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Mustafa fires another salvo at state Congress leaders
Youth Congress raises pitch over panchayat empowerment
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Irked workers hold company officials hostage
Despite shrine fire, J&K to go ahead with heritage walks project
Chhari Mubarak returns to its abode
3 cops’ bail plea hearing today
Cops taught about disaster management
DGP for greater synergy among security agencies
Book exhibition brings cheer to Leh
Flesh trade goes on secretly in state, says J&K Police
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Woman dies in house collapse
Jammu, August 5 The woman, identified as Shama Begum, wife of Abdul Rashid of Ramban, was buried alive after her mud house collapsed last night due to heavy rains. Her body was retrieved from the debris by the locals with the help of police personnel. In another incident, Ravi Kumar and Rakesh Kumar were injured when a house collapsed in the Santani area in Udhampur district. In Samba, Kathua and Jammu districts, where dozens of houses and several acres of agricultural land are still inundated, 24 persons trapped in flash floods were rescued by the police, Army and locals. However, there was a
significant improvement in the weather conditions and the water levels in all major rivers such as the Tawi and Chenab in Jammu district, Ujh in Kathua district and Basantar in Samba district are receding. However, people have been advised to remain away from the river banks due to the possibility of flash floods owing to rains in the upper reaches of the region. Meanwhile, the 300-km-long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the only road link between the Kashmir valley and the rest of the country, was reopened for traffic after clearance of landslides this morning. Official sources said the Border Road Organisation (BRO) had cleared the landslides on the highway after it remained closed for traffic yesterday. “There were landslides at 10 places on the highway in Ramban district. The traffic was resumed this morning after BRO pressed its men and machinery to clear the boulders and landslides from the road,” a source said. |
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Mustafa fires another salvo at state Congress leaders
Jammu, August 5 Kamal told The Tribune that some Congress leaders had launched a vicious propaganda against the coalition government in which the Congress was an equal partner. “These leaders are trying to create differences between the state and the Central government to accomplish their nefarious designs,” he said, adding that local Congress leaders were finding it difficult to digest the growing popularity of the National Conference in the state so they were hatching conspiracies to sabotage the functioning of the coalition. “As the BJP has lost its credibility and the Congress is unable to revive its ground, people are looking towards the National Conference,” he claimed. Although the NC additional general secretary did not take names, he said some party leaders were trying to give an impression that the Congress would form its own government in the state to create more confusion in the coalition. Kamal, who has been frequently visiting different areas of the Jammu region, claimed that people were coming in large numbers to join the National Conference. He said that in the next Assembly elections, the National Conference would stake claims on those seats where party candidates had secured second positions in the 2008 Assembly elections. While addressing a public meeting in Mansar on Saturday, Kamal stressed on the workers to gear up and mobilise their cadre to spread the policy and programmes of the party. He said the party had been at the forefront in espousing the cause of the people and had worked tirelessly for their emancipation. |
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Youth Congress raises pitch over panchayat empowerment
Jammu, August 5 The Congress leadership in the state has repeatedly raised the issue but it has not been taken seriously by the National Conference (NC). Following failure of the parent body to get the demand fulfilled, the Youth Congress has decided to take up the issue because of the resentment brewing among elected members of the panchayats against the “delay tactics” being adopted towards empowering local self-government at grass-roots level. Although leaders of the Youth Congress avoided criticising their party men, they made a veiled attack on their own party ministers and MLAs who had failed to convince the coalition partner to extend these amendments to Jammu and Kashmir. Chetan Partap Singh, national secretary of the Youth Congress, while addressing a press conference here today said the party would not hesitate to take extreme steps to get these amendments extended to Jammu and Kashmir. “There might be some compulsions of the coalition,” replied Singh when his attention was drawn towards the failure of his own party ministers on the issue. “I don’t know why our party ministers have failed to get these amendments extended to Jammu and Kashmir. As far as the Youth Congress is concerned, we will not compromise on the issue because it was the dream of the late Rajiv Gandhi to strengthen the democratic institutions at grass-roots level”. He said that without the 73rd and 74th Amendments it was not possible to strengthen the panchayats and urban local bodies. |
