Jammu, December 20
Even as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti termed efforts of the Centre’s interlocutors as a good beginning to break the ice, she cautioned that the state government’s “repressive measures” would not help solve the Kashmir problem.

Talking to The Tribune after meeting, the three-member team here today, Mehbooba said she put forth the views of her party on a settlement of the issue, but made it clear that the wishes and aspirations of all sections of society should be accommodated for a sustainable solution. The situation in the Valley was not normal as the coalition regime headed by Omar Abdullah was adopting oppressive policies, the PDP chief said.However, the meeting was good and she hoped that the efforts of the interlocutors would help break the ice.

Mehbooba said she told the interlocutors, who called on her that the resolution effort would have to be invested with more credibility and seriousness.Besides, separatists should be taken on board to arrive at any kind of solution.

“Repression and denial of rights on the ground cannot go together with a resolution effort and be expected to produce any positive results”, she said.

Mehbooba told the interlocutors that in its anxiety to present a picture of its good performance, the government had unleashed the full might of the state to impose an artificial normalcy on a population, which had been denied every right to a decent life.

Meanwhile, one of the interlocutors, Dileep Padgoankar, termed the meeting with Mehbooba and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who also met them briefly, as fruitful. “The inputs and information given by PDP leaders are important and would help us in our task.We will seriously discuss the ideas given by the PDP leaders and ask the Union Government to give importance to such ideas, besides taking inputs from other groups”.

Meanwhile, Panthers Party activists held a demonstration outside the Guest House where the interlocutors were meeting different delegations. A party delegation,which was asked to reach there at 2 p.m for a meeting with the three-member team, did not find the latter and infuriated over it,its activists held a demonstration.

Earlier, delegations of the Congress, the NC, the Jammu State Morcha and other social organisations called on the interlocutors.

Meanwhile, the interlocutors met Governor NN Vohra here this evening. In their two-hour discussion, the interlocutors briefed the Governor about the impressions gained by them during the course of their discussions with the security forces and representatives of various political, social, religious, academic, business and commercial organisations and groups of non-governmental organisations and social activists during the past four days.

Jammu, December 20
The State Police Department, which had not been replying to applications filed under the RTI Act for a long time, has finally replied to an application seeking information regarding the collection and use of the Police Welfare Fund in the last three years.

A local resident, Sunny Sangral, got the information about the fund in the third attempt, but the police only revealed the amount collected, and spent. The details pertaining to the distribution of funds were not given.

According to the reply, Rs 66.57 crore was raised through contributions made by police personnel and the government from July, 2007 to July, 2010. Of the amount, Rs 33.77 crore was spent on various welfare measures.

The Public Information Officer replied that no activity except welfare measures for serving/retired police personnel as well as special welfare relief in respect of next of kin of deceased police personnel was undertaken.

Sunny said he had also asked for the details of the use and distribution of the funds, but the details were not provided and no reason was given for withholding the information.

The police has been reluctant to supply information under the RTI Act. Many activists have claimed that their applications are either returned or there is no response.

The DGP recently told The Tribune that information regarding investigations of cases was sensitive and could not be disclosed. He had claimed that any information which was sensitive from the security point of view would also not be revealed.

The Police Welfare Fund has been mired in a controversy. It was only after seven years that a meeting of the Police Welfare Committee was held last week. There have been questions about the amount of money collected and the beneficiaries of the fund.

Jammu, December 20
The Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Jammu, AK Koul, today impleaded Mumtaz-u-Nisa, former Director, School Education, and wife of state Congress president Saifuddin Soz, in the infamous Rs 37.5 lakh jute mat purchase case.

Besides her, the court added the name of AR Mubarki, former Additional Secretary, Education, as another accused while framing charges against members of the State Level Purchase Committee (SLPC) under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B, RPC. The State Vigilance Organisation presented a charge-sheet against Ajit Kumar, then Additional Secretary, Education, and Janak Singh, FA/CAO, leaving two SLPC members Mumtaz-ul-Nisa and AR Mubarki, who had participated in the meetings of the SLPC, when the conspiracy was hatched.

The Judge, while framing the charges, observed that “all accused, including Mumtaz-u-Nisa and AR Mubarki, entered into a conspiracy to gain wrongfully and confer pecuniary benefits upon the supplier. They abused their official positions andflouted the terms and conditions of the NIT. Thus, there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused and leftout SLPC members,Mumtaz-u-Nisa and AR Mubarki. Accordingly, all of them deserve to be charged under Section 5 (2) read with Section 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B of the RPC.”

Jammu, December 20
The Army today said it had the best track record among various forces in the world when it came to honouring human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army also maintained that torture in any form could not be be condoned and there were several other scientific methods to extract information.

Short of reacting to the cables leaked by WikiLeaks, which had alleged the prevalence of atrocities in the form of torture, and violation of human rights in Kashmir in 2005, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), White Knight Corps (16 Corps), Lt-Gen JP Nehra, maintained that the Army had the best track record in the world when it came to human rights.

Nehra was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on human rights organised by the 10 Infantry Division of the Army in Akhnoor near here today.

