Jammu, October 22
Dr Karan Singh, MP and scion of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, today questioned the Kashmir policies of the Centre, asking why India did not rake up the issue of the conditions of the people in occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit and called for respect and acknowledgement of sacrifices and contribution by the Jammu region.

He also hinted at his displeasure at the selection of the three interlocutors chosen by the Centre for a solution of the Kashmir issue.

“I don’t talk much on such issues in public. I give my opinion and advice only to UPA President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I had also suggested them some names. I will not say whether the names were accepted or not, but I wish good luck to these people,” he said, refusing to talk further on the issue.

He followed on his speech made at a function in Akhnoor yesterday where he said the interlocutors would come to know the difference between Kathua, which is in Jammu and Kashmir, and Kahuta, which was the nuclear base of Pakistan.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function, Dr Karan Singh said the Kashmir issue was a “human problem” and not a “political problem” as described by Union Home Minister P Chidambram. He said the Jammuites should meet the interlocutors and educate them about the rich history, aspirations and grievances of the people.

“Kashmir was part of the Dogra state. It was ours. We saved it but the work and sacrifices of the people of Jammu as well as Ladakh should be respected equally and acknowledged,”he said.

Karan Singh said he had a roadmap about the solution of the issue, but would not discuss it in public.

Asked to comment on how serious was the Centre in solving the Kashmir issue, Dr Karan said: “It is supposed to be serious for the past 63 years. We had 84,000 sq km of area, which has been reduced to about 42,000 sq km. Why not discuss the area occupied by Pakistan?”

Jammu, October 22
The sudden rain and overcast sky in the region in the past 24 hours brought the temperature down to 22.2°C, which earlier was hovering around 30°C in Jammu city, decreasing the temperature to almost 8°C, as per the official data of the state Meteorological Department.

With this sudden rain, the temperature has come down and the weather conditions in the region have totally been changed, forcing the people living in upper reaches to wear woollens.

According to an official of the state MET department, the temperature, which was measured about 23°C (minimum) yesterday, fell to 14.6°C in the city. The rainfall was measured about 24.2 mm at Sher-e-Kashmir University for Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Chatha village, in the Jammu region.

However, it caused some loss to the Power Development Department after damaging its three transformers in Jammu city.

Meanwhile, a tree also fell down on the road at Basantpur village in Kathua district. It caused no loss of life or property to anyone, the police said.

Hailstorms and lightning also caused loss to some people. An old man, Ghulam Nabi of Puriya village in the Kalakote area of Rajouri district, was injured when the lightning struck him last evening.

MK Khushu, a senior agricultural scientist at SKUAST said: “Though the rain has brought the temperature down, there is no possibility of rain in the coming two-three days.”

Srinagar, October 22
Several parts of Kashmir and the upper reaches witnessed the first snowfall of the season while rain lashed most parts of the Valley since last night, disrupting traffic on the Srinagar-Leh highway and other remote areas.

Traffic on the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh highway was disrupted due to the snowfall around the Zojila Pass, which recorded 11 inches of snow, and its adjoining areas last night. The highway remains closed to traffic for six months in winter every year due to the heavy accumulation of snow on the Zojila Pass dividing Kashmir from the Ladakh region, while essential commodities are stocked by the end of October every year to last six months.

There was snowfall in tourist spots of Gulmarg and Sonmarg and other Valley areas like Shopian, Kulgam, Jawahar Tunnel, Qazigund, Kokernag, Pahalgam, Anantnag and Gund. “In view of the western disturbances, it has been raining throughout the Valley since last night”, said Aamir Ali, Coordinator, Disaster Management, Kashmir.

In Kargil district of the Ladakh region, it had been snowing at Zanaskar, Rangdum, Panikhar, Drass, Meenamarg since morning, Aamir Ali said.

The Rajdhani Pass, 11500 feet above the sea level, also experienced the season’s first snowfall last night. The Pass connects the border area of Gurez with the rest of the Valley across the 90-km Bandipora-Dawar road in North Kashmir. The road also remains closed to traffic during winter.

The Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora, said the CA&PD had so far stocked 22444 quintals of rice, 15020 quintals of atta, 1710 quintals of sugar and 1.04 lakh litre of oil at various places in the border for winter. He said that PDD had so far stocked 5.48 lakh litres of diesel in the area for operating 17 DG sets.

Udhampur, October 22
Even as no date has been finalised yet for the proposed elections of panchayats in the state, the process of revising the electoral rolls for the purpose has been started. The move strengthened the impression that elections may be held soon.

It seems so because Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Panchayat Election Officer, Udhampur, Baseer Ahmed Khan, today announced that the summary revision of the electoral rolls for the panchayat election - 2010 had been started in the district. The date of draft for publication was on October 18 while the claims and objections could be filed between October 19, 2010, to November 1, 2010, and their disposal would be completed between November 2 and November 8.

