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NHRC to contest J-K stand over hoisting of Tricolour
Class IV student thrashed for ‘writing note’ to girl
Another Sufi shrine gutted in Valley
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Kashmir goes gaga over friendly soccer thriller
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah poses for a photograph with J&K-XI after it defeated Mohammedan Sporting Club in a friendly match in Srinagar on Sunday.
A Tribune photograph
Omar turns commentator as J&K-XI wins on penalties
Prez poll: Pranab meets NC, PDP MLAs; assured support
Death toll in Ramban road accident rises to 15
Governor expresses grief
‘Killer’ Jammu-Srinagar highway takes lives yet again
A view of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Ramban. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma
MLA submits memorandum to Pranab on Afzal Guru
Govt unaware of number of disabled in state
APL families face ration shortage in state
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NHRC to contest J-K stand over hoisting of Tricolour
New Delhi, July 15 Top sources in the Commission told The Tribune today that the Commission had unanimously agreed to engage a lawyer and contest the petition of the National Conference-led government, which has challenged NHRC’s jurisdiction in the matter and secured a stay on its orders. The NHRC received the J&K High Court notice in the case last week. It was in June that the Omar Abdullah-led state government had approached the court seeking a stay on the NHRC orders in the case. The NHRC had in April this year directed the J&K Government through the Chief Secretary to explain why and in what capacity did the state prevent top BJP leadership from hoisting the National Flag in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on January 26, 2011. The Tribune was the first to report the development. The Commission, ruling on the petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Anurag Thakur in 2011, had observed that hoisting the Tricolour was a fundamental right of Indians under Article 19 of the Constitution. “Every citizen has a fundamental right to go to J&K and hoist the National Flag in Srinagar on Republic Day. This right is guaranteed by Article 19 of the Constitution,” said the NHRC, pulling up the state for acting against the Constitution. Importantly, this order was based on the Supreme Court’s 2004 judgment which stated: “The Right to fly the Tricolour freely with dignity is a fundamental right within the meaning of Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution being an expression of the citizen’s manifestation of his allegiance and feelings of pride for the nation.” The Commission noted that since its orders stemmed from the Constitution, which is applicable to J&K as to the rest of the country, these were applicable to the state. It may be noted that the Protection of Human Rights Act 2003 under which the NHRC came into existence does not extend to the state of J&K which enjoys special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. However, the Indian Constitution as interpreted by the Apex Court, extends to the state. The state government has however challenged the NHRC’s jurisdiction in the issue and the HC has granted its stay on NHRC orders that had directed the state chief secretary to clarify the matter within two months. Anurag Thakur is also preparing his objections to the state’s plea in the HC and will soon file these. 2011 R-Day Function case *
January 2011: The BJP youth wing organises Rashtriya Ekta Yatra starting from West Bengal. The yatra is to culminate in Srinagar with hoisting of the Tricolour at Lal Chowk on Republic Day *
The J&K Govt deports top BJP leaders, including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, from Jammu to Punjab to prevent the hoisting, citing law and order issues *
BJP youth wing president Anurag Thakur petitions NHRC against the state govt act *
April 2012: The NHRC slams state, asking it to respond in two months why it prevented the Tricolour hoisting, a fundamental right of citizens *
June 2012: J-K moves HC against the NHRC jurisdiction in the matter; gets a stay *
The NHRC to defend its order in HC |
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Class IV student thrashed for ‘writing note’ to girl
Srinagar, July 15 The teacher identified as Muzaffar Ahmad was arrested after the father of 8-year-old student, Abdul Hameed, lodged a written complaint against him in Shopian Police Station on Saturday. “Soon after the written complaint, the preliminary investigation was conducted which found that the boy was thrashed by the teacher. We registered a case under Section 342 (wrongful confinement) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Ranbir Penal Code and arrested the teacher,” said Station House Officer of Shopian Police Station Muzaffar Ahmed. The police said the incident took place on Friday when the teacher first confined the boy in a school room for an hour and later thrashed him mercilessly with a stick. “There are injury marks visible on the head of my child,” Hameed said in his complaint to the police. “Despite the injuries, the school administration did not take my son to the hospital. We came to know about the incident when he was brought home in the evening by the schoolbus driver.” Hameed immediately rushed his son to the district hospital Shopian for treatment. After the complaint was lodged against the teacher and school administration by Hameed the next morning, the teacher was arrested. “We are being told that my son had written a song on a piece of paper, but the school administration did not provide it to the police,” Hameed said. |