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Irked workers hold company officials hostage
Katra, August 5 The company is working on a section of the Udhampur-Baramulla rail link at Bakkel in Reasi district. It was all supposed to be just a routine affair -- a protest dharna outside the company office, against the long-pending issue of non-payment of wages. But things turned nasty when labourers working at the site held six company officials, including two
engineers, captive in the company office. The labourers working at the Bakkel site had planned to meet the company officials to put forward their grievances. “As per the scheduled time, we came to meet the officials but they refused to listen to us. Their rudeness angered the group and the agitated mob gheraoed the site office and held the officials hostage throughout the day,” said labourer
Nasib Singh. Talking to The Tribune over phone, one of the detainees, Apex assistant manager Anil Bhardwaj, said: “I was neither given water nor allowed to eat the entire day. The labourers took offence when I tried to explain that the payment of wages was not in my hands and that only the company authorities would decide about it. I was not rude at all.” Others who were held captive were Raju Manhas (Geologist), Koyal (Engineer), Sujit (Quality Assistant), Tarun (Civil Engineer) and Sajan (Medical Assistant). Nasib Singh said they
had not received their wages since March. He alleged that they had repeatedly requested the company officials to look into the matter but to no avail. Singh alleged that the officials misbehaved with them. The ordeal for the company officials started
about 10 am today and was on when the report last came in. The Director, Apex Encon Projects Private Limited, Krishna Raju, said he was trying to
pacify the labourers and that the police had not been called as he believed the situation could be
controlled by holding talks with the aggrieved labourers. |
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Dastageer Sahab shrine to be rebuilt with
Rs 5 cr
Srinagar, August 5 The Muslim Waqf Board, which looks into the management and upkeep of Muslim shrines and properties across the state, has also sought public donations for the reconstruction of the shrine. “We have already issued tender notices for the reconstruction of the shrine which will come at a cost of nearly Rs 5 crore,” said Vice-Chairman Muslim Waqf Board M Y Qadri. “The tenders will be opened in the last week of August and the Waqf Board will bear all the cost for the reconstruction of the shrine.” The Vice-Chairman said notices for public donations had already been issued. Qadri said the construction of the shrine would start shortly and they would ensure that the original heritage and design of the revered shrine
remained intact. The state government has already roped in the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which would help the Waqf Board to reconstruct the shrine in its original style. “The reconstruction of the shrine will be under the supervision and consultancy of INTACH,” another official of the Waqf Board said. INTACH to give inputs
J-K to go ahead with heritage walk project The state government has decided to go ahead with its heritage walk project in the summer capital’s old city despite the gutting of one of the terminal points — the 200-year-old shrine of Dastageer Sahab. P4
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Despite shrine fire, J&K to go ahead with heritage walks project
Srinagar, August 5 "We are going ahead with our project. We have got the funds sanctioned for the project," said Kashmir Tourism Director Talat Parvez, who is in charge of the heritage and market walks project. Heritage walks faced a rough start when the revered shrine of Dastageer Sahab --- which was the terminal point of one of the three walks in old city's Khanyar neighbourhood --- was gutted in a fire just days after the project was announced in June. The walk from Jamia Masjid to Dastageer Sahab shrine is at the heart of the three heritage circuits, apart from the Zaina Kadal market circuit and Makhdoom Sahab fort circuit, to be developed in the old city. With the complete gutting of the Dastageer Sahab shrine, which was the terminal point of the Jamia Masjid-Dastageer Sahib circuit, the heritage walk is now left without a major attraction until the shrine complex is built again. This circuit will now be dependent on the Rozabal shrine, Rangar Mohalla, Naqshband Sahab shrine and the Nowhatta neighbourhood, which houses the historic Jamia Masjid of Kashmir. Kashmir, where the situation has been comparatively calm over the past two years, has witnessed an increase in the tourist inflow. Over 20 lakh tourists have arrived since January 2011 at the traditional tourist locations of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg. The state government planned to bring the summer capital's old neighbourhoods on the tourism map by introducing them as refurbished 'heritage' sites. The state tourism department called the project ‘Srinagar Walks’, under which it hoped to serve the tourists with "the rich and diverse architectural and cultural layers of this historic city". The 'Srinagar Walks' will project the city's old neighbourhoods, mosques, shrines, temples and markets which dot the banks of the Jhelum as tourist locations. Talat said the walks will put Shehr-e-Khaas, or the downtown old city, into spotlight as a "fusion of Kashmir's history, culture and architecture". Srinagar city's old neighbourhoods have for long been put off the tourist map of Kashmir for its highly volatile nature. The neighbourhoods, which are laced with narrow alleys and slanting brick houses, have for many years been a hub of protesters and stone throwers. Highlighting Heritage
