New Delhi, September 17
A day after the Centre decided to send an all-party delegation to the Kashmir and Jammu divisions of the state beginning Monday, the political leadership of Ladakh was surprised why their division was not included in the itinerary of the visiting parliamentarians. All of them termed this miss as unfair.

Even Congress leaders from the division, led by Jammu and Kashmir tourism and culture minister Rigjin Jora and AICC secretary in charge of J&K Praveen Davar, today said the delegation should have naturally visited Ladakh if a holistic political package for the state has to be worked out.

“It is strange that the political leaders are not going to Ladakh. Views of the people there can’t be ignored. I will raise this matter at an appropriate forum,” Jora today told The Tribune, while Davar, camping in Leh for the October 16 elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), said not only should the delegation come to Leh and Kargil, it should also visit Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch, to ascertain the views of people there.

Davar was supported in his contentions by former union minister and veteran Congress leader from Ladakh P. Namgyal, the sole representative from the division at the meeting of the political parties from the state, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier convened. “This is totally unfair. While we welcome the government’s decision to resolve the Kashmir crisis and support any package within the limits of the Constitution for the Valley, we also want a UT with a legislature for Ladakh. I conveyed this aspiration to the PM at his meeting with state leaders,” Namgyal said when contacted.

Though the Congress leaders were measured in their reaction to the parliamentary delegation’s schedule for the state, where they are supposed to take stock of the ground situation by interacting with a cross-section of people, Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) termed the itinerary of the visiting leaders as “a joke and discriminatory”.

“Already there’s a growing sense of alienation among Ladakhis over the Centre’s unreasonable focus on Kashmir and on people who are burning government property and holding the state to ransom. Patriotic Ladakhis have been ignored for years,” Chief Executive Councillor of LUTF Tsering Dorjay today told The Tribune from Ladakh, a day after 19 councillors of the outfit joined the BJP, the sole supporter of Ladakh’s UT status.

Back in Delhi, a senior UPA minister said, “At this moment, it was considered more important to cover Kashmir and Jammu, as the immediate impact of the crisis is being felt in these places. Paucity of time is also a problem... we will take Ladakh’s aspirations on board before the final package is worked out for the Valley.”

New Delhi, September 17
To counter the demand for ‘azadi’ for Kashmir, the state’s Muslim Gujjars are planning a convention in Rajouri.

Describing the demand for freedom and autonomy as a big conspiracy of certain Jammu and Kashmir political forces, top Gujjar leader Chaudhary Qummar Rubbani Chechi said that that “they are hand-in-glove with local militant outfits, and establishment and political forces from across the border”.

“It is unfortunate that the Centre only talks to people from the Kashmir Valley. They do not represent the true voice of the whole state,” said Chechi, also blaming the state and national media for keeping only the valley politicians in focus.

An all-party delegation will be visiting Srinagar on Monday to assess the ground reality and find a solution to the volatile situation. “Thousands of Gujjars will assemble in my hometown Rajouri soon to show that there is a different ground reality outside the valley,” said Chechi. He was of the view that the delegation’s visit would be a failure “because the valley’s political leaders and the Hurriyat won’t let them find a solution”.

“Why does the Union Government not want to talk to Muslim Gujjars and hill-people who are pro-India and have full faith in its Constitution?” questioned Chechi. “All this talk of ‘azadi’ and autonomy is nothing but a big plan to get more funds from the Centre and join hands with Pakistan,” he said. Interestingly, Chechi contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election as an independent not from his home state but from Rajasthan and got over 2.95 lakh votes to finish second. 

Hyderabad, September 17
In an unprecedented development, a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court resigned after lawyers went on a rampage and ransacked his room during an agitation demanding 42 per cent reservation for the Telangana region in appointment of law officers.

Anguished over unruly scenes created by the agitating advocates, Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy, who hails from the Rayalaseema region, sent in his resignation letter to the Chief Justice Nisar Ahmed Kakru. “I am pained to see anti-social elements entering the sacred court and hurling abuses against judiciary. I have decided to resign because of my inability to protect the institution,” the judge said in his letter.

The Chief Justice rejected the resignation and advised Justice Reddy to withdraw the letter. Even Chief Minister K Rosaiah called up Justice Reddy today and requested him to withdraw his resignation. Despite repeated pleas by his colleagues and the government, the judge refused to budge from his position.

This is the first time in the state’s judicial history that a judge has decided to quit because of violent incidents in the court premises. As pro-Telangana lawyers’ agitation took an ugly turn with protesters attacking the courtrooms and damaging property, the Chief Justice cut short his vacation in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir and rushed to Hyderabad on the advice of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He chaired a Full Court, which took serious note of the developments.

The Full Court formed a committee to identify those who had obstructed functioning of the court proceedings for three successive days and take appropriate civil and criminal action. It also banned any kind of demonstration within the court precincts.

New Delhi, September 17
With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deciding to stay at home to deal with burning domestic issues like Jammu and Kashmir and the impending High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna will lead the Indian delegation at the 65th United Nations General Assembly meet.

Krishna is leaving here for New York this weekend with the objective of giving a push to India’s bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. In fact, a meeting of the foreign ministers of G-4, comprising India, Germany, Japan and Brazil, is lined up on the margins of the UNGA at which these four countries will revive their joint campaign for permanent seats for them at the Security Council.

Another important engagement on his agenda will be a meeting of SAARC foreign ministers, during which he is expected to have informal talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmud Qureshi.