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Another Sufi shrine gutted in Valley
Srinagar, July 15 “We are investigating. We have registered a case under Section 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) of the Ranbir Penal Code in Beerwah police station,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Budgam, Uttam Chand. The police said the fire broke out at the Sufi shrine of Baba Haneefuddin at Ratsuna village in Beerwah during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The shrine which was made of wood was totally gutted. As the news about the shrine fire spread this morning, instant protests broke out in the town. A complete shutdown was also observed in Beerwah. “The situation remained peaceful in the area,” said the SSP, Budgam. The chairman of the Mutteheda Ulema Ahl-e-Sunnat (MUAS), Ghulam Rasool Hami, termed it a conspiracy and accused the government of failing to protect the religious places in Kashmir. The shrine of Baba Haneefuddin was also gutted in 2002 in mysterious circumstances and it was reconstructed the same year. On June 25, the 250-year-old Sufi shrine of Dastageer Sahab in old city of Srinagar was gutted in a mysterious fire which had sparked protests across the Valley. The state government had appointed Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asghar Samoon to hold an inquiry into Dastageer Sahib fire incident. Samoon is yet to submit the inquiry report. Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir today expressed grief and shock over the fire incident. “I appeal to the people to not pay heed to rumours and maintain calm in this hour of sorrow.” |
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Kashmir goes gaga over friendly soccer thriller
Srinagar, July 15 Even as there was no entry fee, locals were supposed to collect free passes from the Polo Ground here which, incidentally, vanished within no time. “We had kept 10-12 thousand passes for the public and there was a huge demand. The passes were grabbed by noon and then we dispatched 4,000 more passes,” Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) president Zameer Thakur said. The 18,000-capacity Bakshi Stadium witnessed serpentine queues before the game and soon turned jam-packed with many spectators seen standing. “We booked three buses from Baramulla (in north Kashmir) only to watch this game,” said a fan as he joined others from rest of the Valley. The police also had to face a tough time controlling crowds which wanted to enter the stadium without passes. And the crowd roared when J&K-XI entered the ground. Captain of the local team Meraj Wadoo was visibly overwhelmed after getting a rousing reception. “I am playing on this ground after 10 years and it is a prestige to play in front of this massive local crowd, which has come to cheer us,” he told The Tribune just before the game started. The crowd then went berserk after popular footballer Ishfaq Ahmad scored the first goal for J&K-XI. While the equaliser from Mohammedan Sporting’s Jayanta Sen disappointed the crowd, it went out of control after the local side finally won the game 3-1 on penalties. The Mohammedan Sporting had come to play a match in the Valley after 28 years. “The atmosphere at the stadium was reminiscent of the pre-militancy days when even local football matches used to draw huge crowds,” said an elderly person. Visibly happy with the response of the crowd, Thakur said the JKFA had organised another match with the Mohan Bagan Club in September. Sports Minister R S Chib, also present on the occasion, had earlier said the game had been organised to provide recreation to the sports lovers of the Valley. Union Minister of State for Home Jitender Singh also witnessed the match. |
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Omar turns commentator as J&K-XI wins on penalties
Srinagar, July 15 “Watching Mohammedan Sporting take on J&K XI in a friendly match in Srinagar. Great to see the enthusiastic crowd,” “1-1 after full time. Match to be decided by a penalty shootout,” he tweeted later. While Omar also posted pictures of the game on Twitter, he completed the commentary by tweeting: “J&K XI wins 3-1
on penalties." The game was also telecast live on Doordarshan besides running
commentary was broadcast on the local radio station.
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Prez poll: Pranab meets NC, PDP
MLAs; assured support
Srinagar, July 15 Legislators of the ruling coalition and PDP, lone CPM legislator, and two Independent MLAs have assured support to Pranab. Sources said Pranab, who arrived in Srinagar this morning, was received by Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Saifuddin Soz. He was straightaway driven to the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal Lake, where he addressed the ruling coalition MLAs. Besides Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his father and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah and state ministers were present at the meeting that lasted an hour. Ghulam Hassan Mir, lone member of the Democratic Party Nationalist (DPN), an ally of the coalition government, also attended the meeting. ‘Appeal to Didi every day’ Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said he was making appeals every day to Mamata Banerjee, seeking her support for the upcoming poll. "I appeal to her almost every day. It is for her to decide…,” Pranab told reporters.
