Jammu, November 6
The old parents of Priyadarshini Mattoo today slammed the CBI for allegedly sabotaging their case; first in the trial court and then in the Supreme Court.

It may be stated here that the apex court on October 6 this year reduced to life term the death sentence pronounced to Santosh Kumar Singh, son of a senior police officer, for stalking and murdering law student Priyadarshini Mattoo in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area in 1996, observing that he could be reformed.

“We are shocked over the way the CBI handled our case. We see a clear bias in favour of the accused in the case,” Rajeshwari Mattoo, mother of late Priyadarshini told The Tribune.

Instead of pleading the case in the right earnest, the CBI sabotaged it. Though our daughter would not come back, people should know the role of the CBI in handling the case, she said.

After fighting a protracted battle in the court of law for nearly 15 years what we got was betrayal by the CBI, Rajeshwari added.

The Mattoos are now keeping all options open to directly file an appeal before the President or the Union Home Minister, besides exploring the possibility of moving court against the CBI.

“We are not casting aspersions on the court because it was the CBI that presented the case in a manner that the culprit could be shielded,” she said.

“Initially in the trial court and then in the Supreme Court, we feel the CBI, after being influenced, had been biased in its approach,” said Rajeshwari. However, she added that when the case was in the Delhi High Court the CBI did put a lot of efforts in its investigations, but thereafter it was “influenced”.

With remorse and anger the Mattoos also recalled the period from December 1999 to 2006 when the CBI investigations had gone into a sort of hibernation. “Following public outcry and media pressure, the CBI again took up the investigations in 2006.

The Delhi High Court also put the case on the fast-track,” said Chaman Lal Mattoo, father of Priyadarshini.

Even the Delhi High Court had described the case as rarest of rare and decided to send the accused to the gallows, he said.

However, I could not understand how a man (accused Santosh Kumar Singh), who had apologised four times in two years and against whom four FIRs were lodged in Delhi police stations, could reform, he added.

A retired engineer from the state services, Chaman Lal also derided the CBI for keeping the Mattoo family aloof during the course of investigations. “Without consulting us the CBI changed the lawyer and its functioning also gave us ample clues that the culprit being the son of a senior police officer was given unnecessary concessions by some officers in the CBI and the Delhi police,” he said.

The CBI repeated similar things in the Supreme Court, which it did in the trial court, the distraught father said, adding that it did not deem it fit to inform us when they went to the apex court.

The Mattoos also accused the CBI of never showing its arguments to their lawyer.

“The CBI kept on telling one story to my husband and another to our lawyer. In fact, they (CBI) closed the arguments and never showed them to our lawyer. So the entire exercise smacks of a foul play,” said Rajeshwari.

Srinagar, November 6
While no curfew restrictions were imposed in any part of the Kashmir valley today, normal life was adversely affected in response to the general strike call by the hardline APHC led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani as part of its protest calendar.

Two persons were killed and three others injured when their vehicle met with an accident following stone throwing in Shopian district this afternoon.

The police here said two persons died on the spot and the other three were injured when the load carrier in which they were travelling from Zainpora to Shopian was targeted by the stone throwers.

The driver lost control over the vehicle and it overturned as the miscreants pelted it with stones, the police said. This resulted in the death of Mohammad Ramzan Malik and Javaid Ahmad Bhat. The injured are Ismail, Abdul Rashid Naikoo and Khalid Amin Bhat, who have been admitted to hospital.

All shops and business establishments across the Valley remained closed though private traffic was plying normally on the roads. Many educational institutions and banks were also open and there was a thin attendance in government offices.

Today’s bandh was part of the three-day general strike from November 6 to 8 called by the APHC to commemorate those massacred in Jammu during these days in 1947 in the aftermath of Partition.

Life in other major towns of the Valley was also paralysed in response to the bandh call. The Hurriyat has been spearheading the ongoing agitation and issuing protest calendars after every 10 days.

The ongoing protest calendar from October 28 to November 8 was issued by Geelani at his press conference after returning from New Delhi at his residence here on October 25.

However, there was a day’s relaxation from bandh yesterday on the occasion of Divali in response to an appeal by the All-Parties Sikh Coordination Committee and others. 

Hutmurrah (Anantnag), November 6
There was knocking on the gates of three houses close to the main road and a few rear houses on the periphery of this village, creating panic among the Sikh families, most of them women and children, late last evening. The elderly women shivered as the voice from outside called the male members to come out, as they were reminded of the killing of 36 Sikhs in Chittisinghpura village, 12 km from this village, on the eve of the visit of then US President Bill Clinton.

