New Delhi, February 24
Noting that Jammu and Kashmir had gone through a “difficult time” last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today that the government was keeping its “fingers crossed” this summer while remaining vigilant, as he asserted that no quarter should be given to secessionists.

Manmohan Singh told the Lok Sabha that the report of the Rangarajan Committee appointed by him to work out a plan for providing up to one lakh jobs to the Kashmir youth was “nearly ready and once its implementation starts the mindset of Kashmir people will change”.

“Our approach to the problems of Jammu and Kashmir is that we will give no quarter to the secessionist elements. We will do everything in our power to strengthen the hands of the state government to provide a fairer deal to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, to provide avenues for gainful employment,” he said, replying to a debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s Address.

“We have passed through a difficult time, particularly the last summer,” the Prime Minister said, talking about the situation in the state. He did not elaborate but was clearly referring to the months of unrest in the Kashmir valley, involving stone throwing, which led to a cycle of violence and death of over 100 persons.

“Since then, the situation has improved. But we keep our fingers crossed. Come this summer, I hope we will be vigilant enough to ensure that the unfortunate events that took place last summer in parts of Jammu and Kashmir do not recur,” the Prime Minister said. He underlined that it was ‘obligatory’ for all political parties to do nothing which would disturb the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir now. — PTI

Srinagar, February 24
The interlocutors of the Centre today visited Sopore and Handwara in North Kashmir where two sisters and a youth were killed in two incidents of firing recently.

The interlocutors, Dileep Padgaonkar, Prof Radha Kumar and MM Ansari, who arrived here yesterday visited Sopore town in Baramulla district this morning and met the relatives of the two sisters, who were killed by suspected militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba on January 31.

The interlocutors also visited Chogul village, near Handwara, and met members of the family of Manzoor Ahmad Magray, who was killed by the Army in an ambush on the night of February 4.

The interlocutors said that there was need to check such incidents as these could disturb peace in the state, particularly in the Kashmir valley. Such incidents would hamper the political process.They also assured all help and assistance for the education of the siblings of the killed youth. The family members demanded that the magisterial inquiry being conducted into the killing of the youth should be completed at the earliest.

Earlier, the interlocutors met the PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti.

Mehbooba asked the interlocutors to engage separatists in the dialogue process.

“Separatists are important stakeholders in the process. So, engaging them in talks is a must to take the process to its logical conclusion,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti told the interlocutors, who called on her at her residence here.

She said unilateral or bilateral decisions taken by the previous regimes, from time to time, had proved counterproductive. So, there was need to take a comprehensive and holistic view of the issue.

She also emphasised the need for involving Pakistan in the dialogue process.

“Keeping in view the complexity and diversity of the state, there is need to involve all sections, regions and sub-regions in the process of dialogue to arrive at an acceptable and workable solution,” the PDP president said.

Jammu, February 24
A day after recovering ‘practice grenades’ from Jammu Tawi railway station, the Government Railway Police (GRP) today initiated an exercise to know if any of the central forces or the police had reported about low-intensity explosives missing from their stocks. The surveillance squad of the GRP had noticed a bag containing the grenades lying near an ATM, a few metres away from an X-Ray machine, at the railway station.

“Though we are investigating the case from all angles, the possibility of security personnel having lost explosives at the railway station cannot be ruled out,” Sub-Divisional Police Officer of the GRP Dushyant Sharma told The Tribune. “Nothing has been established from the CCTV footage and now we are trying to contact the Army. In fact, our intelligence wing has already started investigations,” he said.

The grenades carried the mark ‘GRE 90 MK3’ with a tag mentioning the method for their use in the English and Roman languages. They were not ‘Gullas’ but small grenades, which made a loud sound when exploded, added Sharma. Called ‘Gullas’ in the local parlance, hunters in the past used to make the grenades using dynamite and lead to kill the fish in rivulets and ponds and swine in forests.

An Army spokesperson said, “We definitely take cognisance of such incidents and after a police report is received, we will look into the incident.” He, however, added that there was no scope for leniency in the matter of handling arms and ammunition in the Army.

The spokesman made an interesting disclosure that there was no term like ‘practice grenade’ in the Army.

“We use ‘Grenade 90’ during the battle inoculation training of our jawans, where we create a battle-like situation using live firing of small arms and ammunition and these grenades, which only create sound,” he said.

“We are not sure what the GRP has recovered but as far as ‘Grenade 90’ is concerned it only makes sound and doesn’t cause injury or damage because it has no shrapnel in it unlike a regular grenade. However, when exploded its sound could trigger panic in a crowded place,” he added.

Sharma said, “Grenade 90 has to be lighted like a fire-cracker.

But it certainly carries batch and lot numbers, besides the date of manufacture and the number of the unit to which it has been issued,” he added.

Ruling out the possibility of the involvement of personnel of the central forces, DIG, BSF, Jammu Frontier, JS Oberoi said, “Since the BSF has no training institute in Jammu and Kashmir, the question of using such low-intensity grenades doesn’t arise. We have only one recruitment training centre, that, too in Udhampur.”

