Srinagar, February 22
Life was affected in the Kashmir valley today in response to a bandh call given by the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference in protest against a Delhi police order, prohibiting its chairman, Sayeed Ali Geelani, from leaving the Union Capital.

Geelani, who had been in New Delhi since January 27 for a medical check-up and was scheduled to return here today, was told by the police not to leave as he was required for questioning in a hawala case. Two of his aides have already been arrested in this connection.

Shops and business establishments were closed and traffic was off the road. However, private vehicles and autorickshaws plied normally in several areas. There was a thin attendance in banks and government offices.

The bandh call was supported by the United Jehad Council, a conglomerate of various militant organisations, headed by the supreme commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahauddin.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the hardline faction, Ayaz Akbar, while reacting to a statement of the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, that Geelani had not been arrested in New Delhi, said the Hurriyat Conference leader was virtually under house arrest. He claimed that police personnel in civvies were keeping a watch on the residence of Geelani in Malviya Nagar and had imposed restrictions on his movements. This was being done at the behest of the Central Government to force the Hurriyat leader to engage in talks.

Referring to the recent invitation sent by the Centre’s interlocutors to separatist leaders, Ayaz Akbar said his party would take a decision in this regard at its meeting in Srinagar.

Udhampur/Jammu, February 22
On the directions of Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla, officials of the Revenue Department from the district today started the process of retrieving government land. The district administration constituted teams under the supervision of senior revenue officers to locate government land under encroachment and retrieve these. The administration has retrieved 609 kanals and 16 marlas in the district since January 2011 so far.

Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Baseer Ahmed Khan said stringent action under the law was being initiated against all those who had encroached upon land. Special teams had been constituted for the spot verification and retrieval of land in Mongouri, Galoit, Battal, Dalsar, Ladda, Hartrian, Patiardi, Kothi Malhad, Barrolla, Ram Nagar, Bhagpur, Panchari and Sial Salan villages.

Basheer Khan also constituted a special committee headed by the Assistant Commissioner, Revenue, to enquire into the complaints related to land grabbing by mafia in the district.

Meanwhile, Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla has told those who have encroached upon land belonging to the state government and evacuee property to either surrender it voluntarily or face action under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Bhalla said today that the government was planning to use its land for the construction of public property like schools, tube wells, overhead tanks, roads, bridges, offices, hospitals and multipurpose community halls.

He directed the revenue officers to fence all government land in their respective areas as per revenue records to frustrate the designs of those who encroached upon it. He asked them to retrieve the government land under the Common Land Act 1956 and put up signboards of the departments concerned for the knowledge of people. He appealed to the people to help identify the government land under encroachment in their respective areas.

On a complaint of residents of Kartholi village and Birpur, the minister directed the District Development Commissioner, Samba, Mubarak Singh, and the Assistant Commissioner, Revenue, Samba, Bansi Lal Sharma, to retrieve 1,069 kanals from a local resident.

The minister said the Samba district administration had retrieved 153 kanals and 18 marlas at Chak Nanak, Ramgarh, Samba, Salmeri, Pekhri, Ghagyal and Birpur villages. He asked the police to cooperate with the Revenue Department in the exercise. Similarly, on the directions of the minister, a large chunk of land was retrieved in the Bari Brahamana, Channi Himmat and other areas.

Jammu, February 22
Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir today put forth an economic solution for resolving the Kashmir issue and restoring lasting peace to the region.

At a breakfast meeting with the Centre’s interlocutors, Mir, who is the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party (Nationalist) and MLA from Tangmarg in Kashmir, made it clear that without making the region economically self-reliant, the Kashmir problem could not be solved. “Political independence is impossible without economic self-sufficiency. So, I have given some suggestions for making Jammu and Kashmir economically self-reliant,” he told The Tribune. He had also given suggestions to the interlocutors on how to exploit the natural resources of the state, he added.

“Our party believes that the real solution to the Kashmir problem lies in the economic self-sufficiency of the state,” Mir said, adding that his meeting with the interlocutors was fruitful, as they listened to his suggestions patiently.