MEA officials said as of now, no formal talks were scheduled between the two foreign ministers but such a meeting could be worked out even at the last minute since both Krishna and Qureshi will be together at several engagements in New York.

In this connection, they also drew attention to the recent meeting between Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal and Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashirin Islamabad. The possibility of a meeting between the two foreign ministers also reportedly figured during their talks. Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, currently in Washington to do the groundwork for President Barack Obama’s visit to India in early November, will also be reaching New York to join the Indian delegation to the UNGA. She also could hold talks with her Pakistani opposite number.

Even during the informal or ‘pull-aside’ meeting, Krishna is likely to renew to Qureshi his invitation to visit New Delhi later this year. The Indian minister had invited his Pakistani counterpart to India during his failed mission to Islamabad in mid-July when the Krishna-Qureshi talks ended in a disaster.

Krishna is scheduled to meet his counterparts from several others countries also during his 10-day stay in the US. Another issue that will obviously be on his mind will be New Delhi’s anxiety over China’s decision to build two nuclear reactors for Pakistan in violation of the guidelines of the nuclear suppliers’ group (NSG). 

New Delhi, September 17
India tonight firmly rejected ‘gratuitous’ statement made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it amounted to interference by Islamabad in the internal affairs of this country.

‘’Pakistan should take credible and effective action against infiltration from across the Line of Control (LoC) and dismantle the terror infrastructure that exists in the territory under its control. This would be an important contribution towards safeguarding the welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who suffer from the consequences of terrorism fomented from across the LOC and the International Border,” MEA spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in response to a question.

Qureshi has said that Pakistan would “continue to stand by the Kashmiris in their just cause”, while alleging gross and systematic abuse of human rights in the Valley. He also asked the Indian Government to exercise restraint.

The Indian spokesman asserted that as a vibrant democracy, India had sufficient mechanisms and constitutional safeguards to address issues raised by its citizens in any part of the country.

Jammu, September 17
No job, no compensation, not even an apology, forget justice. This is the fate of families of four labourers, who were allegedly killed in a “fake encounter” in Lolab in Kupwara in 2004. Their case is directly linked to the mysterious death of Capt Sumit Kohli of Chandigarh as the latter was the duty officer at the time of the encounter. These families live in poverty, with no politician coming forward to apply balm on their wounds.

“We spurned the offer of Rs 5 lakh to keep our mouths shut. Had we taken the money, our children would not have been forced to leave school to earn a livelihood,” rues 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran, Madan Lal, father of Bhushan Lal, one of the four dead labourers.

On April 12, 2004, Bhushan Lal along with Ram Lal, Satpal and Ashok Kumar were hired by an Army officer and taken to Kupwara with a promise of giving them a job.

The joy of getting good employment was short-lived. Few days later, the labourers were allegedly killed in a fake encounter. Captain Sumit Kohli of 18 Rashtriya Rifles in Lolab in north Kashmir was the duty officer at that time. The families say they came to know about the encounter through an anonymous letter, which they received one-a-half years after the incident. The letter gave details of the alleged fake encounter and names of 11 Army men.

The families protested and staged dharnas following which a Court of Inquiry was ordered. The Army maintained that the bodies were not of the labourers. It said two Kashmiri families had claimed two bodies and got the compensation too.

Few weeks after getting the letter, the family came to know about Capt Kohli’s death under mysterious circumstances with the Army claiming that he committed suicide.

Madan Lal says he was shocked to see the picture of Capt Kohli in newspapers. He said Capt Kohli had told them after the CoI that “the man who wrote a letter to you exposing the killing of four labourers will ensure that you get justice.”

Even as the Defence Minister AK Antony last week announced a fresh probe into Capt Kohli’s death, the aggrieved family members don’t see any ray of hope.

“We have been through such inquiries by the Army. They will never expose their men. We want a CBI inquiry,” claimed Madan Lal. “Capt Kohli died because he tried to blow the lid off the fake counter. But apart from him, we didn’t get support from any corner,” said a bitter Bali Ram. 

“It was an actual operation, which has been dubbed as a fake encounter by some anonymous letters. Still, Army authorities carried out a high-level inquiry that revealed that there was no truth in the allegations made by the letters.”

New Delhi, September 17
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha resigned as the ‘Prabhari’ (in charge) of the party in Punjab yesterday, confirming reports of serious rift in the party over forming Arjun Munda-led BJP-JMM coalition government in Jharkhand.

Munda formed a government in Jharkhand on September 11, remarrying the JMM with the open backing of party president Nitin Gadkari and some other leaders like former president Rajnath Singh.

But sources indicated that LK Advani was unhappy with this for two reasons. For one, Advani did not favour a second honeymoon with Shibu Soren’s JMM. For another, he had suggested instead an ‘able’ administrator to head the Jharkhand government.

But Gadkari obviously ignored Advani’s counsel and called up Munda from Moscow asking him to go ahead and stake his claim.

Sources pointed out how Sinha had offered a weak alibi because no standing committee demands full time attention.

Earlier, Sinha had resigned party vice-presidentship in the aftermath of 2009 general elections, against Advani’s re-election as Leader of Opposition and was expecting elevation in the party. Instead, he was made in charge of ‘half a state’ Punjab since the state is mainly a stronghold of Akali Dal. And even when Advani suggested his name for chief ministership, Munda was preferred to him.

Sinha’s decision signifies that Gadkari’s latest assertion as the “Boss” is not going unchallenged from the rival camp. Gadkari has started asserting his individual identity like his latest “statesman-like” moderation on the Kashmir issue at the Prime Minister’s all-party meet on September 15.