Jammu, April 28
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today took the hardline Hurriyat chairman, Syed Ali Geelani, to task for adopting a rigid attitude in coming forward to hold a dialogue with the three interlocutors appointment by the Central government and instead giving importance to the Lok Janshakti Party leader and MP, Ram Vilas Pawan.

“I fail to understand the attitude of Geelani. Ram Vilas Paswan is a member of the same Parliament, which had passed a unanimous resolution for liberating occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the same resolution termed both sides of Kashmir as the integral parts of India,” Omar told the reporters on the sideline of the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected members of the Legislative Council here today.

“Paswan is a member of a small opposition party and I don’t know what he (Paswan) can do for Geelani,” Omar quipped. He added that being a member of a small opposition group, Paswan had many limitations. “How did Ali Shah Geelani ignore such limitations while holding a dialogue with Paswan?” Omar asked.

The Chief Minister added that these interlocutors had no restrictions or limitations.

“They (interlocutors) can meet any person and give suggestions without any compulsions or conditions,” he said.

Replying to questions on today’s fratricide case in Kashmir in which a solider went on a shooting spree killing four of his colleagues, the Chief Minister termed the incident as unfortunate.

“Although the defence authorities will conduct their own inquiry into the incident, we have been emphasising that the deployment of the troops in the civilian areas should be minimised to help them de-stress themselves,” he argued.

He added that with the decline in militancy-related incidents there was need for minimising the deployment of forces.

Omar said keeping in view the situation, 40 bunkers had already been removed from Srinagar city. “If the situation permits, we will remove more bunkers, but no hasty decision will be taken in this regard,” he said.

When his attention was drawn towards the reports of some groups trying to create trouble in the Valley after shifting of the secretariat from Jammu to Srinagar, the Chief Minister said this year the security forces had been specially trained to face any challenge. “We have also brought some changes in the Home Department and one Minister of State for Home Affairs has been appointed in this regard,” he added.

Omar said, “After the opening of the secretariat in Srinagar, a meeting of the Unified Headquarters will be convened and inputs of the intelligence agencies will be reviewed”. 

Jammu, April 28
The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today, approved a proposal for placing the draft changes in the Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Commission Act 2011 in the public domain for inviting suggestions from a cross-section of stakeholders. After the suggestions are examined, a fresh proposal may be brought before the Cabinet for consideration.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal for the transfer of the state land measuring 91 kanals and two marlas, situated at Sunjwan village in Jammu district, in favour of the state Home Department for the establishment of the IRP 17th headquarters of the state police.

It also approved a proposal for the implementation of the stage-II of the Uri-1 hydroelectric project by the NHPC. The Commissioner/Secretary, Power Development Department (PDD), has been authorised to initiate the process of negotiation with the NHPC for working out a mutually acceptable methodology for handing over the projects transferred to the NHPC for execution under the MoU of July 20, 2000, as also the MoU/1-A for entrusting the stage-II Uri-1 for implementation by the NHPC.

The Cabinet also approved the regularisation of Chief Engineers namely, GR Zargar, Chief Engineer, PHE, Kashmir, and Ashok Kumar Koul, Chief Engineer, Power Development Corporation (PDC), Jammu, in the grade of Rs 37400-67000 and grade pay of Rs 8,700.

It also gave its nod to the promotion of five officers to the super-time scale of IAS of Rs 37,400-67,000 along with grade pay of Rs 10,000 with effect from January 1, 2011. These officers are Abdul Hamid Wani, Bhua Ditta Bhagat, Kachoo Isfandyar Khan, Sashi Dojee Dr GR Ghani.

Srinagar, April 28
Acting on the Centre’s directive to extend the relaxation in recruitment to paramilitary forces to all permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, the state government today revoked the controversial order on the issuance of Dogra certificate.

“In view of the amendment circulated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), relaxation in physical standards of height and chest measurement has been extended to all permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir,” an order passed by the state’s Revenue Department said. It added that, “Certain portions of the earlier order stood superseded.

In its January order, the MHA had announced relaxation for residents of Kashmir, Leh and Ladakh regions under the geographical criteria while extending the same relaxation for the people of Jammu under the ethnic tribe community.