Mir suggested to the interlocutors that the “tapping of the economic potential will give renewed confidence to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and they will look for competition in the economic world rather than freezing themselves in a mindset of conflict, lack of opportunities and a shrinking economic base that is adding to the frustration of the youth who tend to get exploited”.

Engineer Abdul Rashid, Independent MLA from Langate in Kashmir, also met the interlocutors and suggested to them that militants should be involved in the dialogue process because the political leadership had failed to come up to the expectations of the people.

“I bluntly told the interlocutors that without a check on the atrocities committed by the security forces, the situation will not improve in Kashmir,” Rashid said.

Delegations of the Jammu Provincial Peoples Forum and the OBC Mahasabha, besides former chairman of the Public Service Commission Mohammad Shafi Pandit, former MP Janak Raj Gupta and former minister Babu Singh also met the interlocutors.

A delegation of the Jammu West Assembly Movement led by Sunil Dimple apprised the interlocutors of the law and order situation in the state and discrimination against the Jammu region. Dimple urged the interlocutors to outrightly reject the demands of self-rule and autonomy. He also opposed the demand for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state. He demanded a Round-table for the constitution of a Delimitation Commission in the state.

He submitted a memorandum to them demanding, besides other things, end to discrimination against Jammu. He also demanded the scrapping of the Indus Water Treaty.

Jammu, February 22
An exercise is on to ascertain if civil or police officials in the state have tampered with their birth certificates or certificates of academic and professional qualification for getting jobs or availing benefits later.

The exercise started after the detection of two cases of senior police officials allegedly furnishing wrong birth dates. One of them, Farooq Ahmed, posted as the IGP (Security), was compulsorily retired. An inquiry has been marked against a DIG-rank official also.

Highly placed sources said it recently came to the notice of the state government that some officials could have tampered with their certificates of academic and professional qualification also.

Many had allegedly produced certificates from colleges and universities of other states, they added.

“All such degrees are under the scanner,” they said. to the sources, officials of the Home Department have started a campaign in this regard.

A DIG was also attached to the police headquarters last night for allegedly tampering with his date of birth.However, BR Sharma, Principal Secretary, Home Department, refused to comment.

Jammu, February 22
“There cannot be any solution to the vexed Kashmir problem without addressing the issues of the displaced people in the state”. This was stated by Dileep Padgaonkar, head of the three-member panel of interlocutors today, while visiting the Bhor camp, housing the PoK refugees, along with the other interlocutors, M.M. Ansari and Radha Kumar.

The team took a round of the locality and visited a few houses. “They are living in miserable conditions.The work place of the refugees (India) has certainly brutalised them after they left their birth place,” Padgaonkar said. He promised that the refugees would not be disappointed and a message would be sent out to the Centre.

“Sonia Gandhi categorically told us to focus on youth and women in the state. Sixty years is too long. The younger generation cannot live in the conditions prevailing in such camps,” he added.

“Tears well up in our eyes as we see their condition,” Radha Kumar said and regretted that the government had not done anything substantial for them in the past 63 years.

Ansari said it seemed the benefit of centrally sponsored welfare schemes or grants was not permeating to the people, adding that he had asked for a list of needy and deserving people so that he could take up the matter with the authorities concerned. Ritu Sharma, a class XI student, was ecstatic when Kumar patted her on the back and wished her luck to become the country’s best environmentalist.

Ritu’s parents died long ago and she is living with her grandmother and uncle, who is physically challenged and makes a living by begging.

The team also visited the dilapidated house of Charan Kaur, who lost her husband while migrating from Mirpur during the turmoil.

Meanwhile, chairman, SOS International, an organisation working for the rights of refugees, sought a comprehensive relief policy for the displaced people.

He also submitted a memorandum,seeking the grant of compensation announced for the displaced persons and the implementation of the Rehabilitation Act, 1954.

Other demands included reservation of eight per cent seats for 12 lakh refugees in the state Assembly,besides two seats in the council, land for landless refugees, loan for the youth, reservation in government jobs and civic amenities for the families of refugees living in the Bhor camp and the Chatha, Simbal camp, Gadigarh, Badyal Brahmana, Keerian Gandyal and Raj Bagh areas.

