Srinagar, October 9
The brief session of state Legislative Assembly, which began here on September 30, was adjourned sine die today after eight days of functioning.

Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone adjourned the House sine die this afternoon.

While the PDP stayed away from expressing dissent over the prevailing situation in the state, the BJP boycotted the session for the last three days in protest against the remarks made by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the Kashmir issue.

The session was marked by the historic speech of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday last, which has led to a political debate across the country.

In all, the Assembly had eight sittings beginning with the tributary references to former legislators, those killed during the four months of turmoil in Kashmir and those killed due to cloudburst in Ladakh on August 6.

With the opposition parties staying away, the session witnessed lesser number of walkouts or noisy scenes. PDP president and leader of the legislature party Mehbooba Mufti, after making the tributary remarks at the beginning of the session, announced the decision to boycott the session.

The decision had been taken in protest against the government’s “inaction” to check the killings, alleged atrocities on the masses and the unwarranted arrests of youths.

Even as the Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly deputed CPM leader MY Tarigami to impress upon the PDP leader to attend the session, but the party decided to stay away.

While the BJP engaged the government in heated debates and exchange of ideas, the situation took a different turn on Thursday, when its 11 members along with three members of the J&K National Panthers Party (J&KNPP) staged protest in the House against Omar Abdullah’s speech.

Omar, in his over one-hour long reply to the two-day discussion on the prevailing situation in Kashmir, had commented a day earlier that the state had acceded to India, but did not merge with it.

This remark created resentment among the BJP and the NPP members, who were later marshalled ou of the House.

The BJP later boycotted the session for the last three days, while the NPP members resumed business yesterday.

Commenting on the absence of the opposition, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar after the passage of about a dozen Bills in the House today, said the opposition parties had an irresponsible approach. “They should have been here as the Bills were being passed. It would have been better for them and welfare of the people of this state,” he said.

Srinagar, October 9
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sager has said the government has appointed a commission of inquiry comprising Justice Syed Bashir-ud-Din (retd) and Justice YP Nargotra to enquire into the death of 17 persons in the Kashmir Valley since 11 June.

The Minister said this while replying to a question by MY Tarigami in the Assembly here today. He said the District Magistrate, Anantnag, has also ordered magisterial inquiry into the firing incident at SK Colony, Anchidora, Anantnag on June 29, resulting in the death of three persons.

The Minister said the government had accepted the magisterial inquiry report in this regard and on the basis of the recommendations of the inquiry officer, names of four police personnel have been added in the FIR already lodged in the police station, Anantnag. He said the then SHO had been placed under suspension and disciplinary proceedings against the then SSP, Anantnag, were being initiated.

Giving details of the Mendher firing incident, the Minister said the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, had been appointed as inquiry officer in the incident in which three civilians got killed. He said the FIR had been registered against the erring officers.

The Minister said 19 FIRs had been registered against security forces and the police personnel where allegations of unprovoked firing or use of excessive force were allegedly made. Investigation in these cases was going on, he added.

The Minister said during the period from January to September this year, as many as 94 civilians, who were part of the violent mobs and protests got injured during the engagement between protesters and deployments on ground and succumbed to their injuries in the Valley.

Jammu, October 9
Virtually cornered by the BJP on the “much-publicised” speech of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Legislative Assembly, local Congress leaders have decided to approach the party high command so as take some “effective” steps as they are finding it difficult to reply to the queries of people, especially in the Jammu region.

The BJP and other groups have stepped up a campaign against the Congress - which is running a coalition government in the state.

Sources in the Congress said a group of party leaders would leave for New Delhi on Saturday where they would meet senior party leaders to apprise them of the situation that has emerged in the state after the “controversial” speech.

Sources said they (Congress leaders) would impress upon the party high command to formulate a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) with the NC, which would be the agenda of the governance so that the NC would not “cross its limit” in future.

