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AMARNATH YATRA
Many ardent devotees prefer the longer Chandanwari route
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Bhalla visits Nunwan base camp, reviews arrangements
CM’s ‘thief’ remark an insult to people: PDP
Tufail
Mattoo Case
J-K people have realised gun culture not in their favour: Azad
Special incentives for doctors serving in rural areas
Azad loyalists show up in large numbers at Bhaderwah festival
Families forced into bonded labour for 20 years
Missing
starlet case
Nubra residents face acute fuel shortage
Breakaway factions of employee body form new panel
T-20 cricket tourney kicks off in Sopore
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AMARNATH YATRA
Jammu, June 24 The first batch consisting of 2,298 pilgrims was flagged off from Bhagwati Nagar base camp around 4.30 am by Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, Industries Minister SS Salathia and Chief Minister’s Political Adviser Devinder Singh Rana. “The first batch comprised 1,470 men, 477 women, 110 children and 241 sadhus, who left in a cavalcade of 69 vehicles, including 51 buses and 18 light motor vehicles (LMVs) along with a tight mobile security escort of the CRPF,” said Dinesh Singh Chandel, a CRPF officer, in charge of the security at the base camp. Chanting religious slogans, hymns and prayers, the pilgrims left for the Valley for their onward journey to the Amarnath cave shrine. Later, talking to mediapersons, Jora said: “The yatra has started and we pray for a peaceful and hassle-free pilgrimage this year as well. The administration is fully geared up to provide facilities like accommodation, drinking water, electricity, etc, to the pilgrims at the base camps as well as en route,” said Jora. He, however, made it clear that considering the inclement weather conditions and the arduous journey, only registered and medically fit pilgrims would be allowed to undertake the pilgrimage. For the convenience of yatris, the government has made elaborate arrangements for the registration by designating branches of J&K Bank, Yes Bank, Bihar State Cooperative Bank Ltd and post offices across the country, besides putting in place the provision for online registration, he added. He said all required assistance would be provided to the yatris to help them cope with bad weather, difficult terrain and mountainous tracks. A total 3.5 lakh pilgrims have already been registered for the annual pilgrimage, which will conclude on August 2, Raksha Bandhan. The CRPF has deployed 75 companies while the Jammu and Kashmir Police has mobilised 25 companies to ensure a peaceful pilgrimage this year. Apart from the CRPF and police, the Army, the BSF and the ITBP are also contributing their bit for the safety and security of pilgrims. Despite heavy odds, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) in tandem with the state government has made the requisite arrangements, said a SASB spokesperson. Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pardeep Gupta; Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Dilbag Singh; District Development Commissioner, Sanjeev Verma; Director, Tourism, S. Robin Singh Mehta; and other senior officers of Revenue, Tourism, Police, PHE, BSNL and the PDD were also present for the flag-off ceremony. |
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Many ardent devotees prefer the longer Chandanwari route
The pilgrims were bubbling with enthusiasm as they planned their trek to the shrine, and gave several reasons for choosing the longer route for having a glimpse of the "Shivalingam" at the shrine. Another sadhu said this route enabled them to have a darshan of every “miracle” of Lord Shiva. “Every spot of this route has a history attached to it and we can get darshan of every miracle of Bhole Nath. For example, Bhole Nath left his naag (snake) at the Sheshnag Lake. We pray at every such place en route that has its own religious importance,” said Baba Surjit Singh, also from Himachal Pradesh. The Sheshnag Lake is about 14 km from here and is located at an altitude of 11,730 feet. The holy cave shrine, about 30 km from here, is located at an altitude of 13,000 feet. Sadhus may take this long route for religious reasons but for many others it is also taken up as an adventure. “Apart from the fact that Lord Shiva took this route, a trek from here allows us to see the beauty of snow-clad peaks,” said Lakhwinder Singh, a devotee from Rajpura in Punjab. Another devotee said: “This route is devotion mixed with adventure. But I intend to return through Baltal and thus I will be able to see the beauty of both routes,” he added. Incidentally, this route is preferred by many elders as it is less risky than the Baltal route. Many others, however, have rushed straight to Baltal for they wanted to be among the first ones to pay obeisance at the shrine. |
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Bhalla visits Nunwan base camp, reviews arrangements
Jammu, June 24 The Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Farooq Ahmad Shah, Camp Director Amit Sharma and a number of senior civil and police officers and some local personalities accompanied Bhalla. Shah informed the minister that all arrangements had been put in place by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and the state government. He said the district administration had made foolproof arrangements for providing ration, power supply, safe drinking water, medical facilities, while the Shrine Board had made elaborate arrangements for sanitation and cleanliness all along the yatra tracks. He said medical camps had been established en route to provide adequate medical facilities to the pilgrims. These medical camps were equipped with modern gadgets. Three doctors, four pharmacists and four nursing orderlies have been deployed at these medical camps for providing medicare to yatris. Bhalla took a round of the base camp and visited various community kitchens and inspected food items being provided to the yatris. He also interacted with the yatris, who have come from various parts of the country. |
