Jammu, May 29
As many as 74 per cent voters exercised their right to franchise in the 12th phase of the 16-phase panchayat elections today. Barring some minor incidents of violence in Poonch district, polling by and large passed off peacefully, although at some places people held a protest against the deletion of their names from the electoral rolls. Nine blocks of the state - three of Kashmir province and six of Jammu division - went to the polls today to elect 235 sarpanches and 1,783 panches. Eight sarpanches and 492 panches from these blocks have already been elected unopposed. Of the total 3,14,913 voters, 2,33,049 cast their ballot. The maximum voting (88 per cent) was reported from Nagsani block in Kishtwar.

“Of the total 72 polling stations in this block, over 40 polling stations registered more than 90 per cent voting,” Mohammad Ali Mugal, nodal officer of Nagsani block, told The Tribune on the phone. He said despite a heavy turnout of people, not even a single incident of violence had been reported so far.

As many as 847 candidates, including eight women, were in the fray for 235 posts of sarpanch while 2,967 candidates, including 870 women, were contesting for 1,783 posts of panch in today’s election. In the Dul area of Kishtwar, some voters lodged a protest against the deletion of their names from the voters’ list despite the fact that they had voter identity cards. “I have brought the matter to the notice of the Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner but he expressed his helplessness in allowing these genuine voters to cast their votes,” Sunil Sharma, a local political activist, told The Tribune on the phone from Paddar.

In Gool block, which registered 83 per cent polling, Safudin, aged 110 years, cast his vote in Shahua panchayat by covering a distance of 3 km on foot. Another highlight was the highest polling percentage of 89.27 per cent recorded at Panchayat Gool-C where 1,115 votes of the total 1,249 cast their ballot. 

Kakapora (Pulwama), May 29
A frail old woman with a wrinkled face, Khaeti, looking for her name in the voters’ list, is assisted by an elderly villager as she is keen to cast her vote, but feels disappointed on not finding her name on the list. She is then led to a nearby polling station. Like a majority of the people around, this old peasant woman had made up her mind not to loose the opportunity to participate in the panchayat elections for getting a plethora of problems solved in Kakapora block of Pulwama district in South Kashmir today.

Hundreds of villagers thronged the polling stations and had to wait in queues to vote before moving to their paddy farms for paddy plantation, which is in full swing nowadays.

The issues at the “ground level” are many which have not been addressed over the years by elected representatives from various political parties, including the ruling National Conference, the Congress and the PDP. People have mainly been raising the issues of dilapidated roads, lack of drinking water, power and ration supplies.

“This is a flood-prone area where heavy damage is caused to crops and property during the rains almost every year,” said a candidate for the post of panch, adding that unemployment was another big issue. All these issues have brought a number of candidates in the fray and immense participation by residents despite the paddy plantation season on in full swing.

“We have to fight for our innumerable problems. There is only this colourful market place and a carpeted road passing through the township,” said one of the candidates for the post of panch as he pointed towards the main road from Srinagar to Pulwama-Shopian districts through the township. He added that that everything else was in a shambles. “The township of Kakapora, about 20 km from Srinagar in Pulwama district, has been a victim of government apathy. It forms part of the Pampore Assembly constituency, which falls on the periphery of Srinagar. For administrative purposes, it relies on Pulwama tehsil, while a part of the area is included in the adjacent Budgam district.”

“Leaders may be talking of the political issue between India and Pakistan, but the people are suffering at the ground level for want of basic facilities,” said Mohammad Abdullah Bhat, a candidate for the post of panch. The fact is that there has been no development,” adds Bhat.

After participation in a number of Assembly and Parliament elections despite the threat from separatist elements during the past 15 years, the peasants have high hopes of getting their basic problems resolved.

Jammu, May 29
With the detection of a Chinese mobile network in the state already having created a flutter, now another disturbing fact has come to light. For some international telecom networks, it seems, Jammu and Kashmir is not a part of the Indian territory.

Once one crosses the Lakhanpur barrier and enters Pathankot district of Punjab, the international networks flash the message “Welcome to India”. However, when one enters J&K, the networks flash the message “Hope your stay in India was pleasant”.

This was revealed to The Tribune by an import and export businessman, who carried an international mobile number. He said he was shocked to know that he was not in India as per his mobile network, even though he was in Jammu and Kashmir.

Confirming that the network was not available in just Hira Nagar and Lakhanpur, sources said the intelligence agencies were informed about the matter and the process to rectify the same was on.