“Since the CMP was not formulated before entering into an alliance with the NC, the Chief Minister and other NC leaders have been giving some controversial statements that created uneasiness and embarrassing position for us,” a senior Congress leader said. He disclosed that a meeting of senior party leaders was held on Friday evening in which the decision that a group of leaders would visit Delhi was taken.

Srinagar, October 9
While curfew restrictions remained in force in parts of Baramulla district today, normal life was adversely affected across Kashmir valley in response to the separatist bandh call as part of the ongoing protest calendar.

Several MLAs have raised the issue of continued curfew and restrictions, particularly in downtown Srinagar on Fridays, preventing a large chunk of people led by the APHC chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, from offering prayers at Jamia Masjid.

Responding to the issue, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar said the restrictions were being taken following some clashes in the city. Expressing regret over the continued restrictions, Sagar said the government was more concerned over the situation and was working to consider it and take necessary measures.

Srinagar, October 9
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today saw off the first batch of Haj pilgrims at the Srinagar airport today. They included 144 men and 109 women, of which 180 were flown by Go Air and 73 Spicejet flights.

A total of 6,850 Haj pilgrims of the state are flying through 27 flights from Srinagar to New Delhi and thereon to Jeddah this year to perform the pilgrimage.

The Haj flights will continue to operate up to October 29 and the arrival of Hajis will start from November 21.

Pilgrims expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made by the administration.

However, they emphasised on clearance of customs and immigration formalities at the Srinagar airport instead of New Delhi to save time.

Jammu, October 9
Even as the police today claimed it would solve the mystery over the greyish powder found in 10 abandoned boxes lying near the MLAs’ Hostel on the Mahatma Budha Marg within the next 24 hours, it is yet not clear to them whether it was an explosive or not.

Farooq Khan, DIG, Jammu-Kathua range, during preliminary investigations has denied the possibility of any explosive material. He said, “I have carried a number of operations during the peak of militancy and can assure that it was not an explosive. I can identify 20 kind of explosives by touching or smelling them, but it was not among them.”

He denied media reports that a militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit had been arrested, adding that there was no possibility of involvement of any terrorist outfit behind this.

On the other hand, sources in the security forces revealed that it was an operation launched by the Military Intelligence, along with the help of CID (Counter Intelligence). During the operation, they zeroed in on some persons carrying the suspicious material. However, the local police, on getting the wind of it, tried to take the “credit” of the seizure.

Sources claimed that the police had arrested a man last night from Gujjar Nagar, who was said to be driving a Sumo in which the material was being transported from Doda district. A special police officer, too, was involved in this incident, but he was still at large, they added.

They said the police also detained a security personnel after snatching his mobile phone, as the police was not aware about the operation of the Military Intelligence and the CID, till the time of recovery of this substance.

However, the man, said to be a Subedar, was later freed, as some senior officers mounted pressure on the police to release him.

But the police kept mum over the entire issue and when The Tribune asked the DIG on whether it was a fake operation, he replied, “I cannot tell anything at this moment, as it will take a few time to clear things.”

He assured that he would come before mediapersons within a short time with full details.

Jammu, October 9
Just outside the ENT operation theatre at Shri Maharaja Ghulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital, lies 17-year-old Liaquat Ali, who has undergone an emergency surgery some hours ago, in an unconscious state. The doctors have advised his family members to shift him to Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

However, they haven’t been successful in shifting him to the ICU ward, he has not been shifted to ICU ward as there are just 12 beds in the ward, of which 11 are occupied, while the remaining one bed, the hospital administration claims, has to be kept vacant for the CM.

Hence, Liaquat, along with other patients, has to wait for his turn in a hall swarmed with mosquitoes and flies. There is not even an electric fan in the hall.

The condition of these critical patients have put the tall claims of the government regarding healthcare infrastructure in the state at stake. The hospital is facing severe shortage of beds in ICU as well as general wards.

Liaquat was bitten by a camel in the neck yesterday, due to which his food and wind pipes were badly damaged. A resident of Lard village in Akhnoor, Liaquat was earlier rushed to the district hospital for treatment. Thereafter, he was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu.