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Death toll in Ramban road accident rises to 15
Batote/Jammu, July 15
Reports said the JKSRTC bus, which was on its way from Kashmir to Jammu, rolled down into a gorge near the Digdol area, about 13 km from Ramban last night. Locals were the first to reach the spot on hearing the thud of the falling bus. They later informed the police and other rescue agencies. Within half an hour, a quick response team, including policemen, CRPF personnel, fire brigade men and volunteers of the Indian Red Cross Society led by Ramban SP Anil Magotra, reached the spot and started the rescue operation. About 10 people died instantaneously and four others succumbed to their injuries while being shifted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, yesterday. Later, one more person died. The injured were taken to District Hospital in Ramban. Some of the critically injured pilgrims were referred to GMCH, Jammu. A CRPF spokesperson told The Tribune that a JKSRTC bus was carrying Amarnath pilgrims. Most of the pilgrims were the members of the families of CRPF personnel. “They were coming back after performing the yatra. They had hired a JKSRTC bus from Baltal. One CRPF personnel has been reported dead and three others have been injured,” he said. The dead who have been identified so far included a Head Constable of 160 battalion of the CRPF SN Thakur, a resident of Bihar, and posted at Chanderkot in Ramban, Samod Kumar, Jyoti Devi wife of Shabhu Nath Chaudhary, a resident of Darbhanga, Bihar, Meeran Devi wife of Tej Bahadur, a resident of Salimpur, Uttar Pradesh, Vinita Devi wife of Head Constable Ganu Nand, Mena Devi wife of Shanker Jha, Lalita Devi wife of Rameshwar Jha, Devika Devi wife of Nadakar Dass (all residents of Darbhanga in Bihar), Ram Ji Singh, Chottu Jha and Jagan Nath, a resident of Bihar. The driver of the bus, Angrez Singh, a resident of Sulligam in Ramban, was also killed in the accident. The bodies of the dead were being shifted to GMCH, Jammu, for postmortem when reports last came in. District Development Commissioner, Ramban, Shabir Ahmed Bhat has asked ADC Bashir Ahmed Khan to submit an inquiry report on the accident. The injured have been identified as Kalber Devi, a resident of Darbanga in Bihar, Bopinder Partab Singh, a resident of Saleempur district in UP, Shanti Devi, a resident of Deera district, UP, Tej Buhader Singh, a resident of Karote tehsil, Saleempur district, UP, Sushil Kumar, Sangeeta Baduhar, Shamboo Nath Choudhary, a resident of Darbanga, Bihar, Beepa Devi, a resident of Nowada tehsil, Darbanga, Bihar, Gori Devi, a resident of Bihar, HS Dubey, a resident of Gopi Gang, Baranari, UP, Kulsham Dubbay, a resident of Kalam Basti, Rameshwar ZA, a resident of Darbanga, Bihar, Dhani Raj, a resident of Terth Pur district, Bihar, Ram Varun Mishra, a resident of Darbanga, Bihar, Vedh Nath ZA, a resident of Dev pur district, Darbanga, Bihar, Veena Devi, a resident of Baimpur district in Darbanga, Bihar, Seem Devi, a resident of Keerpur district in Bihar, Jagan Nath, a resident of Bihar, and Parmod Kumar, a resident of Keerthpur district in Bihar.
Governor expresses grief
Srinagar, July 15 The Governor conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved families and prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls. He also prayed for the speedy recovery of those who were injured in the accident. On the Governor’s direction, Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board Navin K Choudhary spoke to Jammu Divisional Commissioner Pradeep Gupta to convey the Chairman’s direction that there must be no delay in the required medical attention to all the injured yatris. The Governor has also directed Dr Mandeep K Bhandari, Additional Chief Executive Officer of the SASB, to visit Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, to personally ascertain help and support required by the injured persons and provide the same without any delay. |
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‘Killer’ Jammu-Srinagar highway takes lives yet again
Jammu, July 15 Fifteen Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 19 others were injured, when a Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) bus skidded off the road and plunged into a gorge in Ramban district yesterday. “Though the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had been given the work of four-laning the 294-km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway, we did not see any work beyond Udhampur district,” said SSP, National Highway, Varinder Kumar Sharma. The number of vehicles has increased over the years, but the Jammu-Srinagar highway has remained the same, he said. Besides the bad condition of the road, the SSP attributed the cause of road accidents on the highway to fatigue in drivers, driving on the hilly terrain. “Driving a vehicle on a hilly road continuously for 12 to 13 hours causes fatigue, which makes drivers drowsy and hence results in accidents. The road design is also not up to the mark,” Sharma said. “Most vehicles which meet with an accident plunge several feet down into a gorge, river or rivulet, causing more casualties,” he said. The SSP said the bus which met with an accident last night had first hit a big boulder on the roadside before plunging into a gorge. However, sources attributed frequent accidents on the highway to the understaffed Traffic Police Department and lack of traffic sense among drivers on the congested highway. “There are no concrete crash barriers and parapets of specific height on several stretches of the highway,” the sources said. If figures are to be believed, more than 4,500 people have been killed in various road accidents across Jammu and Kashmir in the past five years. The state today has one million vehicles and on an average 900 to 1,100 people die in road accidents every year. In 2011 the state witnessed over 1,000 deaths in 6,000 road accidents. In 2010, 1,071 people died in 6,113 road mishaps across the state. |