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Chhari Mubarak returns to its abode
Srinagar, August 5 “Chhari Mubarak reached the temple at 6.30 last evening,” Mahant Deependra Giri told The Tribune. Keeping in view the age-old tradition, the Mahant along with a team of sadhus carries the holy mace to and fro the cave shrine, which houses the iced stalagmite depicting Lord Shiva. The holy mace had left the Shri Amareshwar temple on July 28. The yearly Amarnath yatra concludes with the performing of Shravan Purnima puja, which coincides with Raksha Bandhan, after Charri Mubarak reaches the cave shrine. "Pujan" and "Visarjan" of the holy mace was performed on the banks of the Lidder river at Pahalgam in south Kashmir yesterday by the Mahant along with sadhus, pilgrims and a few tourists, who had come from various parts of the country to join the special prayers. Over 6.20 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the shrine during this year’s 39-day-long pilgrimage that ended on August 2. Last year, 6.36 lakh pilgrims visited the cave shrine but the yatra had lasted for 46 days. Even as this year's pilgrimage passed off smoothly with the weather conditions remaining favourable despite frequent snowfall in June, the yatra also remained in news due to frequent deaths. A total of 88 pilgrims died due to medical reasons during the yatra while 42 others were killed in road accidents. Out of 42, seven pilgrims died within the yatra area and 35 elsewhere in the state. |
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Militant-police nexus
Srinagar, August 5 The three policemen, Mukhtar Ahmad, Riyaz Ahmad and Ilyas Ahmad had moved their bail applications before the second Additional Sessions Judge, Srinagar, Madan Lal, who after hearing the arguments of their counsel, posted the matter for orders on August 6. The plan of the police to plant policemen into militant ranks went awry, as the policemen tasked for ‘spying’ developed a ‘soft corner’ for militants and reportedly joined them in staging some attacks. In the initial remand application before the CJM, Srinagar, the Special Investigation Team, which is investigating the matter, had submitted that the arrested policemen “had struck a deal with terrorist groups for providing them sensitive information and carrying their weapons from one place to another in exchange for money.” It added that on June 15 one of the four suspected policemen Muhammad Abbas was summoned for questioning by the police. The police recovered from him a document written in Urdu containing information about how to prepare and use IEDs. “It indicated that the person was in league with militants and was planning to explode IEDs to terrorise people,” the remand application said, adding that the policemen then met Hizbul Mujahideen militant Shabir Ahmad, alias Adil, in the Tral area of Pulwama district of south Kashmir and struck a deal. |
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Cops taught about disaster management
Srinagar, August 5 A team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) of 1st Battalion, Srinagar, delivered lectures on man-made and natural disasters. It talked about steps required for immediate rescue operations and mitigating the effects of disasters. A police spokesman said a mock drill was also conducted to acquaint recruit trainees and staff members with the rescue operations required during fires, earthquakes and floods. —
TNS
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I-Day preparations
Srinagar, August 5 While reviewing I-Day arrangements yesterday, the DGP emphasised upon officers to maintain synergy among various agencies and keep required manpower available for the celebrations without affecting the law and order duties. “We should learn from past experiences. The arrangements for Independence Day should be made to ensure peaceful celebrations,” the DGP said while chairing a high-level meeting of police officers here. Stressing upon officers to maintain vigil, Prasad said “dormant elements could try to foment trouble and disrupt peace, so their activities should be kept under surveillance.” An official spokesman of the police said threadbare discussions were held in the meeting about deployment of police personnel and maintenance of law and order. “The meeting was told that sufficient manpower would be deployed for security of I-Day celebration venues and maintenance of law and order,” the spokesman said. IGP (Kashmir Zone) SM Sahai briefed the meeting about the I-Day preparedness. “Strict vigil is being maintained to curb trouble mongers and curtail their activities,” Sahai said.
