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Shoe-throwing incidents reflect anguish of society: Nida Fazli
Urban Local Bodies Elections
Barbed wires still dot public rallies
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Three senior police officers shifted from Reasi
Mehbooba for revival of student unions
Protests in support of Anna
Shortage of doctors in Doda hits health services
Army organises rally for ex-servicemen in Rajouri
Play highlights plight of forcibly married young girls
GMCH sans security for three months
Nagot Cultural Festival revives traditional folk music
Students’ union supports Bar agitation
Kashyap foundation holds core group meet
Engineers threaten to boycott tendering works
National school games from Dec 15
Minister escapes bid on life; cop killed
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Shoe-throwing incidents reflect anguish of society: Nida Fazli
Jammu, December 11 Talking to The Tribune, the eminent poet, writer and film lyricist said he was encouraged by the public display of the common man’s anger in various ways. Nida Fazli lauded social activist Anna Hazare, saying: “At least someone has made a beginning. The country today needs more such leaders at every front.” “The common man was suffering on the margins. Now, he has picked up a shoe, a symbol of protest. He is angry at the political class which has misled him for long,” he expressed his angst and went on to add: “Nida Fazli is with the Sikh youth who slapped Sharad Pawar and he lauds Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi who hurled a shoe at US President Bush. I pray this culture of publicly humiliating the corrupt people continues as along as corruption stays in our society.” “In Iraq-US war, we recall only two names: Bush and Saddam. What about lakhs of people who were killed for no reason? No body knows their names because they were ordinary persons,” he said. Nida has never hidden his anguish over the Partition of the country. He said: “Commoners are suffering in India and Pakistan alike. When issues confronting the masses are still the same in both the countries, then what was the logic behind the Partition.” “Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah partitioned the country. Nehru divided it again into majority and minority community,” he claimed and added, “Political class has spoiled different communities in this country.” Pointing out economic and social disparities, he said: “Nehru, who was a son of a rich father, unlike Gandhi, wanted development in the urban areas. The same model of development is being followed today which has led to many states within states and many countries within the country.” “They (politicians) have introduced religion and market in every sphere of life. They will never let the tragic characters in the stories of Prem Chand to die in reality,” he said. Coming down heavily on Islamic fundamentalists, he said: “Some people have turned Jihad into a business like drugs, narcotics, arms and ammunition.” On literature, he said: “The political class has been playing with our education system. Even media is highlighting cricketers, film stars and politicians only. It’s a tragedy that literature and culture has vanished from the country we are living in. The market has no place for Habba Khatoon, Laleshwari Devi, Meer, Ghalib, and Suraj Kant Tripathi Nriala.” “It a matter of shame that in a country like ours where people recite Gita, Quran, Bible and other religious scriptures, words are the most insulted things these days,” he added. |
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Urban Local Bodies Elections
Jammu, December 11 However, they certainly hope to see that this time around Omar walks his talk. Omar yesterday directed the Election Department to complete the poll process by May 15 next year. “The elections to ULBs were in arrears. They should have been held a year back and now the CM has announced to hold them sometime in future. Given the track-record of announcements by this government, we take it with a pinch of salt,” said PDP spokesperson Naeem Akhtar. “Though we urge the government to hold elections without further delay but the fact is that this government has not empowered panchayats. Therefore, we have no confidence in this government,” added Akhtar. Panthers Party MLA from Ramnagar, Harsh Dev Singh said the polls were long overdue and this government had repeatedly announced to hold elections to the ULBs but nothing happened on the ground. “Rather than making announcements, the government should issue a notification. It’s just another announcement in the series of announcements ever since this government took over the reigns,” said Harsh. Chief spokesperson of the BJP, Dr Jitendra Singh felt that keeping the ULBs suspended made no sense. “Though we will certainly contest the elections to the ULBs but this government has repeatedly violated the spirit of democracy, constitution and its own propriety,” he said. He recalled how this government had buried under the carpet 73rd and 74th amendments, which had to be incorporated in the Panchayati Raj Act, to empower panchayats. JSM legislator from Bishnah, Ashwani Sharma preferred to remain in wait and watch mode. Already overdue, elections should be held to strengthen governance at the grassroots level but at the same time proper voters’ lists should be put in place because every voter is eager to participate in the poll, said Sharma. It may be stated here that it would take at least one and a half month for the Election Department to complete elections to 76 existing ULBs. Election to 76 ULBs were held in January 2005 and they were constituted in March while their five-year term ended in March 2010. The government may also include 17 more ULBs, which have been created since then, in the poll process next year. |
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Barbed wires still dot public rallies