“ The Army, which has introduced human rights as a subject, has always maintained zero tolerance towards human rights abuses,” said General Nehra.

“The situation has improved, and in fact, human rights has been introduced as a subject in the Army. Our men have been adequately trained about the dos and don’ts,” he added.

He maintained that the Army was very serious and took prompt and strict action against allegations of human rights abuse. “In the wake of such allegations, we immediately order a court of inquiry, and there have been instances where the guilty have been subjected to a court marshal,” he said.

Responding to another query, he said torture as a means to extract information could not be condoned in any form. “Today we have various scientific methods to extract information,” he added.

On the issue of infiltration by militants, he said there had been no let-up in the attempts, but violence had definitely declined lately. “Infiltration bids are on, but the Army is equally alert to the situation,” he said.

“There are foreign mercenaries, who are active in the region,” he said, but refused to give figures.

On militants being captured from neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, he attributed the trend to intense pressure mounted by the security forces. “This has happened because of the constant pressure created by the security forces. Whenever security forces mount pressure, the militants look for safe havens,” he said.

In the two-day seminar, officers from the Army, the police, educationists and journalists, are taking part.

On the first day,a member of the National Human Rights Commission,Justice BC Patel, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jammu, Prof Varun Sahni,veteran journalist Balraj Puri and GOC, 10 Infantry Division, Maj-Gen Rakesh Sharma, spoke on various aspects of human rights.

Jammu, December 20
A two-day seminar on human rights being conducted by the Army commenced in Akhnoor today with the keynote address by Lt-Gen JP Nehra, GOC, White Knight Corps. The seminar comprised three sessions, and two of the sessions were held today. The first session on “Complementarity of Human Rights and National Security” was chaired by Padma Bhushan winner Balraj Puri, Chairman of the Institute of J&K State Affairs.

Speaking on the “Strategic Correlation between HR and National Security”, Prof Varun Sahni, Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University, said safeguarding the identity of the nation and every individual was one of the most important components of the national interest and the preservation of human rights was essential for the achievement of that aim.

He said a delicate balance between national security and human rights was needed. Thereafter, Justice BC Patel, Member of the National Human Rights Commission, gave a perspective on national security laws. Major Gen Rakesh Sharma, GOC, Crossed Swords Division, gave the Army’s perspective on human rights. He highlighted the fact that there had been a marked decrease in the alleged and perceived abuses of human rights violations due to institutional mechanism set up by the Army. The second session, which dwelt upon the subject of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), was chaired by Justice BC Patel.

Speaking on the issue of the preservation of civil liberties while fighting terrorism, Lt-Gen (retd) VG Patankar stressed that there was a need to establish communication between population and the security forces and ensure transparency in justice delivery. Col (retd) Ali Ahmed Zaki from the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses said the Army should not have reflexive antipathy towards the demand for the review of the AFSPA.

Jammu, December 20
The campaign launched by the IG (Traffic) HK Lohiya, to streamline traffic in the state is facing a tough time these days. At a time when an understaffed Traffic Police Department has been putting maximum efforts to reduce chaos and confusion on the city roads, the Engineering Department of the state government has not been cooperating with it.

In one such incident, Lohiya, who came with all his subordinate officers to the Hotel Asia intersection today for some alteration in the existing traffic diversion plan, had to return disappointed. He spent almost an hour there and even called the Engineering Department officials, but none of them turned up.

“One can see the plight of the Traffic Police Department, as while we are ready to give our best to the people the Engineering Department is not ready to cooperate with us,” said Lohiya, as he was waiting for the engineers to come and discuss the diversion plan at the Asia Hotel intersection here this afternoon.

Besides the IG, the SSP, Police Control Room, and the SP (Traffic) were also present there to discuss the plan with the Engineering Department officials, but they had to return after discussing it among themselves only.

Speaking about their plan to this correspondent, Lohiya said, “This intersection is very busy and we have planned to make it safer for commuters, especially on the route from the Fire Brigade office and Gandhi Nagar College. We want to remove some road dividers, which are not being used.”

Before returning, the Traffic Police officers decided to request the Engineering Department officials again to visit the site in a day or two.

Jammu, December 20
The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), in its memorandum to the Centre-appointed interlocutors, has alleged discrimination against the Jammu region due to the Central Government’s obsession with Kashmir-centric policies.

In a memorandum submitted to the interlocutors here today via the JCCI, president YV Sharma of the JCCI stated that it had no problem conforming to the laws of the nation. “We do not subscribe to the meaningless slogans of autonomy, greater autonomy, Azadi, self-rule etc, which smacks of separation from the Union of India. We face the problem of discrimination due to the obsession of the Central Government with the Kashmir-centric policies,” read a part of the memorandum.

“It is unfortunate that despite the abject discrimination of Jammu, the voices of dissent always arise from a section of politicians of Kashmir who consider the government of the country a weakling to be exploited. We are totally against it and condemn it in the strongest possible words,” further stated the memorandum.

“We expect the government of India to provide a strong, responsible and accountable government in the state which ensures peace, safety and development of the people,” it added.

“In this regard we shall also like to apprise the interlocutors of a simmering discontent among all political parties and people of the state, especially from the Jammu region that they are not getting their due share of the developmental funds from the Centre,” it read.