Taking a cue from this order, state Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla had directed tehsildars and Deputy Commissioners of the Jammu division to issue Dogra certificates, a move that prompted angry reactions from separatists, with some political parties alleging it was a clear attempt to divide the state on communal lines.

However, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had asked the Centre to amend its order and extend the relaxation to the people of Jammu and Kashmir rather than putting them under different categories of geographical terrains and ethnic categories.

Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had said, “The Dogra certificate order has to be revoked. The Permanent Resident Certificate issued to the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be enough for extending any concessions in recruitment”. He claimed that Jammu and Kashmir was not any other state like Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh or Arunachal Pradesh as mentioned on the website of the Union Home Ministry. “This is a disputed territory but India has been making attempts from time to time to bring it on a par with its other states,” Geelani had alleged. — PTI 

Jammu, April 28
Even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today approved a proposal for placing the draft changes in the Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Commission Act 2011 in the public domain for inviting suggestions from stakeholders, RTI crusaders here felt that had the government proceeded unilaterally, the 
exercise would have been a mere eyewash.

However, they still insisted upon having a joint drafting committee on the lines of what Anna Hazare, a social activist, demanded with regard to the Jan Lokpal Bill. Dr Muzaffar Bhat, convener of the J&K Right to Information Movement along with a battery of retired judges, lawyers, social activists, journalists, RTI crusaders and human rights activists had been spearheading a movement to force the government to constitute a joint drafting committee government’s proposed amendments to the SVC Act 2011 were incomplete, in fact a cover-up exercise because they did not address the real weaknesses, Bhat told The Tribune.

For now the government has put on hold its plan and after examining the suggestions a fresh proposal may be brought before the Cabinet for consideration.

Without having a debate in the public domain and without having a joint drafting committee involving stakeholders like retired judges, lawyers, law experts and politicians from the ruling and opposition parties, the proposed J&K State Vigilance Commission would be a toothless tiger, he said.

It would also meet the same fate like that of the State Accountability Commission, Bhat said and reminded how the state legislature had passed the SVC Bill last year without bringing it in the public domain.

He said his group had collectively studied and discussed the SVC Act and concluded that the SVC was doomed to become another “toothless tiger” as it lacked necessary autonomy and authority to investigate and punish corrupt persons.

Talking about the flaws, Bhat said the J&K RTI Movement had a sensible remedy for the government to pursue, provided it was serious about combating corruption in the state, which sometime back had attained the dubious distinction of being the second-most corrupt state in the country.

Bringing to the fore some major flaws in the SVC Act, he said unlike the Central Vigilance Commission Act of 2003, where selections to the CVC were made by a high-powered panel comprising the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and the final appointments were made by the President, under the J&K law selections were instead made by the Cabinet and appointments by the government instead 
of the Governor.

Similarly, at the Centre, only the President had the authority to suspend and unilaterally remove Vigilance Commissioners, but under J&K law such powers rested with the government and not the Governor, he added.

“We have already pointed out each and every flaw in detail in an open letter to the Governor and we hope that the state government honours the aspirations of the stakeholders,” Bhat said.

Jammu, April 28
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) GR Sofi yesterday appealed to the Public Information Officers (PIOs) and officials concerned to thoroughly study the working provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act to fully implement it in the state. He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Institute of Public Opinion here last evening. The CIC asked them to follow the principle of natural justice while supplying information under the Act .

Sofi made it a point that the PIOs could not treat an RTI application like any other document of official correspondence and must act in accordance with the spirit of the legislation. “In case the information sought is directly related to life and liberty of a person, the information should be supplied within 48 hours,” he said.

“If someone has not submitted an RTI application without submitting the fee, the officials concerned cannot reject the application outrightly. The information Act is not made to collect revenue. A PIO must give the applicant an opportunity to submit the fee. In case the applicant brazenly refuses to pay the fee, only then the information could be denied,” he added. There is no provision for the PIOs to speculate or make opinions over the RTI applications.