CRPF spokesperson VA Prakash said, “The CRPF uses only ‘DP grenades’ for the purpose of imparting theoretical knowledge to jawans. It is just a device that resembles a regular grenade. It neither explodes nor creates any sound and we use it to give theoretical knowledge to our jawans.”

“And when it comes to arms and ammunition, the CRPF has an in-built internal surveillance mechanism in place. No jawan or officer can go on leave without depositing his arms and ammunition,” he added. A senior police officer said the state police also used such devices at its training centres.

Udhampur, February 24
More than 50 BPL consumers of Namaal village of the Pouni block in Reasi district have charged the Power Development Department (PDD) with sending them notices for the non-payment of power bills which the consumers claimed to have paid.

In the notices, the PDD told the consumers to either pay the outstanding bills by March or face the disconnection of the power supply.

Led by the chairman of the All-India Workers Union, Reasi, Paras Ram, the agitated consumers held a demostration in front of the office of the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), PDD,today.

Paras Ram alleged that despite making the payment, the consumers were being unnecessarily harassed. The affected consumers also showed the receipts to the AEE,who took up the matter with the Executive Engineer, Reasi division, Manhar Gupta. The consumers said that they had been paying the bills regularly to two linemen of the PDD. As per the government policy, every BPL consumer is supposed to pay Rs 10 for the daily consumption of power.

Each alleged defaulter, according to official records, owes between Rs 14,000 and

Rs 15,000 to the PDD. But the consumers alleged that the bills showing the outstanding amount were inflated as the transformer supplying power to the village did not function for about six months last year. “But the consumers were sent the bills for this period as well,” claimed Paras Ram.

Manhar Gupta said he would look into the matter.”We have been given the copies of the receipts as well as the list of the affected consumers. Since the amount they claim to have paid does not reflect in our records, we will verify the genuineness of the receipts in a week,” said Gupta. The consumers also claimed to have met the Deputy Commissioner, Reasi, in this regard. 

Jammu, February 24
After a press conference by some BJP MLAs led to differences with the leadership,the party today tried to present a united face by organising another media interaction.

However, the attempt failed as Shamsher Singh Manhas, state president of the party,and Jagdish Sapolia, MLA from Basholi, did not attend the press conference.

“Sapolia had to go to an important function.So,he could not attend today’s press conference,”said party leader Chaman Lal Gupta. He asserted that the BJP was a disciplined party.

When asked about the holding of the press conference outside the party headquarters, Ashok Khajuria, Chief Whip,reacted:“It is an internal matter of the party. The holding of a press conference outside the office does not mean that there are differences in the party.”

Last week’s press conference, addressed by five MLAs,had exposed the bickering in the ‘disciplined’ party. The MLAs were considered to be close to a veteran leader and various organisations of the Sangh Parivar had taken serious note of it.

Meanwhile, in view of the growing indiscipline in the state unit, the high command has decided to hold training camps for senior party workers and leaders. The first training camp will be held tomorrow. All the MLAs have been asked to attend it.

Jammu, February 24
Even as the interlocutors of the Centre yesterday announced that they would submit their initial report in two weeks , the BJP today cautioned the Union Government against giving any concession to the state. The party warned that it would launch a statewide agitation, if the aspirations of the people of the Jammu and Ladakh regions were ignored while arriving at a solution to the Kashmir problem.

Addressing a joint press conference with the party MLAs, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta,Leader of the BJP in the Assembly, observed that there was a secret understanding between Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the interlocutors.

To substantiate his allegation, he pointed to some recent statements of the interlocutors.

“Instead of addressing the aspirations of the people of all the three regions of the state, the interlocutors seem to be in a hurry to accomplish the hidden agenda of Omar Abdullah,” he said, and warned that the BJP would not allow them to succeed in their designs.

He said that in the ensuing Budget session, the BJP would take up many issues, especially those pertaining to the security of the state and the unity of the country.

“This session would have a special significance because after disputing the finality of the accession issue, the state government did not permit the hoisting of the National Flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, ” he said.

He said that the other issues, which would be raised related to unemployment, soaring prices and the neglect of farmers and ex-servicemen. 

Srinagar, February 24
Two enumerators were suspended in the Kashmir valley after they were found guilty of not coordinating with their officers in the ongoing Phase-II of the Census.

“The zonal officers of four zones in the municipal limits recommended disciplinary action against some supervisors and enumerators for not coordinating with assistant charge officers and charge officers,” an official spokesman said, and added two enumerators were suspended in this regard. Any “laxity or negligence” in the timely completion of the Phase-II of the Census would be viewed seriously, he said.

Meanwhile, the All-Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) has said the Census in Kashmir cannot register accurate figures, as a large number of youths have left the state for jobs, education and business due to the turmoil last summer.

“Jammu and Kashmir is the only state where a large number of people are untraceable, which shows the intention of the government with regard to the Census,” Jagmohan Singh Raina, chairman of the APSCC, said in a statement here today. While the majority community was at the receiving end, a large number of members of the Sikh and other minority communities in Kashmir and the border areas had temporarily migrated from villages to cities for security, jobs and education, he said. “This temporary migration of Sikhs was not included in the earlier Census, like in the case of Kashmiri Pandits, thus blatantly violating the human and constitutional rights of people,” Raina added. 