“Unless some satisfactory mechanism is evolved to allocate separate
funds for three regions of the state, there can be frequent demands
for the separation of Jammu and Ladakh from the hegemony of the Kashmir leadership,” it added.

“However, the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry does not contribute to this demand and considers the simultaneous development of all three regions of the state as a guarantee for the ultimate solution to the Kashmir problem,” said the memorandum.

“The interlocutors must address to the fact that the area of Jammu is greater than that of Kashmir, the population of Jammu is greater than that of Kashmir, and the topography of Jammu is mostly barren and harsher than that of Kashmir.

The Jammu, therefore, needs more funds, more representatives in the state Assembly and also in Parliament,” the memorandum read.

“The interlocutors must recommend an immaculate mechanism to verify these facts and correct this anomaly which breeds the seeds of discontent and separation among the people of Jammu. Unless this simmering discontent is addressed, there can be no permanent peace and tranquility in the region,” the memorandum concluded.

Jammu, December 20
With countries like the USA, China and Australia showing keen interest in the Indian Ocean having the largest repository of mineral wealth, India has to be on the guard to meet her strategic interests in the region comprising 56 countries, including seven small islands.

Major Gen AK Chaturvedi of the Northern Command said this while delivering a public lecture on “Indian Ocean and India’s Security Matrix” organised by Jammu University’s Department of Strategic and Regional Studies (DSRS) here today.

Major Gen Chaturvedi said for the USA “the region holds importance since that country wants to kep a check on growing fundamentalism and acts of insurgency in the region”. “A host of boundary disputes among various nations in the region and passing of 70 per cent of petroleum products through the waters of the Indian Ocean has also lured the USA and other nations towards the region,” he said.

Dwelling upon the interests and objectives of China in the Indian Ocean, Gen Chaturvedi said the country wanted to contain the USA and India by modernising its defence forces and also grow her trade. “The geo-economic activities in the region suits China, which now no longer accepts the Indian Ocean as an ocean of Indians,” he added.

The General asserted that as the USA continued to remain strong in the region through her allies and bases, China on the other hand wanted to counter the Malacca dilemma. “Australia is a minor player in the whole game,” he added.

Major Gen Chaturvedi said the Indian interests in the region would be to safeguard her neighbourhood and the flow of energy and oil products, besides care for the safety of Indian diaspora.

“The Indian Ocean will continue to remain a lifeline as far as energy flow is concerned,” he said.

Given the situation, Major Gen Chaturvedi said, India needed to enhance interoperability with littoral countries and strengthen security infrastructure to deal with conventional and sub-conventional threats, including anti-piracy operations.

Stressing the need for an integrated model for the ocean governance, Major Gen Chaturvedi said India needed to develop capacity and capability in such a way that the skewers of the triangle interest between India, China and the USA remained favourable to us. “We got to dominate the region without hegemony. We must understand the Indian Ocean as our backyard and see it as both natural and desirable to function as the leader and the pre-dominant influence in this region,” he added.

Among others who spoke on the occasion included Dr Mohammad Monir Alam, Director, DSRS; and Dr Baljit Singh, Associate Professor, department of political science.

Jammu, December 20
To curb power theft in the state, the Power Development Department (PDD) has mooted a proposal to install radio frequency meters after replacing electronic meters.

“Energy theft is a major problem in the state and the PDD has been making all efforts to solve it.At present, the state is suffering a loss of 60 per cent in the power sector”, an official said. Official sources in the PDD told The Tribune that they had sent a proposal to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), seeking its approval to install radio frequency meters, which couldn’t be tampered with.

It is a device, in which an official can note down the meter reading by using a remote control. Terming it as the best way to stop the pilferage, an official said people in the rural areas pilfered power more than consumers in the urban areas.

Sources said earlier the Union Government had directed the State Government to curb the rampant power theft in view of huge revenue losses.The department had also engaged informers to deal with the problem.

Chief Engineer, PDD, Muhammad Qasim said: “Yes, a proposal has been sent for the installation of radio frequency meters to the CEA and if it is approved, the problem of power theft would be largely solved”.

Jammu, December 20
Abdul Majid Wani, MLA, Doda, and Farooq Ahmad Khan, Deputy Commissioner, Doda, inaugurated a walnut Show at the town hall there today. Various varieties of walnut were displayed by growers from Kulhand, Dhar Bheli, Bharath, Thathri, Gandoh, Gundna, Marmat, Bhagwah, Bhalles and Bhaderwah. Prizes were also given to progressive walnut growers of the district. Apart from hundreds of fruit and vegetable growers of Doda district, the Joint Director, Horticulture Department, along with other district officers of Horticulture, Horticulture Planning and Marketing and Agriculture departments were also present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, Wani said “The government has recently released Rs 47 lakh for Doda district under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for the spread of modern technology. This amount has been given to the Horticulture Department for providing the latest technologies like Varmi Compost, Tubular Polygreen Houses, Wooden Polygreen Houses and modern equipment like High Tree Pruners, Brush Cutters and Spray Pumps to the orchardists.