The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pawan Kotwal, emphasised that the applicants must seek only discreet information, which is of public importance. “The immediate subordinate of the administrative head in any department has been nominated as the appellate authority in both provinces of the state,” Kotwal said. He added, “If the appellate authority does not take cognisance of the application within 30 days of its filing, the applicant has every right to approach the administrative head of the department concerned”.

“There is a need for understanding that the PIOs are not new creatures and are existing staff members who have been saddled with an additional responsibility,” he maintained.

Kotwal said the State Information Act of 2004 was a milder Act and the present State Information Act was stronger. “The RTI Act is the only tool to improve public delivery system,” he added.

Another prominent speaker at the seminar, senior advocate DC Raina, said the state Act was on a par with the Central Act except for the provisions that deny security-related information in view of the prevailing situation in the state. 

Jammu, April 28
The Jammu University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) in its general body meeting here yesterday decided to observe a one-day strike on May 3 in protest against the alleged indifferent attitude of the the university authorities and the state government towards the genuine demands of the teachers.

The JUTA has been demanding the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations for university and college teachers.

In spite of the fact that 80 per cent of the financial burden of the recommendations would be reimbursed by the Union HRD Ministry, the recommendations had not been implemented till date, a JUTA release said.

Though the state government claims to have adopted a package vide SRO 284 in the government degree colleges of the state and the universities of Jammu and Kashmir and had sent the required documents to the HRD Ministry vide a letter, the papers submitted by the state did not fulfil the necessary conditions laid down by the UGC.

The HRD Ministry made it clear to a joint delegation of the office-bearers of the Colleges and University Teachers’ Associations that the required grant could not be released unless the entire package of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for university and college teachers was implemented in toto, including the enhancement of the superannuation age to 65 years, it said.

“It is worth mentioning that some states like Madhya Pradesh and Bihar have already implemented the composite scheme of the UGC in totality, while other states like Punjab and Haryana have already paid the arrears of salary to university teachers,” the JUTA said.

Further, deliberating on the demand of the implementation of the entire package of the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations, members resolved that though JUTA office- bearers had already represented the issue to the authorities concerned, including Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, Higher Education Minister, Chairman of the UGC, and the officials in the HRD ministry, nothing had happened in this regard. Therefore, the association resolved to adopt various modes of protest.

The first step in this direction is to observe a strike on May 3, wherein the striking teaching fraternity has decided to boycott all university engagements, including examination work on May 3. 

Udhampur, April 28
The Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI), in association with the Directorate of Education, Youth Services, Sports and Tourism, J&K, and the Patnitop Development Authority, is organising a National Heritage Trek Expedition from Panchari forests to Mantalai between April 29 and July 10.

The District Development Commissioner (DDC), Udhampur, Baseer Ahmed Khan, chaired a meeting on Tuesday to chalk out the modalities for the smooth conduct of the event.

The expedition is scheduled to pass through a few of the most scenic areas of the state, touching unique heritage sites, meadows, mountains, deodar forests and natural water springs. The expedition, starting from the Panchari forests and after passing through Sankri Devta, Nathatop, Patnitop and Sudhmahadev, will culminate at Mantalai.

At the meeting, discussions were held on various arrangements pertaining to the expedition like boarding, lodging, transportation and security of the participants. About 800 students from the economically weaker section are expected to join the expedition.

The DDC issued instructions to the district heads of the departments concerned to make arrangements for the participants at Udhampur, the base camp of the expedition, as well as at designated places en route so that the they did not face any difficulty.

Jammu, April 28
Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council Arvinder Singh Micky administered oath to newly-elected members of the Legislative Council at the council’s lobby here today.

Those sworn in were Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri, Dharam Bir Singh, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Jahangir Hussain Mir, Yash Pal Khajuria and Noor Hussain.

Veeri, Dharam Bir Singh and Noor Hussain belong to the National Conference while Jahangir Hussain Mir and Yash Pal Khajuria are Congress members. Mohammad Ashraf Mir is a member of the PDP. The elections to the six seats of the Legislative Council were held on April 13.

