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People suffer due to employees’ strike
Protesters to go ahead with march to Lal Chowk today
Delhi Bomb Blast |
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Despite warning, people enter rivers during rain
Bandh hits life in Valley
ICRC team meets Governor
Drug smuggler, 2 others arrested
Panun Kashmir rejects
report of apex panel
Mother, child axed to death in Udhampur
Sheikh Abdullah’s 29th death anniversary today
Plus Two Lecturers’ Forum hails govt decision
SC shifts trial in 12 cases back to state
Defence Land Scam
Geelani blames police for trouble in Kashmir
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People suffer due to employees’ strike
Jammu, September 7 “I could not get my work done in the Sales and Excise Taxation Department because there was no one to look into the problems of the people,” said AK Dhar, a pharmaceutical dealer. Pushpa Kaul, an employee of the Education Department, said since she had no work to do in her office today, she returned home early. Employees of the Sales and Excise Taxation Department, the Revenue Department, the Divisional Commissioner’s office, the Housing and Urban Development Department, the Agriculture Department, the Horticulture Department, the Sheep and Animal Husbandry Department, the Forest Department, the Social Forestry Department, Rural Development Department, Social Welfare Department, School Education Department and Higher Education Department abstained from work. “It makes no sense to send our children to schools and colleges during the strike because employees of the School Education Department and the Higher Education Department have been abstaining from work,” said Anubhuti Sharma, a banker. Meanwhile, the striking government employees staged a protest near the exhibition ground.They raised slogans against the government and castigated it for not accepting their demands. The speakers urged the employees to organise a big rally in Jammu. Senior leader of the JCC, Ram Kumar Sharma, said the statewide strike would send a strong message to the government that the working class could not be befooled anymore. “For the past two years, the government has been giving only hollow assurances to us. We had given enough time to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to accept our demands,” said Sharma. On the government’s warning that the Essential Services Maintenance Act was already in place and the strike was “illegal”, Sharma said, “Let the government do whatever it wants. Fighting for the rights is not a crime.” |
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Protesters to go ahead with march to Lal Chowk today
Srinagar, September 7 “We have decided to go ahead with the proposed march to Lal Chowk tomorrow in which employees from all the districts will participate,” said Farooq Ahmad Trali, general secretary of the Employees Joint Action Committee, which is spearheading the agitation. The decision was taken at a meeting of the employees’ representatives after the government asked them to make certain changes in tomorrow’s march. Meanwhile,the functioning of government offices here was adversely affected for the second consecutive day today. While the people suffered due to the agitation, the strikers held protests at various district headquarters. However, hospitals and other essential services functioned normally. Meanwhile, an official spokesman said Chief Secretary Madhav Lal had another round of talks with representatives of the Employees Joint Action Committee in order to arrive at an amicable solution. The representatives were advised against holding rallies and demonstrations in view of the prevailing situation and the sympathetic attitude of the government towards the employees. The District Magistrate, Srinagar, has clarified that Section 144 of the CrPC is in force in the municipal limits of the city. In this context, he has also clarified that no request for holding any protest demonstration on behalf of the striking employees has been received by him. He has, therefore, appealed to the employees not to violate the prohibitory orders. |
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Delhi Bomb Blast
Jammu, September 7 “The security of vital installations is also being reviewed,” he said. The police is keeping a constant watch at crowded places and other sensitive places in the region,” he added. The Jammu region has 10 districts. Asked about the possibility of sleeper cells of the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) in the slums in and around the winter capital, the IGP said they were also being closely watched. While the security had been tightened, sources in the intelligence agencies expressed concern over the presence of a large number of Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals in various slums in the region. Police sources said the Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals living in the clusters around the capital city posed a serious threat to the security. “They come to Jammu, Vijaypur, Samba and Kathua with the aim to cross over to Pakistan. And, it is not a big deal to motivate them for terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir,” they said. “Of course, we can’t afford to take our eyes off them because being poor and foreigners, they can easily be lured into terror activities in lieu of money,” added the sources. The HuJI, which has a strong base in Bangladesh, pushes Bangladesh nationals into Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to use them as couriers. |
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Despite warning, people enter rivers during rain
Jammu, September 7 The water level in the Tawi and Ujh rivers, the Basantar nullah and other seasonal rivulets has risen due to heavy rain and a number of people have been trapped in the flash floods and several roads and bridges have washed away. The administration has also issued an alert that a flood-like situation can occur anytime and the people should avoid going near the rivers during rain. The Tribune team yesterday found that a number of people, unaware that the water level in the Tawi, was increasing, were collecting sandstones during rain. Asked why were they risking their lives, a small boy, who was collecting stones from the river, said, “We are paid for it. If we do not collect stones, how will we feed our families? It doesn’t mean that we don’t know the risk of entering into the river during rain, but we have no option.” Residents of the area near the Tawi said a large number of people entered the river everyday and the administration’s warning seems to exist only on paper. “If the administration is serious about the issue, it should deploy some officials permanently along the rivers to keep a check on public movement,” said Sudesh Kumari, a local resident. However, the police and officials of the Flood Control Department said they were regularly monitoring the situation and keeping an eye on the movement of the people. Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, said, “I have directed the officials concerned to regularly monitor the situation, but the area is too vast and public should cooperate.”