Though the local police and telecom officials said they were unaware of the Chinese mobile network availability in the region, intelligence agencies revealed they were taking up the matter with the authorities concerned.

“It is a serious matter. An international mobile network, which in this case is Chinese, can be detected only after an agreement with the Indian government,” the sources said.

They added that a private telecom service provider was liable to face serious action if it does not recognise J&K as an integral part of the country.

“It is shocking that a few international networks welcome the subscriber to India when one enters Punjab from J&K. We will investigate it further,” said a security official.

Though it was common to receive Pakistan mobile network in the state, it was only recently that the signals of a Chinese mobile network company “Zong” were detected.

The detection, exposed by The Tribune early this month, came close on the Army’s claim that Chinese military personnel were present in the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. 

Srinagar, May 29
Inaugurating a golf course of international standards at the world famous health resort of Pahalgam this morning, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said peace was a necessary ingredient for economic betterment and welfare of the state. He called for maintaining tranquility and conducive atmosphere to restore the pristine tourism glory of the state.

Omar hoped that with the development of conventional tourism, the sports and adventure tourism would also receive attention and attract tourists from all over the world.

“Ours is a land of natural beauty and cultural diversity, embedding rich heritage with places of pilgrimage and rear biodiversity,” he said. He added that its preservation and showcasing at the global level required considerable impetus from the departments concerned.

The Chief Minister said the world class 18-hole golf course at Pahalgam and a number of other golf courses in the Valley and in Jammu could be marketed internationally for the golfers to play tournaments in the beautiful part of the world.

He said a golf course at Sidhra Jammu had been inaugurated recently while a golf course at Gulmarg was expected within next couple of months to further expand the golf arena in the state.

Omar Abdullah suggested the name ‘Ledder valley golf course’ for the Pahalgam golf track, describing its fineness, world class standard and uniqueness, depicting the natural grandeur of the Ledder valley.

He said golfers visiting the golf course could enjoy playing on one of the best golf courses in the world and also bask in the natural beauty of the area.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister for New and Renewal Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, emphasised the importance of maintaining golf courses scientifically and professionally.

Dr Farooq said tourism had a position of backbone in the economic development and welfare of the state.

“Almost every one of us is directly or indirectly related to tourism development. We have to be equal partners in the development and growth of this economically vital sector,” he added.

Minister for Tourism, Nawang Rigzin Jora and Minister of State for Tourism, Nasir Aslam Wani, spoke about the measures, underway for the promotion and up gradation of tourist infrastructure in the state. 

Kakapora (Pulwama), May 29
For a lot of boatmen, who live in small hutments close to the Jhelum, drinking water facilities, timber and BPL ration cards are their only motivating factors to cast vote in the panchayat elections.

The women of Hanji mohalla, close to the Kakapora town, have chosen to fight for their cause. For the purpose, two women are contesting the elections for the post of panch.

However, the motivating factor for women to contest the elections has been the fulfilment of their demand of drinking water posts in the locality some time back. “About 10 women of our locality visited Jammu last time in winter and met officials and representatives concerned for setting up two water posts in our locality,” said Misra, who is contesting the elections for the post of panch today.

“Within four days of getting assurances from a local MLA, two water posts were set up, fulfilling our long-pending demand,” she said.

It has also motivated another woman, Shameema, to contest the elections to get the problems of their lot solved and grievances redressed at the grass-roots level.

There are other issues also faced by the residents of the block, including grant of timber to refurbish their hutments. “We are not owners of any farmland and have to toil to earn our livelihood from the river,” said Mohammad Shaban, a resident of Kakapora.

“There are no BPL ration cards for us, which are also being given to the not-so-deserving people,” he lamented.

“Ours is a neglected lot,” he said, adding that political parties like the NC, Congress and the PDP had not paid any attention towards their problems. 

Baramulla, May 29
Hours before voting started in Baramulla block of North Kashmir, voters in large numbers gathered outside polling booths to caste their vote and elect their representatives in the 12th phase of the panchayat elections held today.

“I came here early in the morning in order to finish early as I have to work in my fields,” said Shabir Ahmed, a resident of Ladoora village.

He said his village was without basic amenities and he had come to vote so that he could elect a representative who could work for the welfare of the village.

Residents say they need electricity, water and a good road connectivity. They allege that the authorities concerned have neglected their area.

