Chafray Chak (Marh), May 15
The ongoing panchayat elections are like a cruel joke for over 1,500 Dalit families living in the Marh and Raipur Domana Assembly segments of Jammu district, as they do not have the right to vote in the elections.

Interestingly, like other villagers, these “stateless” families have been living in rural areas since 1947, but their only fault is that their elders had entered Jammu and Kashmir at the time of Partition from West Pakistan.

“During the Partition, my grandfather along with his family had escaped the holocaust of 1947 and had entered Jammu to protect our lives. More than 63 years have passed on, but we are still treated as Pakistani guests and denied all constitutional rights,” said Rashpal of Chafray Chak village, where polling will be held on Monday.

Rashpal is the third generation of West Pakistan refugees, struggling to get citizenship right.

“We are a part and parcel of the village, as our family has been living here since 1947, but we have no right to cast vote in the panchayat elections,” he said and pointed out that 144 West Pakistani refugee families had been living in this panchayat segment, but they don’t have the right to participate in the formation of the local self-government.

“What is the fun of constituting panchayats when such a large number of people don’t have the right to vote?” Kaka Ram of Tatraywal village asked. “As we don’t have the voting rights, the elected representatives also ignore us, as their priority is their voters,” he said.

He pointed towards the deplorable condition of the lanes and drains in the localities inhabited by the West Pakistan refugees, who have the right to cast vote only in the Lok Sabha elections.

“We are denied voting rights in the civic bodies, panchayat and Assembly elections, which is a glaring example of human rights violation,” Laba Ram Gandhi, president of the West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee (WPRAC), told The Tribune.

Gandhi, who is spearheading the struggle for the citizenship rights of the “stateless” people, said such a huge chunk of population had been discredited as “unwanted”.

He said over 2,000 families of the West Pakistani refugees were living in the Marh and Raipur-Domana segments and 90 per cent of them were Dalits.

“Due to the denial of citizenship right, children of these people are not able to continue their studies, as to get admission permanent resident certificate is required,” he said.

“Our patience is running out. If the state government does not want to give us citizenship rights, at least we should be allowed to return to our native places in West Pakistan,” Gandhi said and regretted the fact that the human rights organisations have also maintained a silence over the issue.

“The government has formulated a policy to rehabilitate those, who had crossed over to Pakistan for arms training and married Pakistani girls, but for us a special status from the state is a hurdle,” Gandhi rued. 

Jammu, May 15
Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged sustained cross-border fire on Sunday, a day after an Indian soldier was killed by the Pakistani troops while patrolling one of the world’s most heavily guarded borders, security officials said.

The two sides exchanged small arms fire for 30 minutes early on Sunday at a border post 30 km from Jammu.

“Pakistani soldiers opened unprovoked firing on our Umra Wali post,” said a spokesman for the paramilitary Indian Border Security Force. “We responded to their fire effectively”.

A Pakistani border security official confirmed the clash, but denied starting it. Three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were wounded, he said.

An Indian soldier died in a hospital late on Saturday from bullet wounds sustained after Pakistani soldiers opened fire on a routine patrol party in the same area, the Indian side said.

He was the first Indian soldier killed by Pakistani troops in a year. The two nuclear-armed rivals agreed a ceasefire in Kashmir in 2003 and while it has largely held, short exchanges of fire occur almost every month.

The neighbours have fought three wars since 1947, but have been making tentative moves to revive a sluggish peace process that was broken off by India after the 2008 militant assault on the city of Mumbai.

India says Pakistan-backed militants were responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

India accuses Pakistan of funding militant attacks in Kashmir, which both sides claim in full and has looked to use the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan this month to ratchet up pressure on Pakistan to do more to tackle militancy. — Reuters 

Srinagar, May 15
The hike in petrol prices, the steepest ever, has been greeted by anger and disappointment by the residents of the Valley, who worried about their household budget going awry.

In the biggest ever price rise, the state-owned oil companies have hiked the petrol price by Rs 5 per litre. Petrol will now cost Rs 68.12 per litre in the Valley.