This time these women had been asked by their male members to be cautious in view of US President Barack Obama’s visit and not to venture out in any case after dusk. The elderly women replied without opening the doors that there were no male members in the houses. Soon a number of neighbours assembled and raised the alarm, seized a vehicle and got hold of its driver, who was later handed over to the police.

The “men in uniform” left the scene in the dark creating panic among the residents as most of them were still celebrating Divali. The police, which reached the spot within minutes, tried to assuage the fear among those living on the periphery of the village comprising about 650 families, including 150 Sikh and around 25 Kashmiri Pandit families. This sleepy village, about 10 km from Anantnag town, on the Khannabal-Pahalagam road was thronged by the jittery members of the minority community drawn from different parts of the Kashmir valley since last night. This followed a similar incident in another Sikh-dominated village of Baramulla district on the night of Wednesday last. Both incidents panicked the minority community, which feared a repeat of the Chittisinghpura village massacre of March 21, 2000.

The police spokesman in Srinagar late last night said, “a misunderstanding was created by a patrol of security forces at Hatmur Mattan in Anantnag. The senior civil and police officers rushed to the spot and the matter was sorted out.” This statement was issued about four hours after the incident that took place between 7.30 pm and 8 pm.

Various Sikh leaders, who converged on the village, demanded an immediate inquiry into the incident to restore confidence among the community members. “We want an impartial and immediate inquiry within a week,” said Jagmohan Singh Raina, chairman of the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee. He blamed “certain agencies” of harassing the members of the minority community in the Valley. “We have been living through thick and thin with the majority community in Kashmir in complete harmony,” he said. Raina lamented that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had cautioned the community to be vigilant ahead of the US President’s visit. He suspected some groups were involved in these incidents and the mater was being hushed up.

“They had come to kill our men to repeat the Chittisinghpura-type incident and defame the majority community,” said another community member. Khem Singh Bali, spokesman for the All Parties Sikh Action Committee (Kashmir), pointed out that going by the views of the police and the civil administration, if the security forces were on duty to provide protection why did they use a private vehicle for the purpose. Similarly, the private vehicle was used in the village in Baramulla district, which created doubts about the incidents, he added. In case the government was not ready to provide security to the community, the latter was ready to leave the Valley, Bali threatened.

Srinagar, November 6
The chairman of the hardline APHC, Syed Ali Geelani, has urged the visiting US President, Barack Obama, to impress upon India to address the Kashmir issue and help eradicate tensions.

The moderate APHC led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, which had earlier launched a signature campaign in support of its demand for the resolution of the Kashmir issue, plans to send the signed document to the visiting US President tomorrow.

In his memorandum, Geelani here today welcomed Obama on his historic India visit. He expressed hope that the “visit proves fruitful not only for relations between the two nations but also a milestone for the people of Kashmir towards the achievement of their long standing demand for the exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination”.

Geelani said Kashmir was a long standing issue on the agenda of the United Nations and pertained to the disposition of a territory inhabited by more than 10 million people. “We hope and expect you to use all influence at your disposal for the restoration of the right of self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he stated.

The indifference of the world towards a peaceful resistance may plunge Kashmir into another cycle of violence,” Geelani stated in his two-page letter.

He said the world had paid a heavy price for its indifference towards Afghanistan. “Ramifications of any conflict do not remain confined to a specific territory within the globalised world,” he stated, stressing the need to attend and focus on the Kashmir issue in the interest of the world community. “Kashmir also deserves to be attended for the sake of upholding the principles and the purposes for which the United States and the UN had been working,” he added. 

Jammu, November 6
The concept of “Green Divali” is yet to catch the attention of the people in totality, yet a few persons claimed to have celebrated pollution free-Divali this time.

No doubt majority of the people celebrated the festival of lights by bursting crackers, but the celebration of eco-friendly Divali by even a few persons indicates that the day will come soon when all the people will celebrate “Green Divali” in Jammu.

Despite various appeals made by different organisations, particularly by the Pollution Control Board, to celebrate pollution-free and eco-friendly Divali, most of the people hardly bothered to pay any heed.

Children, youth and elderly people were seen taking temporary joy of bursting crackers. Being unaware about the ill-effects of pollution on the environment, the youth were seen busy in competing with their friends and neighbours in bursting crackers. In almost all localities, the wastes of fireworks were found scattered on the streets in the morning.

A view of the huge heaps of waste from fireworks in some posh areas was surprising as it spoke of the amount of money people spend on fireworks.

However, some people claimed that they celebrated Divali with difference this year.

Sanmeet Kaur of the Nanak Nagar area said, “This year we celebrated pollution-free Divali by lighting candles and earthen lamps only. We really enjoyed the festival in real sense.”

“We presented gifts to our friends and relatives on Divali and enjoyed the festival without bursting crackers”, said Anil Sharma, a student.

