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Weeklong search op ends, militants may have fled
NC welcomes Indo-Pak talks, demands K-issue resolution
Mirwaiz sees hope in dialogue, Geelani terms it timepass
Government to restructure power dept
Guv, CM pay tributes to Sheikh Abdullah
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A ray of hope for West Pak refugees
SRK or no SRK, job’s never over for this woman DSP
People in J&K want change, PDP will return to power: Mehbooba
NC minister punctures Congress campaign to empower panchayats
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Weeklong search op ends, militants may have fled
Srinagar, September 7 Security forces from the Special Operations Group of the JK police and the Army’s Rashtriya Rifles combed the dense Chattergul forest area in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district for the last five days to hunt down more militants. A police officer said the search operation to locate more militants had been called off. “It is winding up today (on Friday). The search in the whole jungle was carried out but nothing was found,” the official said. A fierce gun battle had raged for the first two days of the operation, which began around dawn on September 1 (Saturday), in which two militants were killed. Since Sunday evening, when the second militant was killed, the police had suspected more separatist gunmen in the forest. The exact number of militants in the jungle was never confirmed but was believed to be around four to eight. Police sources had earlier said four boots were found at the militants’ jungle hideout raising the possibility of two more militants in the area. A massive search was then launched on Monday to track down the militants who might have escaped the initial gunfight. The police official today said there was a possibility that rest of the militants could have escaped to the nearby Bandipore district. “Most probably, the militants must have moved to Bandipora,” the official said. Ganderbal district, where the operation was being carried out, acts as a transit route for militants travelling from Bandipore — which borders the Line of Control in north Kashmir — to south Kashmir districts. Ganderbal district has largely been cleared of militants as two of the longest surviving militants of the region — Mushtaq Khan, alias Mustaq Jhangi, and Ghulam Nabi War, alias Haq Nawaz, both residents of Ganderbal — were killed in two separate operations in October last year and July this year. Most of the counter-insurgency operations this year have ended within two or three days except for the July encounter in Kupwara which had dragged on for nearly a week.
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NC welcomes Indo-Pak talks, demands K-issue resolution
Srinagar, September 7 “Hostile conditions need to end and the Kashmir issue needs to be resolved,” NC spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said while welcoming the fresh round of talks between India and Pakistan. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna is meeting his Pakistan counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar in Islamabad to carry forward the peace process between the two nations. The ruling party spokesman urged Krishna and Khar to “create history by taking a bold decision with regards to Kashmir”. He said the initiative would bridge the “gap” between the two nations and “address the mistrust”. “Only talks between the two neighbouring countries can ensure peace and yield result,” said Sadiq. He said the relationship between India and Pakistan had come a long way and there had been considerable progress in the overall situation. “This needs to be sustained and a positive outcome will follow,” he said. Sadiq said the preparatory talks between the foreign secretaries ahead of the ministers meeting could help lay the foundation for some “basic” confidence building measures. “Issues like making visa regime easier, resolving Sir Creek and Siachen and the cross-LoC trade can be improved,” he said. The NC spokesman appealed to the two foreign ministers to “relook” into the cross-LoC communication, trade and travel. He urged the two ministers to end barter system, put in place for the cross-LoC trade by initiating the required banking arrangements. “There should be banking arrangements across the LoC so that the barter system is stopped,” he said. “If there has been an improvement in the bus service, the same should reflect in trade as well. There is a need of bringing more improvement in it.” |
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Mirwaiz sees hope in dialogue, Geelani terms it timepass
Srinagar, September 7 “It is a golden chance to open a new chapter in the Indo-Pak ties….we have always stood for meaningful talks, as impediments in the resolution of issues will not be removed as long as the relations between the two countries improve,” the Mirwaiz said in his sermon before the Friday prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in downtown area of Srinagar. He made the comments in view of External Affairs Minister SM Krishna’s three-day visit to Pakistan, which began today, where he is holding talks with his counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar and other leaders. The Mirwaiz also welcomed Khar’s statement where she reportedly said Hurriyat leadership should be included in the dialogue process. He said a delegation of the conglomerate would visit Pakistan next month on Khar’s invitation. Asserting that only tripartite talks would resolve the Kashmir issue, he said India should exhibit “shift in stance” and take steps towards withdrawal of troops, abrogation of ‘black’ laws, release of political prisoners and curb alleged human rights violations. Geelani said the talks process was a ‘time-pass’ exercise and that Pakistan would ‘see India’s insincerity’ as it sat on the negotiating table. He also told leaders of the neighbouring countries that any readymade solution without their (stakeholders in Kashmir) participation was unacceptable to people. Asserting that his amalgam was not against the Indo-Pak talks, Geelani said there had been no headway in the past “150 plus” dialogue processes due to India’s “rigid stand”. Regretting that Pakistan was not vociferously taking up the Kashmir issue, he appealed to the neighbouring country to ‘make it clear’ to India that no headway was possible in the dialogue process as long it bypassed the Kashmir issue. Geelani said Pakistan’s decision to grant the most favoured nation status to India was like ‘adding salt to injuries of
Kashmiris’.