Jammu, February 24
A Division Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has summoned the record pertaining to the service of ITBP Sub-Inspector Sudhesh Kumar, who had blown the lid off an alleged Rs 300 crore training allowance scam in the force 23 years ago.

Since then, he was allegedly being harassed. He has virtually been without a job and not paid salary all these years. He did odd jobs for some time.

Even though the High Court had decided the case in his favour and ordered his reinstatement with all benefits, including promotion, the ITBP allegedly did not implement the order. Sudesh launched contempt proceedings against the ITBP, following which the force agreed to reinstate him. He joined duty in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 but after a few weeks of joining duty he was told that he had been promoted and transferred to Reckongpeo in Leh. After joining duty at Reckongpeo he was shocked to learn that he was never posted there nor promoted, while at the place of his previous posting his name was not in the record.

Sudhesh again approached the High Court, which after hearing him afresh, asked the counsel for the ITBP to produce Sudesh’s service record by next week. Sudhesh said ITBP officers had wrongly been drawing training allowance equal to 30 per cent of their basic pay. “They were not entitled to draw training allowance. When I raised the issue, the Central government stopped its payment. Instead of rewarding me, the ITBP harassed me time and again and implicated me in false cases. My life had been reduced to fighting cases in different parts of the country,” he added. “I saved Rs 300 crore of public money and see what I got,” he broke down showing a thick file of papers of law suits.

Srinagar, February 24
Even after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured Abdul Ahad Jan that a case registered against him for throwing a shoe at the former would be withdrawn, the suspended police officer today alleged that he was being harassed and intimidated by the police.

Jan had thrown the shoe at Omar Abdullah during an Independence Day function at the Bakshi Stadium here last year.

However, the shoe missed the target and fell on the ground in full view of the media and top civil and police officers. Jan was arrested and a case registered against him.

On August 19, he had a meeting with the Chief Minister and was assured that the case against him would be withdrawn.

However,this was not done and the suspended sub-inspector was being ”harassed” by the police.

Jan also alleged that his son was arrested from his village in Bandipore district on a charge of stone throwing. 

Jammu, February 24
The police took two agitating agriculture technocrats to hospital after they fell ill during their fast-unto-death protest at Mubarak Mandi Complex here today.

After getting the reports that two of the protesters were not feeling well, the police admitted them to the Government Medical College and Hospital.

The agitating technocrats were demanding permanent jobs as they had protested last year also and were reportedly given an assurance by the government in the regard, but nothing had been done so far. 

Jammu, February 24
The police lathicharged protesting unemployed physiotherapists when they tried to march towards the Civil Secretariat under the banner of the Jammu Kashmir Physiotherapists Association (JKPA) here today.

The physiotherapists had been protesting for the past 94 days in front of the office of the old Divisional Commissioner, Mubarak Mandi complex.

The protesters started their march from Mubarak Mandi towards the secretariat this morning. However, the police resorted to lathicharge when the protesters did not stop despite barricades. “At least seven physiotherapists were injured in the lathicharge, including three girls,” said Gagan Chark, a protester.

Srinagar, February 24
Residents of Baramulla town observed a strike in protest against the alleged thrashing and arrest of several youths by the Army on Tuesday.

The strike was observed in response to a call given by the Geelani faction of the Hurriyat Conference after the Army allegedly arrested the youths for throwing stones.

“People are demanding the release of the youths who were arrested by the Army from the general bus stand and other areas,” said a local resident.

According to sources, the Army arrested eight youths after they resorted to stone throwing at soldiers.

The protesters alleged that Army personnel beat up the youths and two of them had to be hospitalised.

Jammu, February 24
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah awarded the best farmer awards (state-level) to Kunj Lal, a small farmer from Mani village in the Ghordi block of Udhampur district, and Sanjay Kumar, another farmer from Dadwara village in Kathua district, for their resolve to take up mushroom cultivation and adopt diversified farming systems at a function here today.

The Chief Minister also gave away the best farmer awards (district and block- levels) to about 150 progressive farmers of Jammu division.

While presenting the awards, Omar highlighted the potential of Jammu and Kashmir as a state of flowers. He added that floriculture promised a greater economic future.

“The state is on the threshold of achieving self-reliance in the production of flowers and our next step should be to make Jammu and Kashmir a brand name in the global floriculture market,” he said, enumerating the economic advantage of commercial floriculture.

The Chief Minister said the awards for progressive farmers were instituted to encourage them and recognise their hard work.

A similar function was held in Srinagar last week.

He added that a proposal had been forwarded to the Centre for a basmati mission for Jammu division on the pattern of the saffron mission for Kashmir.

“A comprehensive proposal in this regard is under active consideration of the Centre and we expect a positive response from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Jammu next month,” he added.

Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir and Minister for Horticulture Sham Lal Shama also spoke on the occasion.