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CM’s ‘thief’ remark an insult to people: PDP
Srinagar, June 24 The chief minister had recently called the electricity consumers in the state ‘power thieves’. Addressing a public meeting at Khori Batpora in Kulgam district, the patron of the PDP Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said the Chief Minister’s remarks were not acceptable. Sayeed said the present power crisis faced by the state is a ‘creation of the government led by Omar Abdullah’. The CM also holds the portfolio of power minister. “Like many other big and small initiatives that were taken by the previous government, the progress in power sector reforms too has become a victim of inefficiency, corruption and lack of political will,” he said. Regretting that the Chief Minister had resorted to threatening his own people whom he claims to represent, Sayeed said such a conduct would shake the foundations of the democratic system in the state. He said by dubbing everybody as a ‘thief’, Omar Abdullah was doing a great disservice to the high office he is holding and also to the interests of the people. |
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Tufail
Mattoo Case
Srinagar, June 24 The teenager’s death had led to widespread protests and triggered a cycle of violence in the summer of 2010, leaving over 100 persons dead. “The ball is now in the court of the judiciary and I have full faith in it. The policeman involved in the killing of my only son will be identified and prosecuted under the law,” asserted Mohammad Ashraf, Tufail’s father. “I am a law-abiding citizen, having full faith in the judiciary. I hope the guilty will be brought to justice.” Ashraf said the family was still awaiting justice two year after Tufail, then 17, was killed. “Justice continues to elude us but we will continue to fight for it,” he added. Tufail was killed on June 11, 2010 after being reportedly hit by a teargas shell fired by the J&K Police while he was returning home after attending his tuition classes. The shell hit Tufail on the head. The police had initially claimed that Tufail was killed by an unknown youth. A case of murder was finally registered against an unknown person following widespread protests. On the directions of the High Court, the police had last year constituted a five-member SIT, headed by the Srinagar SP (North), to probe the killing afresh. Last week, the SIT submitted the report of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Chandigarh, in the court. The report ruled out the presence of any “gunshot residue” in the swabs. Ashraf said an identification parade was also held to identify the police officer who had fired the shell. “A woman who had witnessed my son’s killing had identified the police officer. But the police claimed that the officer was not posted in the area when the incident took place,” Ashraf said. Instead, the police maintained that the eyewitness was unable to identify the officer. The police stressed that they were investigating the case. “We are trying our best to find out the culprit,” a member of the SIT said. Tufail’s mother Rubina blamed the Chief Minister for his failure to book the policemen involved in the killing of her son and other teenagers. “Omar Abdullah has failed to take to task those policemen and CRPF personnel who have been involved in the killing of innocent children. The investigation into my son’s case should have been completed in few months, but we are still awaiting justice two years on,” Rubina added. |
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J-K people have realised gun culture not in their favour: Azad
Azad was addressing a gathering after inaugurating Bhaderwah Festival at this picturesque valley, which was once considered a stronghold of militants. “Since my days as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, I have been repeatedly saying that peace is imperative for economic growth and development of any region,” he said, adding that it was a good sign that people of the state had realised that gun culture was not in their favour. “In areas like Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban of the Jammu region --- which had witnessed militancy for more than two decades --- peace has returned and credit for this goes to the local people who have opposed militancy and gun culture”, he said. Militancy has been wiped out not only from the Jammu region but also from the Kashmir Valley because people are fed up of bloodshed and destruction, Azad said. The minister said the increasing number of tourists every passing year was a clear indication that situation had improved in the state. “To attract maximum number of tourists in different areas of Jammu and Kashmir, it is a must that the atmosphere should be conducive and there should be complete peace.” Azad especially mentioned areas like Bhaderwah, which had witnessed militancy and communal violence, but were now progressing. “Tourists from different parts of country are thronging areas like Bhaderwah,” he said while emphasising the need for taking more steps to divert tourists to other destinations also. The Union Minister gave example of European countries where rural tourism had been promoted. Expressing satisfaction over the ever-increasing number of pilgrims to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, Azad said the number of pilgrims was likely to touch two crore in the coming years. “There is a need to divert these pilgrims to other destinations to explore the tourism potential of other areas also,” he said, adding that all areas of the state had a huge tourism potential.
