterday’s incident at Kashmir in which some soldiers lost their lives after a group of militants threw grenade on them.

Manhas warned the Union government not to succumb to the pressure tactics of the Chief Minister and abandon the idea of the withdrawal of troops or AFSPA failing which the BJP will launch a statewide agitation.

BJP legislators party leader Chaman Lal Gupta, Nirmal Singh, Ashok Khajuria, Chander Prakash Ganga, Kavinder Gupta, Chander Mohan Sharma, Satish Sharma, Sat Sharma, Ramesh Arora and Nirmal Kamal were present at the meeting.

Srinagar, September 10
Responding to a unity call of the chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik, today joined hands with him.

In a show of unity, Umar Farooq and Malik offered Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid, addressed a joint gathering and led a rally.

While the Mirwaiz urged people, including the youth, to march to Eidgah for prayers on Saturday, Malik said unity was the need of the hour.”The present struggle is going through a tough phase. The youths have to be given credit for it”, he said and urged them to maintain discipline during protests.

Mirwaiz had recently called for unity among separatists in Kashmir and had also approached the chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, to join hands.

Jammu, September 10
The Crossed Sword Division of the Army today distributed furniture and sports items among various schools of the Khour block in Akhnoor subdivision.

The ceremony was presided over by General Officer Commanding, Crossed Swords Division, Maj-Gen Rakesh Sharma, who took the opportunity to reiterate the Army’s pledge of continued support, guidance and assistance to students.

He reached out to the students, school teachers and the people present and assured them of all possible assistance from the Army for promoting education in the region.

During the ceremony, the furniture items were given to the Government Middle School, Dehriyan, and sports items were given to Government High School, Hamirpur Sidhar, Government Higher Secondary School, Khour, and Government High School, Detyal.

Payal Sharma, Convener, Family Welfare Organization, Crossed Swords Division, also felicitated the Veer Naris and presented them gifts.

The GOC also addressed Ex-Servicemen and Village Defence Committee members during the event.

The local population attended the ceremony and projected their future requirements of sports and furniture and other items for the schools. 

Jammu, September 10
For the second time since July 3, a six-member team of divers from the Navy will search the lake at Mansar to locate a medico who went missing in the area on May 14 this year.

The police feels he might have committed suicide — a theory rejected outrightly by the student’s family, particularly his mother.

Syed Zuhaib Rizvi, a final year MBBS student of Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences, Sidhra, went missing from the banks of the lake and on July 3 and 4, an eight-member team of naval divers from Bandipora in Kashmir searched the lake to trace him.

“The team could not go beyond 25 to 30 feet, but the six-member team, reaching Mansar this evening from Delhi, will go to the bottom of the lake to find the missing student,” Jammu Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kotwal told The Tribune.

The team was equipped with sophisticated equipment to ensure a thorough search, he said, and added it would launch the search operation tomorrow.

The necessary instructions in this regard had been given to SSP, Samba district, JL Sharma, the Divisional Commissioner disclosed.

Sources said after shuttling from pillar to post, Shaukat Khan, an uncle of the medico, succeeded in conveying the mental agony of the family to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who used his good offices and convinced the Centre to send a team of naval divers from Delhi.

Srinagar, September 10
The ban on the Short Message Service (SMS) in Jammu and Kashmir has turned out to be a boon for the few greeting card outlets in the city, as their sale has risen sharply ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. The tradition of exchanging greeting cards on festivals and important occasions had gone out of vogue with people preferring an SMS instead.

However, there seems to be a change in the mindset after the SMS ban by the government, in the wake of the fresh unrest in the Valley.

“My business has been generally good as there were only few shops left in gift and greeting card business after mobile phone services were introduced in 2003, but this year it has been better,” Bashir Ahmad, a gift shop owner in Lal Chowk, said.

Despite frequent shutdowns, Ahmad’s shop is almost now out of cards suitable for Eid-ul-Fitr. Many customers, Ahmad said, were returning disappointed, as they were not able to find the greeting cards of their choice.

“I bought cards yesterday for all my friends and relatives whom I want to wish Eid Mubarak, but there was a late addition to the list and I am not able to find a good one,” Mohammad Shahid, a student, said.