Jammu, December 11 The barbed wire at rallies to keep public and anti-social elements away from the VIPs has not disappeared. One can also see it outside the houses of police officials, ministers or those having some threat perception. The barbed wire ruins view of many scenic sights, gardens in the hilly state and torns clothes of the public at rallies. Even though there are claims of removing “ugly” bunkers from cities like Srinagar, the barbed wire is still visible everywhere as a rude reminder of the violent days. Abdul Rashid Bakkarwal from Khere hamlet in Pauni block experienced the divide caused by the barbed wire between him and the public representatives (ministers) at yesterday’s rally of Union Minister for Renewable Energy and National Conference president, Dr Farooq Abdullah. Abdul was seen carrying an application in Urdu and a copy in English translated by some petition writer to different corners of the rally. “I have no income, no house to live in. Please give me some job,” he requested in his application. “But wherever I go, there is this wall of pipes and the barbed wire. My hands got injured and my kurta got stuck in it. The politicians say they are our servants then why they sit beyond these thorny wires,”
he lamented. Abdul could not get beyond the wires and the security cauldron. He was seen requesting the cops, local politicians and even journalists but could not scale the barbed wire. Not just he there were some others like him who felt the distance caused by the barbed wire. A police official who shooed away such persons carrying similar applications, said the barbed wire keeps security tight. He said: “It is true that the peace has returned but then anyone can gatecrash at such venues. We can’t take chances. There are other forums to send applications. Senior ministers and even the CM holds public darbar every week. They can go there.” |
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Three senior police officers shifted from Reasi
Reasi, December 11 Sources said the orders were issued due to indiscipline by the DSP and failure of the officers to take timely action. IG Jammu has been further directed to inquire into the matter. Meanwhile, Atul Goyal has been posted as SP Reasi, Mohammad Sharief Chouhan as Additional SP and Ajitha Begum as ASP headquarters, Reasi, with immediate effect. Earlier in the day, Mohammad Aslam, DSP, Reasi, was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with Additional SP Anita Sharma. Sources said the victim was on duty at the Parade Ground when Mohammad Aslam allegedly misbehaved with her. On her complaint, an FIR under Sections 294, 509, 186 RPC has been registered at Police Station
Reasi. Jatinder Singh Samyal, Station House Officer, Reasi, said the victim in her complaint had alleged that the DSP passed some unpleasant remarks and when she objected to it, he tried to misbehave with her. |
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Mehbooba for revival of student unions
Srinagar, December 11 “It is strange that our state does not allow student activity on the campus in spite of peaceful atmosphere...the present policy needs to be reviewed and student bodies must be revived in all universities of the state,” Mehbooba said. She said the state must “repose trust” in its young citizens and encourage them for future leadership roles at different levels. Claiming that the political system in the state had not “benefited much” from the universities and institutions of higher learning, Mehbooba said these institutions must serve as “catchments for the political field”. |
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Protests in support of Anna
Jammu, December 11 Led by the state coordinator of the India Against Corruption (IAC), Ravinder Raina, over 100 supporters converged at historic Mubarak Mandi complex and held protest demonstrations in support of Anna. They also raised slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”. Demanding that a strong Lokpal Bill be passed in Parliament, they backed Hazare's day-long dharna in New Delhi to press for the issue. “We are on a dharna here to support Anna Hazare’s fast at Jantar Mantar in support of the Jan Lokpal Bill,” Raina told reporters here. It is our duty to support Anna once again. We fully support the views of Anna that the lower bureaucracy, higher judiciary, provisions for Citizen's Charter and setting up of Lok Ayuktas at the state level be brought under the ambit of the Bill, he said. Raina said it is clear from the Standing Committee draft that the government was cheating the people. The committee had not included the lower bureaucracy and the CBI in the Lokpal’s ambit, he added. Over 150 supporters under the banner of the J&K Peace and Justice Organisation also took out protest rally in support of Anna Hazare and held demonstration in Dogra Chowk area of the city. |
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Shortage of doctors in Doda hits health services
Udhampur, December 11 As Doda has been facing the shortage of doctors for the past few years, there is no end to the suffering of the people of this backward district. Even as Chief Medical Officer, Doda, Dr Mohammad Iqbal Zargar said the higher authorities had been apprised about the vacant posts and had been requested to take steps to mitigate the suffering of the people, Director, Health Services, Jammu, Dr Madhu Khullar said doctors were not ready to work in backward areas. Sources said though the situation was slightly better in the District Hospital at Doda, where 24 doctors were working against 41 sanctioned posts, but the people of Bhadarwah, Thathri and Gandoh were far less fortunate as only nine, eight and four doctors were available in these areas, respectively, against the sanctioned posts of 36, 24 and 14 doctors. A total of 20 specialist doctors are available against the total 50 sanctioned posts in the district. The District Hospital has 15 working specialists of a total of 16 sanctioned posts, but Bhadarwah and Gandoh have just one each, against the sanctioned 17 and six posts, respectively. However, Thathri has no specialist doctor against 11 sanctioned posts. There is a dire need of surgeons in the highly accident prone district, where 76 posts of assistant surgeons are lying vacant. The critical patients, especially the accident victims are referred to hospitals in either Doda or Jammu from Thathri, as there is no anaesthetist in the hospital at Thathri. Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma attributed the situation mainly to doctors using the provision of working in medical education institutions on deputation as registrars or for postgraduate studies. “We are trying our best to post doctors in the backward and rural areas. The doctors these days shy away from working in such places. For instance, just 54 doctors of a total of 262 selected in the state have joined duty recently. Of the 26 who joined in the Jammu province, four were posted in Doda district,” said the minister. |