Among others, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Technical Education RS Chib, Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani, adviser to CM, Mubarak Gul, political adviser to CM, Davinder Rana, legislators Vijay Bakya, Ali Mohammad Dar, Ajay Sadhotra, Ajat Shatru Singh and Narboo Galchain, besides leaders of various political parties were present on the occasion. — TNS

Jammu, April 28
Principal Sessions Judge, Udhampur, AK Sharma yesterday awarded life imprisonment to Mohammad Hussain and his two accomplices Mushtaq Ahmed and Gul Mohammad, all residents of Ramnagar tehsil, for killing Arshad Begum and Amina Begum with sharp-edged weapons by slitting their throats at Kadwa village.

According to the prosecution, during investigation it was concluded that the accused persons were hardcore militants of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen and they suspected Arshad Begum and Amina Begum of supplying information regarding their activities to the police, as police officials frequently visited their houses. On this suspicion, the trio murdered both women. After the completion of the investigation, challan under Sections 302/34/452/124-A of the RPC and 7/27 of the Arms Act was filed before the Sub-Judge, Ramnagar, in absentia with a prayer for the initiation of proceedings under Section 512 of the CrPC. Subsequently, accused Mohammad Hussain, Mushtaq Ahmed and Gul Mohammad were arrested and formally charge-sheeted for the commission of offence under Sections 302/124-A, 458 of the RPC, 7/27 of the Arms Act on June 29, 2005.

Principal Sessions Judge, Udhampur, AK Sharma convicted the accused persons except Mohammad Abbas (who was declared dead) after the commissioning of the offence. He observed that “the circumstances in which the murder of Arshad Begum and Amina Begum was committed had not been proved to be a “rarest of rare case” and hence the extreme death penalty could not be awarded to them. They are, therefore, sentenced under Section 302/34 of the RPC to undergo a rigorous life imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 25,000 each and under Section 452/34 of the RPC to under a rigorous imprisonment of three years and pay a fine of Rs 1,000 each. In case of default in the payment of fine, they shall undergo a simple imprisonment of one year”. The court further clarified that the sentences shall run concurrently.

Srinagar, April 28
Tension gripped the central Lal Chowk area here today following clashes between the supporters of the JKLF chairman Yasin Malik and the police after he was arrested while he was leading a protest in the Maisuma police station area against the arrest of a local youth. The police lobbed tear-gas shells and resorted to a lathi-charge to quell the demonstrators and restore peace in the area.

The police said Yasin Malik “along with his associates went to Maisuma police station and intimidated and attacked policemen, besides ransacking some items there”. Malik, it claimed, along with his associates disturbed peace in the area. They indulged in the disruption of traffic on the road in Budshah Chowk. An FIR has been registered and Yasin Malik along with an associate had been arrested, it said.

The police added the incident occurred after a person of the Maisuma area was arrested on a complaint lodged in Maisuma police station near Budshah Chowk yesterday. Giving details, it revealed that a complaint was lodged by Ishfaq Hussain Shah, a Tavera driver of Karnah in Kupwara district, that he was attacked by some unidentified persons. 

The complainant, who was injured, also alleged that he was beaten up and some cash was snatched from him. Accordingly, a case was registered and Aashiq Hussain Dar of the Maisuma locality arrested following investigations.

However, a spokesman for the JKLF alleged that the police used force and intimidated the JKLF chairman and his associates. It arrested Malik and his senior colleague Showkat Ahmad Bakshi. Several others were also injured in the clashes, he added. The JKLF was holding a protest in Budshah Chowk against the arrest of a youth. It has condemned the police action.

Soon after the arrest of Malik, markets in Maisuma and adjoining areas were closed. Additional police and paramilitary forces were deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

Srinagar, April 28
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has alleged that the state government had failed to implement any development plan throughout the state where certain areas had been apparently marked out for a kind of development “apartheid”.

Addressing party workers at Anantnag today, Mehbooba said people were being punished for having a government that had earned the highest disapproval rates in the history of the state through its inefficient performance. She said not only the rural areas but also Srinagar city was experiencing a nightmare in terms of infrastructure and services. But the problems of Anantnag and other such areas of historic importance were an indicator of the low thinking of the present coalition.

Mehbooba said the roads in the town looked as if these had been ploughed and no wonder that recently the people of the areas adjacent to the town had planted trees over the roads in a symbolic but telling protest against the government’s apathy.