“Though there is no increase in salary of the people employed in the government or private sectors, this is the ninth hike in the petrol prices in the past eleven months and this one is the biggest. The hike will severely affect the day-to-day budget of the common man,” said Mir Manzoor Ahmed, a local resident.

Those who have recently purchased new vehicles are also worried with the price rise. People here fear that the petrol price rise will also have an impact on the prices of the essential commodities and the transportation fair will also increase.

“In the next few days, there will be a hike in the items of daily use and private transporters will also increase the fare,” said Tufail Ahmed, a resident of Srinagar.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said he will also be affected by the petrol price rise. In a reply to a tweet on a social networking site, Omar wrote, “Why doesn’t it affect me? My personal vehicles are fuelled up at my cost, not the government”.

Jammu, May 15
To keep a check on overcharging by bus operators, the J&K State Transport Authority (STA) has directed all the transporters across the state to paste and display the fare lists on their buses. The decision has come out as a result of the large number of complaints received to the State Transport Authority in this regard.

“The decision has been implemented without any delay and the officials concerned have been ordered to check whether the orders are being carried out or not,” said Syed Mohammad Fazlullah, Commissioner and Chairman, State Transport Authority. He added, “To avoid the cheating and overcharging, the transporters have been directed to obey the recent orders.”

He further said that non-display of rates would be viewed as a violation of law and action would be taken against the defaulters. Those found not obeying the orders would first be penalised and on repeated violations, their permits would be cancelled.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Passenger Transport Association has given one-week ultimatum to the government to increase the passenger fare by 50 per cent or face an agitation across the state.

“The latest hike in the fare was in June 2010, when the Transport Department had enhanced the fare by 13 per cent with an assurance that it would be revived in proportion to the increase in the fuel prices in future,” said Anil Chopra, president, All Jammu and Kashmir Passenger Transport Association.

“We have conveyed our decision to the administration by submitting a memorandum”, he added. 

Srinagar, May 15
The joy of 21-year-old Ishfaq, a resident of frontier tehsil of Uri in Baramulla district, knew no bounds when after a gap of six years he was finally able to walk on his own feet.

For the past six years, the world of Ishfaq was confined to his own house, as all his dreams were shattered after he accidentally stepped on a landmine planted by the Army to check the cross border infiltration near the Line of Control (LoC) in his home town.

“I lost my right leg in the mine blast. Though doctors saved my life, they have to amputate my leg,” said Ishfaq, who stays with his widow mother.

“He was a bright student and wanted to become a doctor, but after the tragedy, he left studies and confined himself to his room. He was passionate about football and used to play the game for several hours a day, but after he lost his limb, even the sight of the ball made him cry,” said a relative of Ishfaq.

But today, thanks to the Border Roads Organisation Wives Welfare Association (BROWWA) of the Project Beacon and the All-India Marwari Yuva Manch of Rajasthan, as 250 people like Ishfaq, who were maimed because of one reason or the other, were provided with free artificial limbs (also called Jaipur limbs).

Patients were attended by a team of paramedical staff and a state-of-the-art workshop was established in the Beacon Complex to fabricate artificial limbs for patients, which was transplanted during an ‘Ang Dan’ ceremony.

A majority of the people who were fitted with artificial limbs today, could not hold back their tears, as after a gap of several years they were able to walk without support.

“Since I lost one of my leg in a mine blast, I was confined to bed for years, but walking on my own feet gives a unique pleasure and I am thankful to the organisers, who gave us the biggest gift of our life,” said Parveena, another beneficiary.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was the chief guest at the function, termed the service to physically challenged as the service to God.

“The 20-year of militancy period has shifted attention towards the violence-affected people, putting the victims of other incidents and calamities out of focus,” Omar said

The Chief Minister said the joint efforts by the government, NGOs and other organisations were required to help in the rehabilitation of the physically challenged people.

“Social welfare is a broader concept and the delivery on this front is a noble service to be rendered sincerely and with a missionary spirit,” he said, appreciating the efforts of the BROWWA and the NGO. “Your efforts are praiseworthy. The physically challenged and destitute in the Valley require even more attention for their rehabilitation,” he added.