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Army organises rally for ex-servicemen in Rajouri
Jammu, December 11 Tithwal Brigade under the aegis of Ace of Spades Division organised the rally, which was attended by 350 ex-servicemen. Maj-Gen KH Singh, General Officer Commanding, Ace of Spades Division, inaugurated the rally in the presence of Deputy Commissioner Rajouri and interacted with the ex-servicemen. A medical camp was also organised during the rally wherein specialists and dental surgeon provided medical help to the ex-servicemen. A grievance cell was also set up at the rally site to register their grievances. During the rally, Maj RS Thakur (retd), Secretary, Zila Sainik Board, Rajouri, apprised the veterans about various welfare schemes introduced by the Central and State governments and various welfare activities being undertaken by the Zila Sainik Welfare Board. Speaking on the occasion, GOC, Ace of Spades Division, Maj-Gen KH Singh urged the ex-servicemen to avail benefits from various welfare schemes available in the fields of banking, insurance and small scale enterprises. He said: “We deeply acknowledge the tremendous contribution made by all ex-servicemen in the service of our nation.” A cultural programme was also presented by the children of Kalsian and Bhowani villages. Vijay Singh Sambyal, SSP, Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal, SDM, Nowshera, Dr Kaushal Kumar Sharma, Additional SP, Nowshera, and other civil dignitaries also attended the rally. |
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Play highlights plight of forcibly married young girls
Jammu, December 11 The play was highly experimental and a wholesome blend of almost all the Dogri folk art forms and thus acted as an effective means of mass awareness. The play was based on the story of a young girl, ‘Guddi’, representing a major section of the rural lower middle class adolescent girls, who are forcibly married at a very young age. Guddi is fully aware of the strains of an early marriage, as it has taken its toll in the untimely death of her mother. She wants to grow and get educated before she takes up the responsibility of married life. Her dreams are shattered when a ‘suitable’ groom is found for her and the date for marriage is fixed. While the marriage is being solemnised, help comes in the form of an intervention by legal authorities and the marriage is deferred for appropriate time. The play highlights the plight of young girls, who are sacrificed at the altar of the rotten, redundant customs of the illiterate and ignorant sections of our society. Suresh Kumar, the senior most actor of Natrang played the role of ‘Baap’ while Sajra Qadir played the role of ‘Guddi. Others who performed in the play included Ankush Lakhnotra, Vikram Sharma, Balwinder Singh and Vipin Gupta. Sumeet Sharma coordinated the show and did the presentations. |
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GMCH sans security for three months
Jammu, December 11 The hospital had hired private security guards, but withdrew the security around three months ago. Sources confirmed that the security agency was having some problems with the hospital management on the issue of payments, which led them to withdraw the security. “Our state is a sensitive state and the GMCH is the main referral hospital here. It is quite surprising that the hospital is working without any security for the last three months. There is no check on the number of patients and attendants, who visit the hospital,” said Dr Satinder Singh, president of the Junior Doctors Association at the hospital. “We are lucky that nothing untoward has happened in the last three months, but luck does not work every time. There are times when senior doctors have to come out to open or close the gates,” he added. Though some policemen from the nearest police station have been posted at the hospital, but the number is very few and most of them remain in the wards only. There are no security guards to man the main gates of the hospital. Uttam Gupta, an attendant of a patient said, “There are no security guards at the main gate. No one checks or stops anybody.” Minister of Medical education RS Chib said, “We are trying our best to solve the problem and have sent the proposal to the Home Ministry also. The security will be provided to the hospital soon.” “We are trying to appoint some SPOs in the hospital. And we do not want to outsource the security job because that creates problems. We hope the problem would be resolved soon.” |
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Nagot Cultural Festival revives traditional folk music