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Bandh hits life in Valley
Srinagar, September 7 All the shops and business establishments were closed and traffic was off the road. Most of the educational institutions, particularly private schools, were closed and work in banks was also affected.However, private vehicles were plying normally in most of the areas. Life was also affected in other districts of the Valley, including Baramulla, Kupwara, Budgam, Ganderbal, Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian. The public transport was off the roads in these districts while shops and business establishments were also closed. In a statement issued here today, Geelani alleged that 35 political prisoners and over 200 youth arrested in recent months were still in detention. |
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ICRC team meets Governor
Srinagar, September 7 The Governor, who is the president of the Indian Red Cross Society, J&K branch, said the Red Cross movement had grown tremendously across the world in the past decades and it was doing a valuable work, particularly in helping the people in distress and supplementing the government’s efforts in health care delivery to the needy. He also dwelt upon the activities of the state branch of the Red Cross and the initiatives it had taken in reaching out to the people affected by calamities. Francois Stamm, Head of the Regional Delegation, New Delhi, and Daniel O Malley, Team Leader, ICRC, J&K, accompanied
Stillhart. |
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Drug smuggler, 2 others arrested
Jammu, September 7 They used to supply the drugs to youths in Jammu and the adjoining districts. A consignment of 17,800 intoxicant capsules, the biggest-ever haul, was recovered from their possession. The smuggler, Sanjay Kumar of Punjab, is a big supplier of intoxicant capsules and drugs to Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. He also used to come here to deliver big consignments himself. The Jammu police had developed inputs regarding his activities and movements and had caught several drug peddlers in the recent past in different pockets of Jammu city. One of the arrested drug peddlers, Sher Bharat, alias Shera,had murdered Surinder alias Shinda of Bahu Fort in 1995, and was involved in four cases of attempt to murder. |
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Panun Kashmir rejects
report of apex panel
Jammu,
September 7 Addressing mediapersons here today, the Panun Kashmir president Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, said the announcement had no takers even in the apex committee and its members had categorically denied having made any such recommendations at the meeting, he added. Chrungoo
said, “It is surprising as to how the state government has decided to
mislead the public opinion in the name of the decisions of the apex
committee.” “Resettlement of the community in Kashmir is a
political issue for which the establishment of a separate homeland in
the Valley is the only viable and plausible solution.The core political
issue of the community cannot be linked with the day-to-day livelihood
issues, which, in any case, the government had to take care of,” he
added. Virender Raina, national spokesperson of the organisation,
said, “The Panun Kashmir reiterates that the Kashmiri Pandit
community, whose members are the indigenous people of Kashmir, has the
first and natural claim to the territory of Kashmir.” “Our
geo-political aspirations cannot be bartered away in consequence of what
the government is bound to do for its citizens,” Raina said. The Panun Kashmir represented the political conscience of the Kashmiri Pandits and any resettlement formula in Kashmir without taking into account the geo-political aspirations of the community was bound to fail, he added. “The
issues of ethnic cleansing, genocide and exodus cannot be pushed under
the carpet and these will continue to remain the core issues for the
community,” he said. |
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Mother, child axed to death in Udhampur
Jammu, September 7 “A police party has been dispatched to the spot,” Beigh said, adding, “that the matter is under investigation and further details are awaited.” — PTI
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Sheikh Abdullah’s 29th death anniversary today
Srinagar, September 7 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and other senior party leaders would pay homage to the late leader tomorrow morning, a party spokesman said. Born on December 5, 1905, in Soura, Srinagar, Sheikh Abdullah died on September 8, 1982. His Quit Kashmir movement, launched in 1946, demanded the right to freedom from the autocratic rule, the spokesman said. He added that the Sheikh Sahib achieved his political goal of freedom from the autocratic rule and the economic target of the abolition of the “jagirdari” system in the state in 1947. He was dismissed on August 9, 1953, and imprisoned by violating the special provisions of the Article 370 of the Constitution of India, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, Governor NN Vohra has paid rich tributes to Sheikh Abdullah on his death anniversary and recalled his significant contribution to laying the foundation of Jammu and Kashmir growing into a secular, peaceful and progressive state. In his message, the Governor said Sheikh Sahib was among the tallest leaders of his time in the country, who worked closely with many national leaders, particularly Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. He was committed to strengthening secularism and democracy. Describing Sheikh Abdullah as a visionary, the Governor recalled that he had worked vigorously to protect the state’s pluralistic ethos at the time of Partition when communal frenzy had engulfed the country. He also referred to the late leader’s landmark contribution to bringing about land reforms and introducing pragmatic approaches like the Rehbar-e-Sehat scheme.He said a befitting tribute to the late leader would be that one and all worked with a missionary zeal to revive and re-establish the state’s glorious pluralistic ethos, the bonds of communal harmony, brotherhood and amity for ensuring sustained peace, progress and prosperity in the state. |