Jammu, February 22
Over 300 members of the J&K Dairy Producers, Processors and Marketing Cooperative Union (JKDUCL) have been waiting for the past 50 days for the payment of the dues from the Army.

“On an average, we supply between 40,000 and 50,000 litres of milk daily to the Military Farm in Jammu.As per an agreement,the Army is supposed to make us the payment on a fortnight basis,” Anil Sharma, press secretary of the JKDUCL, told The Tribune.

A deputation of dairy farmers from the Jammu region led by the chairman of the union, Rajesh Sharma, submitted a memorandum to the Military Farm authorities yesterday, demanding the release of the payment.

“We have been supplying milk at subsidised rates,” said Sharma, and added “Though the officer in-charge of the Military Farm has assured us that the payment will be released soon, the delay is seriously affecting farmers.”

“No harassment of local cooperatives should be done at any cost because marginal farmers and dairy producers are associated with them,” he said, and hoped that there would be no further delay in the release of the payment.

Attempts to contact the officer in-charge of the Military Farm failed.

Srinagar, February 22
The Army repaired the Kaman bridge, known as Aman Setu, on the Line of Control in the Uri sector on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, which was damaged in a landslide on February 14.

A defence spokesman said today that the bridge was a vital road link across the LoC, which facilitated the bus service, Karwan-e-Aman, and the cross-LoC trade.

A massive boulder from across the Line of Control, triggered by the landslide caused heavy damage to the bridge on February 14, rendering it unsuitable for traffic, the spokesman said.

The Chinar Corps of the Indian Army took the initiative to repair the bridge and restore connectivity at the earliest.

A team of two officers, two junior commissioned officers and 15 ORs began the repair work on the bridge yesterday, the spokesman said. “The team went about its task in repairing the breach and in a record time of four hours successfully completed the repair work on the bridge,” he said.

“The effort of the Indian troops is praiseworthy and has been lauded by the locals ,” said the spokesman.

Jammu, February 22
Two youths riding a motorcycle were crushed to death by a speeding truck in the Greater Kailash area at Morh this evening.

The police said Sukhbir Singh (31), a resident of Handwara in Kashmir, and Kamal Kumar (25), a resident of Preet Vihar here, were killed when a truck coming from the opposite direction hit their motorcycle at Morh around 7:10 pm.

The bodies were taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for a post-mortem. The police has started investigation.

Meanwhile, eight persons were injured when a bus carrying members of a marriage party skidded near Kotli village in the Gharota area yesterday.

The police said the bus was going from Reasi to Akhnoor when the driver lost control over the vehicle.

Jammu, February 22
Sleuths of the State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) today booked a large number of revenue department officials for fraud. A spokesperson for the SVO said some devotees alleged that Baba Ram Milan Dass and his nephew, Damodar Dass, in connivance with the revenue officials had fraudulently leased out the land belonging to a temple to them.

An inquiry was ordered and some government officials were found guilty.They were identified as Mohammad Bashir, the then Tehsildar, Jammu, Narayan Singh, the then Tehsildar, Settlement, Jammu, Abass Khan, the then Naib Tehsildar, Bhalwal, Iqbal Zargar and Darshan Kumar, two revenue officials, two patwaris and Mahant Baba Ram Milan Dass and Damodar Dass. A case under Sections 120-B, 406, 468, 471 of the RPC and 5 (1) (D), 5 (2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against them. — TNS

Srinagar, February 22
A 10-day skiing camp for local boys and girls was inaugurated by the GOC of Baramulla-based Dagger Division of the Army at the skiing resort at Gulmarg today. During winter, Gulmarg becomes a global destination for professional and amateur skiers because of its excellent ski slopes, a defence spokesman said.

Fifteen boys and 10 girls from the far-flung areas of the Kashmir valley are taking part in the camp. Besides skiing, events like trekking, sightseeing, cultural evenings, motivational lectures and various competitions have also been planned. Keeping in view the celebration of “2011-- A year of Adventure Tourism” by the state government and on the popular demand of the locals, the Dagger Division has again took the initiative to introduce the art of skiing to the local boys and girls at Gulmarg. The camp will conclude on March 3.