Ahmad said he could not replenish his stocks due to the continuous strikes and curfews in the Valley over the past three months. “I did not place any fresh orders with my supplier in Delhi, as I was not sure how the situation was going to be,” he added.

Ahmad said most of the gift shops and greeting card dealers changed their line of business as their sales had dropped dramatically over the past three to four years.

Adnan Bakshi is one of those businessmen who said goodbye to greeting cards and took on ready-made garment business. “Before the mobile phones were introduced and Internet became a necessity rather than luxury, I was happy with selling gifts and greeting cards. However, it became difficult to fulfil my needs as the earnings dropped,” Bakhsi said. — PTI

Udhampur, September 10
Lt-Gen BS Jaswal, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, flagged off the Trans Himalayan Motorcycle Expedition comprising 20 riders of the Ladakh Scouts Battalion from the command headquarters here today.

The expedition that initially started from Karu, near Leh, on September 4 will now be proceeding to the Wagah border, Chandigarh and Manali. It has by now covered 710 km of tough and challenging terrain, passing through Kargil, Drass, Zojila, Srinagar and Banihal before reaching Udhampur on September 8.

The expedition had undertaken numerous ventures en route like an ex-servicemen rally, a medical camp and a motivational lecture for schoolchildren in far-flung areas of Drass urging them to join the Army.

The endurance of the riders and their machines will be put to a further test as they climb from near the mean sea level to the dizzy heights of Rohtang Pass, Baralachla and Tanglangla passes, located at nearly 17,500 feet. The expedition being sponsored by Hero Homda Motorcycles will finally culminate at Leh on September 18.

Jammu, September 10
Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla said yesterday that there was no dearth of funds for development activities as the coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah had decided to accelerate development activities all over the state.

Addressing a function after laying the foundation of a deep drill mini tubewell at Belicharana on the outskirts of Jammu city for which the government had earmarked Rs 1.18 crore, Bhalla said the government was fully aware of people’s problems and the authorities were making tireless efforts to mitigate all problems on priority.

The minister said the work on the four-laning of the Kunjwani-Satwari road would start soon and the government had already released Rs 1 crore for it. The project was estimated to cost Rs 50 crore, he added.

Bhalla said the four-laning of the bridge from Bhagwati Nagar to Belicharana, involving a cost of Rs 150 crore, would be completed within three years. 

Srinagar, September 10
The situation in the Kashmir valley remained peaceful for the second consecutive day today.

The chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, had announced a three-day break in the protest programme to enable people to celebrate Eid.

A police spokesman said traffic plied normally and shops were open in all districts.

“There was a heavy rush in markets with people making purchases for the Eid festival. Large gatherings were witnessed on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramzan in all major mosques”, the spokesman said.

He said some miscreants threw stones at Nowhatta police station. They were chased away by the police. One policeman was injured in the incident and four miscreants were arrested.

Today being the last Friday of the holy month of Ramzan, the government had declared a holiday and all offices were closed.However,shops and other business establishments were open and people in large numbers thronged markets for shopping in connection with Eid.

“If the moon is sighted tonight, Eid will be celebrated tomorrow and we are here to do shopping for the festival”, said Rahila Bhat, a local resident. She said people had been praying during the last month of fasting for the return of normalcy.

“We pray that peace returns to the Kashmir valley and people here start living a happy and peaceful life away from the shadow of the gun.We would pray that our children get quality education and the value of life also increases in the valley”, Bhat said.

The valley has been witnessing unrest since June 11 this year when a student was killed after being hit by a tear gas shell allegedly by the security forces.Since then, almost 70 people have lost their lives.

Jammu, September 10
Security forces nabbed three sympathisers of militants in Kishtwar district last evening.

According to an official statement, a join team of the Rashtriya Rifles and the police apprehended three sympathisers in the Tandar Nala area, 3 km from Sondar, in Kishtwar district.

The trio has been identified as Mohammed Noorani (60) of Baggar in Doda, Bhakta Mohammed Genoo (65) and Mohammed Rafiq (30), both residents of Tandar in Kishtwar.

They were later handed over to the police for further questioning.