The process is likely to be completed by November 10 for the final publication of the revised lists after carrying out additions, deletions and corrections between November 9 and November 16.

Jammu, October 22
With US President Barack Obama set to arrive in India in the first week of November on a four-day visit, the security forces, including the Army, fear a spurt in militancy, including suicide attacks, as the United Jehad Council (UJC) has given instructions to terror outfits to step up violence in the state.

The UJC, headed by Salahuddin, has asked various outfits to step up violence, carry out suicide attacks and target security forces in the state to attract attention of the US President, defence sources told The Tribune.

“We have inputs of possible terror attacks in the crowded areas and vital installations, particularly Army cantonments,” they said.

“They (terrorists) can stoop to any level and yesterday’s encounter in Maloora where three Jaish militants were killed was just another example of the desperation of the terror outfits,” they said.

The sources said the hawks in the outfits and Salahuddin, who always watched the situation from close quarters, would try their best to create disturbances during Obama’s visit. Salahuddin had recently visited terrorist camps along the LoC with the Pakistan Army and ISI officials in a bid to encourage militants to infiltrate before the onset of winter and step up violence.

“Though at Maloora we killed the militants, they wanted to storm an Army cantonment to inflict maximum casualties,” said an Army officer on condition of anonymity. “We definitely anticipate a spurt in violence and of course they will try to carry out strikes in targeted areas,” he said.

“We have not lowered our guard and are ready to take on them, but those who demand revocation or dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) should tell us how soldiers could have faced gun-wielding militants at Maloora, a densely populated area”, the officer quipped.

Srinagar, October 22
An amount of Rs 10 crore has been provided to affected families for reconstruction and repair of houses in Leh district of the Ladakh region,which was hit by a cloudburst on August 6.

The information was given to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during his visit to Leh today where he took stock of the pace of the rehabilitation process. The Deputy Commissioner, Leh, informed the Chief Minister that for the restoration of the public service infrastructure in the sectors of PHE and Power and Health, about Rs 24 crore had already been released. He said besides paying compensation and relief to the affected families under the National Calamity Relief Fund, the payments for the construction of houses were being disbursed regularly on an instalment basis as per the guidelines and schedule formulated.

Minister for Tourism Nawang Rigzin Jora, Chief Secretary SS Kapur, Joint Secretary in the PMO, Sanjay Mitra, Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, and other senior officers accompanied Omar.

Referring to the financial support provided by the Centre to rehabilitate the affected families, the Chief Minister said the assistance had given a boost to the relief and rehabilitation activity in the district. He said schemes worth Rs 140 crore had been formulated for the upgradation, improvement and permanent restoration of public infrastructure in the sectors of R&B, Health, PHE, Power and Agriculture.

The Chief Minister directed the administration to take every measure for successful and timely implementation of the rehabilitation programme. The funds provided for the purpose needed to be spent judiciously and in accordance with the guidelines, he said, adding that the ultimate aim should be to provide relief to the affected families and help their early rehabilitation.

Omar also visited Solar Colony and Choglamsar and other areas where the work for construction of 157 houses for affected families was under way. The Chief Minister stressed the need for fast-tracking construction work and its completion before the onset of winter. The Chief Minister also visited Sonam Nabro Hospital in Leh and took stock of the restoration of various units.

Srinagar, October 22
Normal life was paralysed across the Kashmir valley today in response to a call given by separatists, while the curfew was reimposed in some parts of Srinagar and South Kashmir to prevent a march to Beijbehara town in Anantnag district.

The authorities reimposed the curfew in the north zone of the city early today to prevent the march called by the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference. Several areas of Srinagar were also brought under the curfew yesterday to prevent a march to Lal Chowk. The restrictions were extended to Beijbehara, Anantnag and Shopian in South Kashmir. These were imposed to prevent the proposed march to Beijbehara in Anantnag district to pay homage to 51 persons killed in police action on this day in 1993.

The curfew was also reimposed in parts of Kupwara district, including Trehgam, Kralpora and Kupwara town, Chotipora, Kulangam and Handwara.The restrictions were, however, lifted from 10 a.m.

Stray incidents of violence in which protesters indulged in stone throwing were reported from the Sopore and Baramulla areas after Friday prayers. With the curfew restrictions reimposed in downtown Srinagar, Friday prayers were not offered at the Jamia Masjid here where the Hurriyat Party chairman and Mirwaiz (chief priest) delivers religious sermons every week.

Srinagar, October 22
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and others have condemned the incident at a seminar of Syed Ali Geelani in New Delhi yesterday.

He said: “It is against the democratic traditions of the country where the freedom of speech, no matter how unpalatable, is a right that needs to be respected and protected.” The strength of “our democracy was in its value of tolerance and to allow a fearless expression of dissent could only strengthen the democratic fabric of the country”, he added.

The Chief Minister said India was a mature democracy and was capable of absorbing political dissent and diverse viewpoints. “Hence, we should provide every individual an opportunity to air his or her opinion in a democratic manner”.