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Plus Two Lecturers’ Forum hails govt decision
Jammu, September 7 HD Qureshi, president of the forum expressed his gratitude to Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed for issuing the orders for the release of two advance increments with benefits ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 25,000 per month. All members of the forum welcomed the decision of the state government, which, they said, had been withheld since 2006. — TNS
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SC shifts trial in 12 cases back to state
New Delhi, September 7 A Bench comprising Justice Aftab Alam and Justice RM Lodha passed the order yesterday on a PIL filed by Prof Bhim Singh, pleading for the transfer of the cases in the interest of the Kashmir youth involved in them. In 2007-08, the apex court had shifted the cases out of Jammu and Kashmir due to security concerns expressed by the state government. Keeping the militants’ accomplices, who were foreign nationals, within the state would be a security risk, the state government had contended then. The cases were subsequently heard by courts in Sangrur, Jodhpur and Agra. The apex court has now shifted the cases back to Jammu and Kashmir, as the trial against the foreign nationals has ended and they have served their jail terms and been deported to their respective countries. Some of the cases, still involving one or two foreign nationals, were also ordered to be shifted back mostly to Srinagar or Jammu as the state had agreed to lodge them in the jails there. All the cases, some of which had been pending for more than a decade, would now be heard by courts from where these were taken away. |
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Defence Land Scam
Jammu, September 7 National Executive member and chief spokesperson for the BJP Jitendra Singh, who is also the coordinator of the committee, was present on the occasion along with other members, namely Chander Prakash Ganga, Balbir Ram, Bansi Lal Bharti and Rajendra Sharma. During a brief interaction with mediapersons, Manhas said Defence Minister AK Antony had assured the BJP delegation, which apprised him of the land scam on September 3, of a thorough probe into the issue and deputing a senior official to the state for the purpose. Mahnas said, “We hope Antony will order an inquiry into the involvement of senior officials and politicians of Jammu and Kashmir in the scam.” He added, “Jammu and Kashmir is full of scams and the land scam is just a tip of the iceberg.” The BJP chief said the party would also bring several other scams to the notice of the public. He added the party had resolved to ensure the participation of the people and the civil society in exposing various scams, which had earned Jammu and Kashmir the dubious distinction of being the country’s second most corrupt state. Jitendra presented a brief account of the report saying it was a case of 100 acres worth over Rs 1,000 crore, split into 69 pieces, which were clandestinely sold in connivance with defence officials, Revenue Department officials and private brokers, without obtaining the mandatory NOC. He said the scam was significant from the security point of view as the land in question was abut to the highly sensitive airport of Srinagar. The BJP had demanded a CBI inquiry into the issue and the restoration of the land to the defence authorities, he added. Jitendra said the scam committee led by party’s national secretary Kirit Somaiya had demanded a special audit of the defence land in the Kashmir valley by Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG). |
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Geelani blames police for trouble in Kashmir
Srinagar, September 7 A spokesman for the Hurriyat Conference said the law and order problem was not due to Geelani, but because of the “provocative approach” of the police. “The government plans to keep him (Geelani) under house arrest for ever and the statement is a pointer to that,” the spokesman said. He added that Geelani had been under house arrest for almost a year. The Hurriyat spokesman refuted all the charges of the government against Geelani that the latter created trouble during his recent visits to Verinag, Sopore, Baramulla and Anantnag. Geelani had questioned the recent “spree of arrests” and the failure of the government to release political prisoners and those arrested during the unrest last year despite Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s recent announcement of amnesty for about 1,200 stone throwers. However,a government spokesman said here that whenever Geelani was allowed to address a gathering at any place, it was followed by large-scale stone throwing and attacks on the police and the paramilitary forces, leading to serious law and order problems. |
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Even though the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), representing various employees’ unions, has kept essential services out of the purview of the three-day agitation of state government
employees.
In the wake of today’s blast in New Delhi, the police has sounded an alert in the state. “Yes, an alert has been sounded and I am personally reviewing the security scenario in the wake of the explosion,” IGP, Jammu zone, Dilbagh Singh told The Tribune.
Jammu, September 7