Reasi (Bakkal), December 11 During the years of militancy, the people in this region had been more familiar with the sounds of gunshots than the sound of the traditional folk music. But now, attempts are being made to revive the folk music. Balwant Thakur, Director of Natrang, Jammu, said the unique feature of the festival was that it was being held here after a gap of almost 20 years. Earlier, such events were organised by Late Shri Hari Saran, lambaddar of Bakkal village, who would present folk songs and dances at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. “It was almost impossible to organise such events in the last two decades of militancy,” he added. The performance of over 300 artistes marked the second day celebrations at the Nagot Cultural Festival. Thousands of people from over 200 villages are participating in this biggest ever cultural bonanza, held in the lap of the Nagot hills. Each day over 15,000 people camp at the festival venue and participate in the festival. The major events which marked the daylong celebration included the Kud dance by four groups, who had come from Bakkal, Panjar, Sujandaar and Ser-Sundwan. It was followed by a Geetru performance by Jarnail Singh and party, mesmerising the audiences at the jam-packed Dhol Devta ground. Special attraction of the day was the presentation of eight different dances by Rakesh Kona and party, who had come all the way from Jammu to perform at the festival. They presented Dogri, Kashmiri, Pahari, Gojri and Ladakhi dances. Their fusion dance, representing all the cultures of Jammu and Kashmir was the highlight of the day. Sarpanch of Bakkal village, Kapoor Singh, thanked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Union Ministry of Culture, state Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages for the support to make the event a success and for reviving the traditional folk of the state. |
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Students’ union supports Bar agitation
Jammu, December 11 Speaking on the occasion, Partap Singh Jamwal, provincial president of the NPSU, said the government was intentionally ignoring the genuine demands of the Bar Association. He said the NPSU would lend full cooperation to the agitating lawyers. He also alleged that the move would encourage the existing corruption culture in the government departments in general and the Revenue Department in particular.
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Kashyap foundation holds core group meet
Jammu, December 11 Daftari was elected to the post after the death of Vikram Bhat. Various important issues were discussed by the core group members and some important decisions were taken to formulate the future strategy of the KPCC at the local, national and the global levels. The core group appreciated the efforts of Daftari to take over the reins of the group at a time when the death of Bhat had left a void in the foundation. They also approved the proposal of the new global president to re-establish contacts with the erstwhile founder members of the KPCC like Sidharth Zarabi, Sanjay Ganjoo, Manoj Bhan, Ajay Bharati and Ajay Pandita and requested them to continue to support the KPCC in future, as they had been doing earlier. The core group also approved the membership of Deepak Bhat, brother of late Vikram Bhat, as the new member of the KPCC, besides the proposal to organise a global conference of the KPCC at Jammu in the near future. — TNS |
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Engineers threaten to boycott tendering works
Srinagar, December 11 “In 2003, when the self-help groups were formed, we were promised by the government that the unemployed engineers will be given 30 per cent quota for all tendering works. But the promise was never fulfilled in letter and spirit. Even Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured us the same but no concrete action was taken. If this step-motherly treatment continues, we will boycott all tendering works,” SHGEA’s Syed Parvez Hussain said while addressing a press conference here. He accused the government departments of “ignoring” the Chief Minister’s directive. “Despite the Chief Minister’s written order, various departments deny us work. And if some give us work, payments remain pending for a long time,” Hussain said. “Now that the government has announced e-tendering of works, we have not been made aware of the process. The e-tendering should be implemented only after taking us into confidence,” he added. |
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National school games from Dec 15
Jammu, December 11 Games like under-19 cricket (girls) and under-19 wushu (boys and girls) will be part of the six-day sporting extravaganza organised by the state Directorate of Youth Services and Sports under the aegis of the School Games Federation of India, an official spokesman said. — TNS
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Minister escapes bid on life; cop killed Srinagar, December 11 Sagar, one of the senior National Conference leaders was unharmed in the major attack, which also left three persons--two escort security personnel and one civilian--injured. Tonight’s attack is the first in the recent years, where a political figure has been targeted by militants in the old city area. Unidentified militants opened fire on Sagar and his entourage as soon as he arrived at his Nawab Bazaar residence in the Nawakadal area tonight to attend a family function, a senior police officer said. The incident occurred at around 8.15 pm. Gulzar Ahmad, the constable who was wounded in the attack succumbed to his injuries while two other escort personnel of the minister and a civilian were injured in the firing incident, the officer said. Sagar managed to crawl to safety, official sources said. No militant outfit has so far claimed the responsibility for the attack. When contacted, Sagar said, “Thanks to Almighty that I am safe. However, it’s very sad that one of my escort security personnel died in this unfortunate incident.” Sagar is an MLA from downtown Khanyar locality and has been on the radar of militants for long. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Minister of State for Home Nasir Sogami condemned the attack and directed the state police to ensure speedy investigation in order to book the culprits. Opposition PDP said it was relieved to know that the minister was safe. “We also express our sympathies with the family of the slain cop,” PDP spokesman Nayeem Akhtar said. — PTI
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Jammu, December 11
Jammu, December 11
Reasi (Bakkal), December 11