Residents of the Sheeri area in Baramulla block, who came to vote today, said even though their village fell on the international highway on which the Caravan-e-Aman bus service, connecting Srinagar and the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir capital, Muzaffrabad, plied, people here were devoid of basic necessities.

“Six years ago when the bus service started, there was a lot of fanfare, but since then the village has been neglected. The condition of roads is deplorable. Some places in the village are prone to landslides during the rainy season, but the authorities have done little and seem to be waiting for some tragedy to happen,” said Reyaz Bhat, a resident of Malpura village.

Women, too, showed equal enthusiasm as men in the election process and could be seen standing in long queues outside various polling booths in the block waiting for their turn to caste their ballot.

“These elections are for us; we want to elect a representative who can solve our day-to-day problems. We want good education for our kids, employment for our youth and a good health facility,” said Rafiqa Bano, a resident of Sheeri village. Echoing her views, another resident of the area said they wanted to elect a representative who could come up to their expectations. 

Jammu, May 29
To make the road journey more enjoyable for tourists coming to Jammu and kashmir, the Floriculture Department has decided to develop parks and green strips along the Lakhanpur-Srinagar National Highway.

The Minister for Floriculture, Sham Lal Sharma, today, while inaugurating a park at Batehra near Akhnoor on the Jammu-Poonch Highway announced that the state government would develop a number of big and lush green parks along the national highway, right from Lakhanpur to Srinagar.

“The innovative plan will be carried out by the Department of Floriculture, just to attract a maximum number of tourists to the state,” said Sham Lal Sharma.

He further said these parks would be developed along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and would also encourage the farmers to divert towards floriculture.

“The department will also create an earning source for floriculturists, besides beautifying the pathways along the national highway,” he added.

According to senior officials of the department, a similar project had been submitted to the higher-ups for their approval, to deck the sidetracks with flowers along the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway.

They added that the road beautification project would also make the national highway a tourist attraction and boost the local economy.

The farmers in the Jammu region usually cultivate maize, wheat, paddy, vegetables and fodder, but in the recent years under the crop diversification programme, the government has encouraged them to cultivate flowers.

In its effort to attract farmers towards crop diversification, the Floriculture Department has already announced a number of incentives, including marketing facility to floriculturists at their doorsteps.

At present about 300 hectares of land in the state is under cultivation of different varieties of flowers, particularly marigold, jasmine, aster, rose, chrysanthemum and tuberose, giving employment to large number of people. 

Jammu, May 29
The Natrang theatre group today staged “Mind Games” at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) auditorium in its ongoing event, “Inspire”.

The play has been written and directed by Sumeet Sharma and was witnessed by students, scholars, faculty and scientists from all over the country. Prof RNK Bamzai, Vice-Chancellor of the SMVDU was also present in the function.

The play depicts a very common, unconscious and continuous practice of all human beings, chatting with mind and creating baseless abstract stories all the time. The baseless stories when nurtured become attitude and eventually shape our behaviour and personality, leading to success and failure in life.

The play revolves around a character Ajeet, who represents the mind model of a contemporary man whose rejections, anxiety, likes, dislikes, passions, reason, fears, emotions, fantasies, dreams, etc. have a lot to share with us all.

The absurd thoughts, which he develops, create humour. The three personalities; what we are, what we think we are and what we think we should be are revealed in the play.

Sumeet Sharma as the lead character ‘Ajeet’ was well appreciated for his real to life enactment of his role. Gaurav Jamwal as ‘Dream’ was also very impressive and matched the metaphor of his imaginary character.

Rest of the star cast included Mohit Sharma, Rahul Singh, Niharika Sharma, Sunil Bhardwaj, Mohammad Yaseen, Vishal Sharma, Tarun Vasson, Ankush Lakhnotra, Aaina Sharma, Kritika Sharma and Itika Sood. Lights were operated by Anil Tikkoo and music score was by Pawan Verma.

Jammu, May 29
Jang Bhadur Singh Jamwal, Principal Sessions Judge, Kathua, yesterday awarded 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment and also imposed a fine Rs 2 lakh each on accused Manzoor Ahmed and Nazir Ahmed under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substance Act from whom 96 kg of charas was seized.

According to the case on July 10, 2006, acting on a tip-off that two trucks coming from Srinagar were carrying a huge consignment of charas, SHO Raj Bagh laid a naka and signalled drivers, Manzoor Ahmed and Nazir Ahmed, to stop.

Both trucks were intercepted at Chhanrorian and charas weighing 96 kg was recovered.