— TNS |
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Book exhibition brings cheer to Leh
Leh, August 5 Spalbar said, “Non-availability of books other than school books in Leh district poses inconvenience for parents of growing children. Many parents have to go to Jammu, Srinagar, Chandigrah and Delhi to get books for their kids to develop reading habits among them.” The exhibition aims at reaching inaccessible areas of the country to promote books published by the NBT India and the National Council for Education Research and Training. There are books available in English, Urdu, Kashmiri, Hindi and Punjabi on a discount of 20 per cent. Spalbar urged the NBT India authorities to publish more books on Ladakh, keeping in view the growing interest of the people about this region. Sharing an anecdote, he said, “An army jawan from Kerala, on his arrival for posting at Leh, asked me why the mountain top looked like white wash. Many people visit Ladakh without any proper information about it.” The Assistant Director of the NBT India, Rakesh Kumar, said the exhibition was getting a great response from the locals. |
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Jethmalani meets separatist leaders in Valley
Srinagar, August 5 “I have come here (Kashmir) to create an atmosphere, an atmosphere of goodwill,” said Jethmalani, who heads the revived Kashmir Committee to hold a dialogue with separatists in the state. Jethamalani is in Kashmir to inspect the site from where Ghulam Hassan Bhat, a close aide of hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was arrested last year on charges of hawala transactions. Bhat, who is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail, will be represented by Jethmalani in court in New Delhi where he faces a trial. Jethmalani met Geelani yesterday after which he announced that he would challenge the continuous house arrest of the hardline separatist leader before the apex court. Since 2010 street protests, which were spearheaded by the hardline Hurriyat faction headed by Geelani, the separatist leader has largely remained confined to his house, on the outskirts of the city, as the authorities placed him under house arrest for long spells. Geelani, who usually avoids meeting and sharing stage with mainstream politicians from Kashmir or New Delhi and even refused to talk to the Centre’s interlocutors on Kashmir, has broken the self-imposed embargo on himself by holding meetings with Jethmalani, a BJP member and former Union Minister, several times since last year. “I want to create an atmosphere where no one will talk of terrorism and violence, no one will talk about war and fighting,” Jethmalani said at separatist leader Shabir Shah’s residence, where he met several mid-rung separatist leaders. “We will hold a round table, where I will call members of all parliamentary political parties. All proposals will be put forward before them and I am sure we will find some solution,” he said. |
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Flesh trade goes on secretly in state, says J&K Police
Jammu, August 5 With some influential people neck deep in the trade, the police often finds it difficult to stop the trafficking of poor and
helpless girls. Despite drives by the police, flesh trade goes on clandestinely in the state, especially in twin capital cities of Jammu and
Srinagar, said a retired police officer. Two major sex scandals allegedly involving politicians, bureaucrats and police officers exploiting a minor Kashmiri girl and a former beauty queen had rocked the state in the past and there is no denying the fact that the activity goes on secretly, he said. “Buyers and sellers frequently come up with new methods to strike a deal, but I have observed that women dragged into this activity never do it out of choice. Circumstances like poverty and petty gains force them into the trade,” said Samba SSP Israr Khan. The SSP admitted that despite best efforts of the police, the flesh trade went on secretly. The officer said with pimps around, cell phones, social networking sites, massage and beauty parlours were being misused by the buyers and sellers. The officer said, “Once a deal is fixed, consenting parties usually meet outside universities, hospital gates, bus stops, crowded places or isolated areas, where they pick up the seller in their car before zooming away.” “In such a scenario, we get three to five minutes to react. That too, if we are informed in advance because it is always the consenting party which determines the place,”
he said. “Wherever we come to know about a brothel being run somewhere, we raid it and take action under the law,” he added. Khan said the time had come to introduce anti-vice squads, a concept of western countries, where women police personnel in civvies pretend to be sellers to prospective buyers. Major sex scams
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The state government has decided to go ahead with its heritage walk project in the summer capital’s old city despite the gutting of one of the terminal points --- the 200-year-old shrine of Dastageer Sahab.
"We are going ahead with our project. We have got the funds sanctioned for the project," said Kashmir Tourism Director Talat
Parvez, who is in charge of the heritage and market walks project.