Sunder Bani, May 15
As the temperature increases, the worries of a progressive horticulturist, Ramesh Chander Sharma of Siot village, here are also soaring high. During the last summer, he claims to have lost 1.3 lakh saplings and some grown up plants due shortage of water. He has strong apprehensions that the same may happen this time again.

In spite of many certificates and commendations, including one from former President APJ Abdul Kalam for his dedicated efforts towards aforestation in the area, he has not got any support from the horticulture department.

Spread over 40 kanals, Sharma Plant Nursery on the Jammu Poonch Highway at Siot is an example for many. The nursery not only houses different varieties of fruit plants but also timber, ornamental, medicinal and flower plants. Presently, his nursery is attracting the attention of many passersby as they catch sight of fruit trees laden with delicious fruits.

“Despite so many invitations, the minister concerned and the officials of the horticulture department never visited my nursery,” he said and alleged, “All the welfare schemes for farmers and horticulturists remain on papers only. Despite my all out efforts, the departments concerned did not accrue me any monetary or non-monetary benefit.”

“I developed this orchard under the horticulture technology mission. On the motivation of department officials, I invested Rs 3 lakh in the orchard-cum-nursery in the initial stage but later the department officials stepped back and I was not compensated as promised under the scheme.”

“On the other hand there are many nurseries which do not have plants today but huge amount of money has been allocated to them under various schemes at different points of time,” he claimed.

However, official apathy has not bogged down Ramesh and he has started distributing plants to encourage plantation among people, especially the youth.

Ramesh is a physical education teacher and annually invests salary of eight months in his nursery. “Usually I bring agriculture implements, seeds, chemicals, saplings and plants from agricultural universities and nurseries from outside the state,” he said.

“I have planted more than three lakh plants at different places at times in coordination with the Army under Operation Sadbhavna ,” he claimed and added, “Whenever I plant saplings at educational institutions, hospitals, religious places or any other place of public use, I get a certificate from the person concerned.”

“I am more than sure that a government official from agriculture or allied department can not name all the plants in my nursery,” said a confident Ramesh who remembers hundreds of plants by their name and features.

“Water scarcity is the main issue that I face during the summer. It has affected plantation to a larger extent. As of now, I have only one handpump which is not sufficient for the plants,” he said and added that scheduled and unscheduled power cuts were another problem being faced by farmers of the area.

Nevertheless, he has not been facing challenges at the official level only, at times his family and friends too get appalled over his hobby that has turned into an obsession for him. However, nothing comes into way when it comes to love for nature. 

Jammu, May 15
Demanding minority status for the displaced Kashmiri Pandits (KPs), a delegation of the All-India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS) led by its president Moti Kaul met the chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Wajahat Habibullah, here today to discuss the issue with him.

The AIKS general secretary, Dr Romesh Raina, said the meeting with Habibullah mainly centered on how to evolve ways and means for granting minority status to the KPs.

Habibullah, however, informed the delegation that there was no specific function conferred under Section 9 on the commission to identity any community a “minority” and to recommend to the Central government that it be so notified under Section 2 (C) of the Act.

In a communication with the AIKS president, Habibullah urged the former to “examine certain rulings in the larger context of the challenges being faced by the Kashmiri Pandits and apply accordingly to the Central government to draw upon the guarantees extended to all the Indians by the Constitution”.

The communication also said the NCM was reviewing with the state government the issue of minorities with jurisdiction in that state as well.

Terming the response of the NCM as “favourable”, Raina said the AIKS had been consistently pursuing the case of displaced KPs. “In this context, an initial response from Prof Tahir Mahmood, the former chairman of the NCM was equally significant,” Raina recalled.

He added that the issue was also raised before AR Antulay, former Union Minister for Minority Affairs. 

Udhampur, May 15
The Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Kishtwar, Ghulam Nabi Balwan, today disbursed compensation among the owners whose land had come under road alignment in the Ikhala area of tehsil Marwah.

The residents of this remote area informed the ADC about various problems being faced by them and the adjoining villages. He assured the people that their genuine grievances would be redressed on priority. The residents were also sensitised about the model code of conduct for the Panchayat elections.

En route the area, Balwan also inspected Government Middle School Patimhala and Government Middle School Ikhala and found that class work was going on smoothly and all the teachers were present. — TNS