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MLA submits memorandum to Pranab on Afzal Guru
Srinagar, July 15 “I humbly request your goodself that after assuming office of the President of India, which is obvious, the mercy petition of Afzal Guru be accepted. I hope your goodself will show magnanimity to let the person live with his family. This gesture of yours will surely help bridge the gap between New Delhi and Kashmir,” the memorandum submitted by Rashid to Mukherjee read. The mercy petition of Guru is pending in the President’s office for many years now. Guru is on death row following his conviction in the Parliament attack case in 2001. “Being a seasoned politician of India and having deep knowledge and understanding of issues, I hope your goodself is aware about the sensitivity of the Afzal Guru issue in Kashmir. This state has passed through decades of sufferings and pain. At this stage the people of the state expect a compassionate approach towards the issue from New Delhi. I have been maintaining that hanging Guru will have disastrous consequences on the strife-torn state, which will further hurt the psyche of people,” the memorandum of Langate MLA said. The Independent MLA, a former civil engineer, had in September last year submitted a resolution to the Assembly Secretariat seeking amnesty for Guru. The resolution, however, could not be taken up for discussion in the Assembly. |
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Govt unaware of number of disabled in state
Jammu, July 15 Minister of Social Welfare Sakina Ittoo had announced that a fresh survey would be conducted to ascertain the total number of physically challenged persons in the state. Despite the announcement nothing has been done so far. No officer of the Social Welfare Department was ready to speak on record about the inordinate delay in the conduct of the survey. However, sources said it was all due to the prevailing red tapism in the department that the process was delayed. “A new column was included in the latest Census for disabled persons. The department has been thinking of getting the data of physically challenged persons from the latest Census report,” the sources in the department said. They said, “Instead of conducting an exclusive survey the department would collect the data from the latest Census report.” Official figures say 1.23 lakh physically challenged persons have registered themselves with the Social Welfare Department. They are getting a meagre amount of Rs 400 per month as pension from the department. About 20,000 physically challenged persons have applied for pension and the applications have been pending till date with the department. The Social Welfare Minister while addressing a function at Jammu about one and a half year ago had said the exact number of physically challenged persons was not available with the department. She had said the government was making efforts to bring all deserving persons under various welfare schemes of the Social Welfare Department. Ashwani Jojra, a social activist, working for the welfare of physically challenged persons said he was not aware whether a fresh survey to ascertain the exact number of handicapped persons had been conducted. “The Minister had promised in our function held in 2011 that a survey would be conducted. I am not aware whether any action in this regard has been taken,” he said. The Cabinet during its meeting on July 12 announced incentives for physically challenged government employees. |
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APL families face ration shortage in state
Jammu, July 15 Official sources said most of the shortage was being faced by families falling in the category of Above Poverty Line (APL), which comprised a major chunk of population in all three regions. The sources disclosed that while Below Poverty Line (BPL) families were not facing problem as they got ration under a special scheme, the APL families were facing a shortage. The foodgrain shortage is a major issue haunting the administration and is prevalent in all districts, forcing families to buy ration from private shops. The PDS system has to some extent failed, said an official source. The MLA, Doda, Abdul Majid Wani, said rural and far-flung areas were the worst affected. “Doda and Bhadarwah regions are not getting the required supply as CAPD (consumer affairs and public distribution) godowns have no ration to meet the demands of the increased population. The same is the case in small towns,” Wani said. The Director, CAPD, Jammu, Parvaiz Malik, said the Central government was supposed to fulfil all the ration requirements of the state. Ration Requirement *
As per the 2001 Census, population of J&K was close to one crore, which has now reached up to 1.25 crore, but the state is still receiving foodgrain on the basis of the 2001 census *
At present, the requirement of ration as per the family units based on 2011 Census is 79,560 tonnes against the current allocation of 63,067 tonnes |
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