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Special incentives for doctors serving in rural areas
Rajouri, June 24 Azad also announced 100-bedded hospital for sub-district Nowshera on the eve of death anniversary of Master Bali Ram while addressing a public gathering here yesterday. The Union Health Minister said that to improve health services in the state, the Centre decided to pay special incentives to the doctors serving in rural areas over and above the salary. He said the incentive was being offered to encourage the doctors to serve in the rural and far-flung areas who generally avoid such postings. Azad also announced that Jammu and Kashmir would get 90 per cent Central share under the flagship National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) while the state government had to contribute only 10 per cent of the total allocations. He said that in other states of the country, Central share under the scheme was only 75 per cent. Listing the mega projects taken up in the state in various sectors, the Union Minister said that numerous projects under core health, education, power sectors have been taken up to catapult the development profile of the state. — OC |
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Azad loyalists show up in large numbers at Bhaderwah festival
Bhaderwah, June 24 The festival virtually turned into a show of strength by Azad loyalists because none of the leaders from other parties were visible at the venue. When the festival was started some years back, leaders of all political parties were specially invited to make it purely a local affair but this time that spirit was missing.
Lok Sabha member from Udhampur-Doda constituency Choudhary Lal Singh, MLA Inderwal GM
Saroori, MLA Bhaderwah Mohammad Sharief Naiz, MLA Doda Abdul Majid Wani, MLA Banihal Vakar
Rasool, MLA Ramban Ashok Kumar, MLA Chenani Krishan Chand, MLC Naresh Gupta, all of them staunch Azad loyalists, were prominent among those present on the occasion. Congress MLAs GM
Saroori, Mohammad Sharief Naiz and Abdul Majid Wani, aspiring to get ministerial berths, also made it a point to mark their presence. Sources closed to these MLAs told The Tribune that they
(MLAs) would try to meet Azad separately to make claim for ministerial berths. Azad will be staying in Bhaderwah till June 26 and will interact people and local Congress leaders. He would also convene a meeting of Congress workers of
Bhaderwah. He would also inspect various developmental projects which were started during his tenure as the chief minister in Bhaderwah here. |
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Families forced into bonded labour for 20 years
Sundarbani, June 24 Sources said the workers were held hostage and not allowed to go home for all these
years. The brick-kiln was found operating in violation of norms as it had also engaged children in the hazardous occupation. Reports said the labourers were working under inhuman conditions, without proper shelter, water, power or sanitation. The Tribune talked to one such bonded labourer, Bahadur Singh, who has been working for the past 20 years in the same brick-kiln. He said, “I want to go home but the middleman and the owners do not allow me to leave the place.” There are others who share the same plight. Ganesh Ram (43), who hails from Kori village in Chhattisgarh, has five children and is working in the same brick kiln for nine years. Among those who were forced into the bonded labour are Naveen Kumar (47), a father of five children, Mohboob Khan (60), a resident of Salalpur in Uttar Pradesh and father of seven children. They, too, have not been allowed to go home for many years. The labourers alleged that a middleman Raju Diwakar had purchased them from a Srinagar-based brick kiln owner and further sold them for Rs 10.5 lakh to the local brick-kiln owner. “We are given very less wages. They give us Rs 120 instead of Rs 380 (the markets price) for making 1,000 bricks,” alleged Ganesh Ram. “Our entire life has got spoilt working under such inhuman conditions. I don’t want my children to work like this. We want to go home but the middleman threatens us with dire consequences,” Ganesh added. Some labourers claimed that few of them were rescued following the intervention of some NGO. When contacted, Tehsildar Rajinder Singh Pal said, “We are witness to such incident for the first time in the state. However, when the issue was raised last time, we released some of the labourers who claimed to be bonded labourers. But many families had refused to go home.” “I have submitted the report to the District Development Commissioner (DDC). Now he will look into the matter,” Nowshera SDM said. “I have asked the tehsildar to prepare a report in this regard. I visited the spot yesterday and met with the families,” the SDM added. District Development Commissioner Sawgat Biswas said, “I have received information about this and I will look into the matter very soon.” |
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Missing
starlet case