“The unlimited usage of fireworks by the people on Divali indicates that the people are less bothered about the environment and particularly about the health of the old, infants and ill persons, who are living in their vicinity”, said Avtar Krishan Raina, a resident of Durga Nagar.

He added, “In other states like Punjab and New Delhi, the people are well aware about the ill-effects of pollution caused by crackers. However, it is not so here.”

Jammu, November 6
The National Secular Forum (NSF), RS Pura unit, celebrated ‘Divali Milan’ with inmates of the Bal Ashram and the Nari Niketan here today.

According to a statement issued here, Sham Lal, Deputy Superintendent of the Bal Ashram, was the chief guest while Surjit Choudhary, district chairman of the NSF, was the guest of honour on the occasion.

Sham Lal appreciated the efforts of NSF members for organising the the function.

He said such a function was a reflection of centuries-old traditional communal harmony and brotherhood among different sections of society.

Surjit said, “Let the history be created with love, affection, peace and stability”. Later, sweets, fruits and crackers were distributed among the inmates of the Bal Ashram and the Nari Niketan.

Meanwhile, Sahyog India organised a ‘Divali Mela’ for special children to share their feeling of joy.

A royal lunch “Preeti Bhoj” was arranged for them, with stalls of sweets and fruits. The special children enjoyed dance, bhangra, singing and fireworks.

Jammu, November 6
The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) today celebrated Vishwakarma Day” under the chairmanship of state president Shiv Kumar Sharma.

According to a statement issued here, the function was celebrated at Kunjwani. Chief Engineer Dalip Bakshi was the chief guest on the occasion.

INTUC workers performed pooja of Vishwakarma and floral wreaths were offered to his portrait.

Shiv Kumar Sharma highlighted the philosophy of Vishwakarma.

Jammu, November 6
The Jammu State Morcha (JSM) today alleged that releasing separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah and allowing him to hold a press conference in Jammu city was a clear indication that the Centre and the state government was following the line of Pakistan-sponsored separatist leaders in the Kashmir valley.

Addressing a press conference, JSM leaders feared the interlocutors had been appointed only to help fulfil the “nefarious designs” of anti-national forces by ignoring the wishes and aspirations of the nationalist forces of the state.

“It is very strange and it defies all logic that the all-party delegation and the interlocutors went out of their way to meet anti-nationalists and the separatists, who had waged a war against the country,” the JSM leaders said. They regretted that the people of Jammu were ignored by them during their visits.

“Surprisingly, they did not even find time to talk to militancy-affected refugees from Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch, besides displaced people from occupied Kashmir (PoK), who are still refugees even after 63 years of Partition,” they said.

“The interlocutors along with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah spoke the language of the separatists and militants,” the JSM leaders added.

They warned that the people of Jammu province would not allow Omar to bow to the nefarious designs of the separatists with the support of the Central government.

“We are ready for any sacrifice to protect the integration and unity of the country,” they said.

The JSM appealed to the residents of Jammu province to observe a complete bandh to register their protest against “injustices”. The press conference was jointly addressed by Anil Gour, Chandra Uday Sharma, Surjit Singh, Vijay Sharma and Mukesh Raina.

Jammu, November 6
A threadbare review of security arrangements regarding the opening of Durbar Move offices and the next six months was held in the Police Control Room here today.

Durbar Move offices will open here on November 8.

The meeting, chaired by Inspector General of Police, Jammu region, Ashok K Gupta reviewed and discussed all necessary arrangements for maintaining law and order during the Durbar Move.

Gupta, while reviewing the security arrangements with senior police officers, exhorted them to remain alert and extra vigilant and ensure that law and order was preserved at all costs.

He advised police personnel to ensure humane approach while dealing with the public. However, he cautioned them to be stern in dealing with criminals and anti-social elements.

The IGP stressed that frequent checking and search operations should be launched in the vulnerable areas and it must be ensured that all counter-infiltration measures were in place, especially along the international border.

The IGP was apprised by police officers concerned about the overall security scenario in their jurisdictions and the steps being taken to gear up the security arrangements.

Those present in the meeting included DIG Army, DIG IRP, SSP Security, SSP Jammu, SP PCR, Additional SP CID CI Jammu, Additional SP CID SB Jammu and other officers.

Jammu, November 6
The six-day dharna of the employees of the Jammu Municipal Corporation concluded here today. According to a statement issued here, the employees decided to gherao the Civil Secretariat on November 8.

The employees were demanding the reorganisation of the Municipal Corporation, abolishment of the prevailing NGO system, release of pending arrears of around 125 sweepers/safai karamcharis whose services were made permanent in 2005, time-bound promotion of employees and the allotment of houses to the employees in the municipal quarters at Sunjwah.