As there was no availability of beds in the ICU ward, he was referred to SMGS Hospital. Hospital sources said he was brought to the hospital in a very critical condition last evening and was operated immediately. “Due to badly damaged wind pipe, the blood had accumulated in the lungs. Had he been a little late, he would have died,” sources said. Liaquat’s family also called up Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma, but to no avail.

The CMO on duty told TNS, “The patient is under active observation and he is being properly taken care of. Since there is no availability of beds in the ICU, we have been waiting for some bed to get vacant so that he could be shifted.”

“The hospital is always short of beds in the general wards as well as the ICU,” medical superintendent Ramesh Gupta said.

Leh, October 9
To conserve the rich heritage of Leh, the Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage (INTACH), Ladakh, plans to spread awareness among people in a big way.

In a series of steps planned for the purpose, the INTACH today organised a heritage walk in which a large number of students participated from various schools of Leh town.

The theme of the walk was “My City, My History”based on the heritage sites of Old Leh town.

Convener of INTACH Tsering Angchuk said, “Conservation of the cultural landscape of Ladakh is the need of the hour. As people are not aware about the importance of the existing heritage, many of them are in a dilapidated condition.”

Angchuk said today’s heritage walk was one of the planned awareness campaigns on heritage conservation.

Talking about the renovation projects to be carried out by INTACH in Ladakh, he said: “A monastery in Igoo village of Kharu block and a historical wall in Basgo village of Leh block were found damaged in the recent cloudburst during an assessment conducted by architectural experts from Delhi. Both these historical sites will be renovated soon with the help of the Ford Foundation.”

He also said INTACH was also in the process of identifying villages of Leh district which were rich in folk songs so that folk songs’ culture could be promoted and conserved there.

The heritage walk in which volunteers of INTACH and other participants participated, passed through the streets of Old Leh town, Leh Mosque and monasteries.

Jammu, October 9
A galaxy of Dogri poets recited their poems in a function organised by Dogri Sahitya Sabha, in collaboration with the leading literary and cultural organisation of Jammu, Dogri Sanstha, in Marh here today. On the occasion, books published by Dogri Sanstha were also exhibited.

Those who read their poems on the occasion included Pradyuman Singh Jindrahiya, Dhyan Singh, Virender Kesar, Nirmal Vinod, Sham Talib, Gianeshwar ,Om Vidyarthi, Surinder Manhas, Randhir Singh Raipuria, Puran Chand Sharma, Inderjeet Kesar, Darshan Darshi, Lal Chand Gandotra, Shobha Ram Sharma, Ch. Khairati Lal, Hans Raj Kharak, Anju Sharma, Prem Nath Radha, Ratan Doshi, Puran Singh and Yash Raina.

The president of Dogri Sanstha, Prof. Lalit Magotra, who presided over the “mushaira”, in his keynote address said it was the third-such programme organised by the body in the past one month for the promotion of Dogri language.

“Earlier two such congregations were held at Udhampur and Akhnoor in collaboration with local organisations,” he said.

Jammu, October 9
Over suspicion of infidelity, a father of seven children, allegedly killed his wife with an axe at his house in Thandi Kassi village, around 7 km away from Rajouri town this morning, said the police.

Mohammad Altaf, alias Farooq, a mechanic, allegedly killed his wife, Tasveer Beghum (37) after hitting axe in her head four times around 6 am today, after locking his children inside a room of his house, the police added.

It further said the neighbours after hearing the cries from the house of the deceased reached there and found Tasveer dead in the verandah. They also unlocked the children and informed the neighbours.

The Rajouri police has arrested the accused and a case has also been registered under Section 302 of the RPC. Rajouri SHO Jaan Mohammad said, “The accused has been arrested and we are recording the statements of the neighbours.” He further said the accused and deceased had got married about 17 years ago and they were not enjoying the happy married life since then. He added, “The accused and deceased belonged to same village, as the accused had married the girl of his own village.”