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Government to restructure power dept
Srinagar, September 7 Each company, carved out of the existing PDD, will be completely owned by the government. The decision in this regard was taken by the state Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, here on Wednesday. “The unbundling of the department has been granted approval in accordance with the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Electricity Act, 2010,” a government spokesman said. The four successor companies include a trading company which shall act as a bulk supplier of electricity to distribution companies. “The company shall hold 100 per cent equity in the proposed distribution companies,” the spokesman added. He said, “The second company would be a state transmission utility which shall be responsible for transmission and load dispatch functions There will be two distribution companies, one in Jammu and another in Kashmir. The government hopes the restructuring of the PDD will benefit both employees and the power sector. “The restructuring will also enable the government to implement the consumer service strategy by various initiatives like energy accounting, regulatory initiatives and corporate governance,” said the spokesman.
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Guv, CM pay tributes to Sheikh Abdullah
Srinagar, September 7 In his message, the Governor described Sheikh Abdullah as a tall leader, who nurtured a dream of peace, progress and prosperity in all parts of the state. He recalled the period during which Sheikh Abdullah had worked with leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Governor said he had striven for strengthening the cherished values of secularism and democracy in the state. The Governor referred to the crucial land reforms pioneered by Sheikh Abdullah, which laid the foundations of equitable development in the state, and the high priority he had given to the development of health and education. The Governor observed that the best tribute, which could be paid to Sheikh Sahib, would be for the people to work with missionary zeal for re-establishing the state’s deep-rooted secular traditions, ensuring sustained peace and normalcy in the state. The Chief Minister described Sheikh Abdullah as an architect and founder of educative, progressive, secular and democratic society in Jammu and Kashmir, based on justice, equality and amity between all regions and sections of society. Highlighting the struggle and sacrifices made by the Sher-i-Kashmir for the cause of people and the state throughout his life, Omar said public welfare and empowerment was his desire and he had made all possible endeavours in this direction. The main function on the occasion of Sheikh Abdullah’s death anniversary is being held at his graveyard at Naseem Bagh near Hazratbal tomorrow morning. Party leaders, including the Chief Minister, would attend the congregational prayer meeting. |
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A ray of hope for West Pak refugees
New Delhi, September 7 Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna, who is also in charge of the BJP’s Human Rights Cell, had taken up taken up the issue of a “clear cut human rights’ violation” with NSCC member Raj Kumar Verka. “The refugees who had migrated from Pakistan and settled anywhere in India except J&K have been given all the rights but the refugees who are residing in J&K are not even entitled to get the permanent residence certificate (PRC) which is a violation of human rights on the part of the Central and the state governments,” Khanna said. The Tribune had reported how refugees from West Pakistan were confronting a peculiar social problem of finding it difficult to get a “suitable match” for their marriageable children because of the “refugee” tag attached to them even after residing in Jammu for the past 65 years. Unlike other states in the country, a PRC is required in Jammu and Kashmir to purchase land, to get a government job and to continue higher studies. The West Pakistani refugees have been living here since 1947 but they are not entitled to PRCs, because of which their
children cannot pursue higher studies or get government jobs. |
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JKLF chairman detained
Srinagar, September 7 Yasin Malik, who heads a faction of the JKLF, was detained along with leader of the rival faction of the JKLF Javed Mir and moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Nayeem Khan when they along with their supporters were marching towards Lal Chowk from the nearby Maisuma neighbourhood. Police personnel deployed at an intersection connecting Maisuma with Lal Chowk stopped the protesters from marching ahead and detained several of them, including Malik, Mir and Khan. The three leaders were taken into a police vehicle to a nearby police station. Earlier, speaking to the media outside the JKLF headquarters at Maisuma, Malik said they were protesting against the exclusion of separatist leaders and demanded inclusion of Kashmiri leadership in any Indo-Pak dialogue process, aimed at resolving the Kashmir issue. “We do not want to hear from the TV or radio that a decision has been taken on our future,” said Malik. He said they wanted to have a “meaningful dialogue” between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership. |
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SRK or no SRK, job’s never over for this woman DSP