He said the right to debate, disagree and reject anybody’s views was also an inherent part of democracy, but the rebuttal must be decent and the response and disagreement must be civil and best expressed in a democratic fashion.

The president of the Kashmiri Pandits Sangarsh Samiti, Sanjay K Tickoo, condemning the act, said it was done to widen the gap between the Kashmiri communities. “The role of the Delhi government and the organisers should be investigated that allowed the situation to go out of control and posed the risk of more damage in the Kashmir valley,” he stated.

Tickoo pointed out that Geelani had shown concern and sent his party cadres to protect the minorities in Kashmir when they were being threatened by “unscrupulous elements” during the Amarnath land agitation in 2008. Geelani had also played an important role in protecting the minorities in Kashmir from such elements this year also.

The chairman of the All-Parties Sikh Coordination Committee, Jagmohan Singh Raina, describing it as barbaric, said it was against the basic principles of politics and democracy. “Those who created such an ugly scene should be exposed and legal action taken against them,” he stated.

Srinagar, October 22
Following the fierce gun battle between the security forces and Jaish-e-Mohammad militants, the security personnel on Friday recovered the body of the third militant killed in the encounter at the Maluroo area on the outskirts of Srinagar. The body was recovered from the debris of the house, which was razed during the operation yesterday.

The search is on to trace arms, ammunition and any explosives that the militants might have been carrying. Earlier, two militants were killed during the encounter with the security forces.

The security forces cordoned off the Maluroo locality, 15 km from Srinagar, last morning following a tip off about the presence of at least three militants in one of the houses in the area.

The ultras opened fire on the security forces when they were zeroing in on the target house, belonging to a property dealer, Abdul Rashid Bhat. The troops retaliated following which a gun battle ensued. The three ultras were killed in the encounter. — ANI

Jammu, October 22
It was a book release function with a difference. Shailender Singh, an engineer-turned-MBA turned-police officer-turned-writer, invited his teachers right from his primary school to the university at the release of his novel, “Hashiye Par”, in Dogri at Amar Palace today.

Indian Council for Cultural Relations President and MP Dr Karan Singh released the novel.

“I am what I am because of my teachers. The novel is my endeavour to tell a success story of a fisherman and based on what I learnt from my teachers,” said Shailender.

Born in Chamb, now in PoK, and later studied in Jorian and other places before coming to Jammu for Higher education, Shailender said he wrote in Dogri to preserve the language.

“I hopped from one stream of education to another and one career to another before I realised my real self in writing. I am going to pursue this field now,” he told The Tribune.

The preface of the novel has been written by Dogri litterateur Padma Sachdev, while a special message commenting on the theme of the book has been penned by Dr Kiran Bedi, the first woman IPS officer of the country.

Congratulating Shailender for taking time out of his busy schedule and writing his first book, Dr Karan Singh observed that, authoring a book by a police officer in Dogri seemed to be a good omen for the promotion of the language.

Dr Veena Gupta of the Postgraduate Department of Dogri, Jammu University, in her remarks about the book, said this young writer had drawn inspiration from the ground reality and the hardships people faced in the rural settings in their lives.

In her introductory speech, Prof Shashi Pathania, HoD, Dogri Department, Jammu University, expressed happiness that one more book had been added to the Dogri literature and hoped that Shailender would continue to enrich the language by writing more books in the coming years.

Jammu, October 22
A day after two persons brandishing knives looted 10 tolas of gold, Rs 15,000 and three cellphones from the house of Ravi Gupta, a grocery shop owner, in the Last Morh area of Gandhi Nagar here yesterday, no arrest has been made so far. Though the police issued the sketches of the accused last night, the latter continued to remain at large.

Gupta, in his complaint, alleged that around 9:45 am, when he had gone to his shop and his wife had gone to a temple, two persons posing as water meter readers entered his house. They were brandishing knives and they tied his son, Himanshu, in a room and took away his gold chain. He added that the duo then robbed their tenant, Reema, wife of an Army Major currently posted at Rajouri, of four tolas of gold jewellery.

The aggrieved family said the robbers remained nearly 45 minutes in the house but no one came to their help. It said while one robber burgled the house, the other kept talking on his cellphone.

Krishna Devi, mother of Gupta, said the robbers, aged between 30-35 years, drank water from a bottle in their house and did everything seemingly in a planned way.

As the robbers fled, the victims rushed out in the street and narrated the incident to their neighbours and also called the police.

A police party along with FSL experts reached the house and seized the water bottle and some other things. It has started investigations into the incident and a case has been registered at Gandhi Nagar police station.

Rafiq Manhas, SHO, Gandhi Nagar police station said, “We have detained some suspects and are trying to arrest the accused.”

He added, “Initially, it seems to be the work of some drug addicts, as they did not break the safe. They also did not take off the ring of Krishna Devi, which is confusing. We are investigating all aspects.”