Jammu, June 24 Tak who hails from Kishtwar, has told the investigators that the family, including his 47-year old wife Saleena Patel, could be anywhere from gulf countries, Africa or Europe. “Going by his statements, Laila Khan and her mother, brother and sister, could probably be in an African country but then they could also be in any European or Gulf country including Dubai,” Garib Dass, DIG Ramban-Kishtwar-Doda range, said while speaking to The Tribune. Tak has been constantly coming up with contradictory statements and therefore they are being verified, added Dass. A team of Maharashtra police is expected to be here in the next couple of days and then only the veracity of his claims could be known, the DIG said. “Since Tak had married starlet’s 47-year-old mother and also had a close relation with Laila Khan as well, we are not going by his claims,” said the police officer. “We haven’t still ruled out the possibility of Laila and her family’s murder and we are working on this angle as well. Since, Tak has named three to four persons who belong to Mumbai, the Maharashtra police could be a better judge to verify the authenticity of his claims,” said the DIG. The starlet and her family hogged media attention only after Kishtwar police recovered Laila Khan’s Mitsubishi Outlander car from a shop which had been rented out to Tak. The police suspect that the luxury vehicle had been used in Delhi High Court blast in September last year. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is already on a lookout to arrest three militants- Shakeer Ahmed alias Chota Hafiz, Aamir Kamal alias Kamran and Junaid Akram Malik- in connection with the blast, all residents
of Kishtwar. |
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Nubra residents face acute fuel shortage
Leh, June24 The only petrol pump in Diskit, which is run by the Department of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, has been closed for the last 10 days. In the wake of this, local residents have to go to Leh travelling 150 km to get fuel for their vehicles. Tsering Angchuk, councillor from Nubra, said those who were not able to come to Leh were the worst sufferers as their vehicles were standing idle as a result of which they had to walk the long distance on foot. The petrol pump at present is being run with a revolving fund from the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh. Tsewang Rigzin, Councillor from Diskit, said, “The petrol pump at Nubra Sub division was started by a private individual in 2003.When it became defunct, the council had taken the responsibility to run it in 2007.” When contacted, the Executive Councillor for Consumer Affairs Public Distribution of LAHDC, Leh, Ghulam Abass Abidi, said: “The Nubra petrol pump has been shut down by storekeepers of the CAPD Department following complaint of leakage of oil from tank and a defect in the sale unit. The oil tank was not properly installed and the unit is old.” One petrol tanker will be sent to Nubra by tomorrow and tendering procedures for opening of commercial petrol pump at Diskit has already begun, he added. |
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Breakaway factions of employee body form new panel
Srinagar, June 24 “The JCC was formed as a front for collective leadership but now its two main leaders (Abdul Qayoom Wani and Khurshid Alam) are running it on a self-styled basis. The JCC is not a full-fledged (amalgam) now and it is issuing programmes without consulting others,” said EJAC-R president Ram Kumar Sharma while addressing a joint press conference here recently with leaders of the EJAC-Kashmir, headed by Shabir Langoo. The two breakaway factions also announced the formation of a joint front, Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees Joint Action Committee. “We will hold a convention in the first week of July where we will form a consensus and announce a decisive protest programme,” Sharma added. He made the comments two days after the JCC had issued a fresh protest programme that called for a four-day strike from July 9. When asked if they would support the JCC call, Sharma said: “We will take the decision during the convention. However, our protest programme will be decisive and I ensure it will be 100 per cent successful in Jammu while it will have a huge response from employees in the Valley.” The employees’ demands include release of full arrears recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission, enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 years and regularisation of daily wagers and casual workers working in various departments.
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T-20 cricket tourney kicks off in Sopore
Srinagar, June 24 The tournament, in which 56 teams will be participating, was inaugurated by Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani. The tournament will be played on knock-out basis. A police spokesman said that this was the first T-20 tournament being played in the town. Earlier the police and Army had organised several cricket tournaments in various towns of the Valley but Sopore had not witnessed such tournaments before being a very volatile area. Lauding the J&K police for organising the tournament in the town, Wani said, "I have not seen any sports event organised here in the Valley with such zeal." Speaking on the occasion, Superintendent of Police, Sopore, Imtiyaz Hussain, said the aim of organising such tournaments is to bridge the gap between the police and the people, especially the younger lot. — TNS
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Jammu, June 24
Chandanwari, June 24
“Bhole Nath (Lord Shiva) first tied his bullock at Pahalgam (16 km from here) and then passed via Chandanwari to the cave. For us, the ‘asli’ (real) journey starts from here as our Lord took the same route,” said Swami Vir Singh, a sadhu from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.
Bhaderwah, June 24