Srinagar, September 7 The superstar might have bid goodbye to the Valley but the job’s not over for this lady police officer. There are many more assignments in the offing. Posted in the security wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Police as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Nighat may get another assignment of VVIP security, especially when Bollywood’s Dabbang actor Salman Khan is expected to visit the Valley soon. “I am already excited about the next assignment and in case Salman happens to be our next guest, he is more than welcome. He would not be disappointed with our services,” asserts Nighat who was personally thanked by Shah Rukh Khan for the “commendable job” that she did. Coming from a humble background from Zachaldara village of Kupwara district in north Kashmir, Nighat wanted to become a doctor but the untimely death of her father changed her plans. “My father saw the spark in me and despite the conservative atmosphere in the rural Kashmir, my father agreed to let me join the police force. It was a difficult choice but I stood for what I believed in,” Nighat Aman says. Nighat’s eighteen years of police service is dotted by exceptional achievements especially after she was posted as DSP (Traffic), Srinagar, when she gained the limelight for her strict stance towards violators of traffic rules. “Two years back, I caught hold of two boys, who were eve-teasing some students of a women’s college. I beat them to pulp in front of everyone. I know a strong lady police officer in Kashmir attracts everybody’s attention but I do the needful as it’s my job,” Nighat expresses. Despite her hectic working hours, Nighat has not shunned her domestic responsibilities. “I am a mother of two children and I definitely like to spend time with them. When important assignments are underway and I am away from them, they manage on their own,” the brave lady guard says. |
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People in J&K want change, PDP will return to power: Mehbooba
“People have by now concluded that they have been subjected to a high degree of corruption and misgovernance during the past over three and a half years of the National Conference-led coalition government in the state,” said PDP president Mehbooba Mufti while talking to The Tribune on Friday. She said only free and fair elections would bring a change and alleged that the 2008 Assembly elections were rigged as were the 1987 Assembly elections, the consequences of which the people were still facing. Mehbooba, beaming with confidence, said the response of the people to her party’s programmes and the conclusion that the people have drawn after having experienced the difference “during our rule (2002-2005) and that of the current regime of the National Conference-led coalition government has made her sense PDP’s victory in the next poll. “We had given relief to the people, ignited a new hope and ensured a stake of the people in peace and progress and dialogue,” she said, adding that “all that is gone now”. This is because the elections were rigged in 2008 in a “tactical manner”, she said. Why are you raising the issue of rigging of elections in 2008 now, more than three and a half years later? Mehbooba replied: “We were told by Mufti Sahib (Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) to keep quiet because he did not want to disturb the confidence of the people that they had reposed in the ballot in the 2002 poll. But now we feel that the time has come to bring this malaise to the notice of the people.” “People now want a change and we are a regional alternative here,” she said. Mehbooba also had a poser for the Central and the state governments. “Why are the young boys doing what they are allegedly doing?” She answered that herself: “It is the atmosphere of gloom that is driving them to the stage where they are charged with ‘waging a war against the Indian nation’.” “When an 11-year-old boy is charged with such serious charges and arrested, the question travels beyond what happened and how it happened. The question is: why it happened? “It is a failure that even after six decades there are elements in Jammu and Kashmir who still fall in the category of those who are allegedly involved in a ‘war’ against the nation,” she said. The case in point is that of a young boy, Faizan, who had been arrested for torching police vehicles here on Eid-ul-Fitr on August 20. Mehbooba, who walks in the shadow of her father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has been raising these issues at the rallies that she has been addressing all across the state. “What I have been observing and feeling is that there is an overall frustration among the people. “There is a high level of corruption, the army of unemployed youth is growing and there is no accountability at any level. It is our duty to raise these issues as a responsible opposition,” asserted Mehbooba, who is focusing on expansion of her party across the state. “There is no development and the constituencies represented by the PDP are being discriminated against, there is no development there,” she alleged while pointing out that all critical departments for development --- PWD, Power, Planning --- are headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Commenting on the argument forwarded by the official spokesman that the changes in the RTI Act had been brought in to remove the anomalies between the Central Act and the state Act, Mehbooba wanted to know that “while the Omar Abdullah government is refusing to adopt the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Panchayati Raj Act of the Centre because the state has its own because of the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, why this duplicity (over the RTI Act)?” she asked.
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NC minister punctures Congress campaign to empower panchayats
Jammu, September 7 Apparently rejecting the allegations of the Congress party, Sagar said vigorous, sincere and sustained efforts had been made to give adequate powers to the panchayats in order to achieve the objective of participatory planning. The minister was speaking at a function which was organised to dedicate the Panchayat Bhawan to the public. He said the Omar Abdullah-led government had recently empowered the sarpanchs and the panches by giving them the reins of 14 vital departments. The comments were made in the presence of Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla and Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ajaz Ahmed Khan, both of who belong to the Congress. “The coalition government has fulfilled the promise of democratic decentralisation of powers but certain people with vested interests, who had earlier launched a campaign against holding the panchayat elections, have now got frustrated and thus, are trying to spread rumours,” he said, adding that people of the state were wise enough to gauge the sincerity of the present regime as which “believes in sustained action rather than resorting to rhetoric and falsehood”. |
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Srinagar, September 7