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Police, Army step up patrolling in vulnerable areas
Oppn dares Cong to withdraw support from Omar govt
Sarpanches continue to quit as political parties begin blame game
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Sarpanches ask Cong to pull out from coalition govt
CM misleading people: Cong
One BJP, six NC workers join Congress
Work on Wular Lake project to resume soon
Centre’s skill development scheme fails to deliver
Mirwaiz invited to Pak by president Zardari
Kashmiri boatman, journalist walk red carpet in Hamburg
Guv condoles demise of Brajesh Mishra
Man gets life for killing son, father-in-law
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Police, Army step up patrolling in vulnerable areas
Jammu, September 29 “A strong background security by the police in tandem with the CRPF is being ensured. In the interiors, we are working in consultation with Kilo Force and Victor Force of the Army,” DGP Ashok Prasad told The Tribune. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on September 26, had said the government would increase the deployment of forces or change the pattern of their deployment according to threat perception. Following the first killing of a sarpanch in February this year in south Kashmir, we had initiated the process, which is still on, said the DGP. He informed that the elected panchayat members were faced with three different types of threat perceptions. “First is where militants have actually killed them, second where militants have fired upon their arms and legs and the third one is threatening posters asking them to resign,” said Prasad. In south Kashmir, where militants had killed a sarpanch in February, we immediately dominated the area. We also arrested some persons responsible for putting up threatening posters, he added. Similarly, in Baramulla, where two fatal attacks were carried out on elected members, the police along with the CRPF had increased its reach and also patrolling, the DGP added. “We are concerned about their safety and with this purpose patrolling has been increased in new areas. Besides, the police has started more stringent and detailed investigation in such cases making arrests of elements responsible for fomenting trouble and then filing a thorough chargesheet against them,” he added. To a query, the DGP said the deployment or relocation of forces being a tedious task, the pattern has been changed. “Static structures of forces remain intact but they have now started covering new areas where threat perception is more. For instance, the pressure is now in the Baramulla area of north Kashmir where the problem is being dealt with more stringently,” the DGP said. Killings of panchayat members On February 27, militants had killed sarpanch Ghulam Mohammed Dar in Kulgam On September 10, another sarpanch Ghulam Mohammed Yatoo was killed in Pattan On September 24, deputy sarpanch Mohammed Shafi Teli was killed in Kreeri, Baramulla Two contesting candidates were killed during election campaigns in May 2011 in Kashmir |
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Oppn dares Cong to withdraw support from Omar govt
Jammu, September 29 The Opposition parties have taken the Youth Congress to task for demanding resignation of the Chief Minister, who, according to them, was on the seat all due to the support of Congress. “It is really ridiculous that the Youth Congress activists are demanding resignation of the Chief Minister who is surviving due to the support of the Congress”, quipped Harsh Dev Singh, working chairman of the National Panthers Party. Although Congress has been demanding extension of 73rd amendment of the Indian Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir, the party leadership has been landed in a difficult situation after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had himself revealed that two Congress ministers had opposed delegation of powers to panchayats. Taking a cue from the Chief Minister’s revelation, the Opposition parties have mounted pressure on the Congress leaders to clear their stand on the role of party’s ministers in opposing the delegation of powers. Although Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz has asked the Chief Minister to disclose names of these two ministers, the Opposition has got the ammunition to target the Congress. “Publicly the Congress leadership has launched a campaign for panchayats but behind the curtain they are opposing any move to strengthen democratic institutions”, said Jugal Kishore Sharma, MLA,
BJP. |
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Sarpanches continue to quit as political parties begin blame game
Srinagar, September 29 In one local newspaper alone, 13 sarpanches and panches had offered a public resignation. All the 13 resignations had come from Beerwah area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district and Tangmarg area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. North Kashmir-based reporter for another local daily said he had received around 20 more resignations from sarpanches and panches today. The constant flow of resignations in local newspapers has been followed by sarpanches and panches - who were elected after elections last year - after night-letter posters threatening them, suspected to be issued by militants, were found in several districts of north, south and central Kashmir. The panchayat polls were held last year in the state after a gap of over 30 years, witnessing a record turnout. Over 33,000 panches and sarpanches were elected across the state. The threat posters, which were initially taken as non-serious in nature, began having an effect when two panchayat members were shot dead in north Kashmir. As more than 200 panchayat members published resignations in newspapers and “apologised” in local mosques, as was demanded in the posters - the latest of which had surfaced in the name of Lashkar-e-Toiba on Friday in two villages neighbouring the Baramulla town - political parties began making allegations against each other. The first major reaction came from state Congress president Saif-ud-din Soz, who accused his coalition partner National Conference of failing to empower the panchayats. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah followed with a frontal attack on militants challenging them to attack him instead of panchayat members. Omar also accused two Congress ministers of blocking attempts to empower panchayats. On Friday afternoon, state’s former deputy Chief Minister and a senior PDP leader Muzzafar Hussain Beig accused the ruling party of deliberately sabotaging the panchayati process and even hinted that sarpanches and panches were being killed by the National Conference. Today, the ruling party responded by saying that the PDP was “playing dirty politics” and accused Beig and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti of “lying”.
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Sarpanches ask Cong to pull out from coalition govt
Jammu, September 29 “By rejecting the demand for the incorporation of the 73rd amendment to the J&K Panchayati Raj Act, the Chief Minister has shown his reluctance vis-à-vis empowerment of the panchayats. The Congress, which has vouched for the implementation of the 73rd amendment in J&K, should withdraw from the government if it is sincere to empower people at the grassroots level,” Shafiq Mir, president, All J&K Panchayat Conference, said. Mir along with a seven-member delegation, which met Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and senior leaders of the UPA government, was talking to reporters after returning from New Delhi today. He suggested the Chief Minister should not confront on the issue of implementation of the 73rd amendment. “It is the duty of the state government to look into the security as well as empowerment of the elected panchayat members. Unfortunately, the Chief Minister has maintained a contrary position. Instead of any confrontation, he should ensure the security of sarpanches in sensitive and vulnerable areas,” he said. The sarpanch leader said it was also high time for the Congress to prove its “sincerity and seriousness” towards the panchayati institutions. “If any political party moves a Bill (as proposed by the Peoples Democratic Party) on the 73rd amendment in the upcoming autumn session of the state legislature commencing from October 1 in Srinagar, the Congress should support the Bill without any hesitation,” Mir said. Anil Sharma, general secretary, All J&K Panchayat Coordination Committee, termed the National Conference’s claim that Article 370 doesn’t allow extension of any Central law in Jammu and Kashmir as “lame excuse” and said the state could incorporate any amendment by 2/3rd unanimity in the legislative Assembly. “The government can also re-title the 73rd amendment for bringing it into force in the state,” he said. The panchayat members, however, claimed that the Union Home Ministry had communicated them for issuing an order to provide security to sarpanches and panches in “vulnerable areas” of the state. |
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CM misleading people: Cong
Jammu, September 29 “If he is not lying, the Chief Minister should disclose the names of those two Congress ministers, who, according to him (CM), have been opposing the demands of implementation of the Panchayat Raj Act amendments in the state Constitution,” Singh said. The former minister said the Chief Minister was lying and he was trying to create wedge or mistrust among the Congress leaders and ministers. “We want to know the names of two ministers since they are not above the Congress party. If any Congress minister has opposed the demand of party, he should be punished accordingly,” he said, adding that the Congress immediately after the panchayat elections had raised the demand of implementation of 73rd amendment in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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One BJP, six NC workers join Congress
Batote, September 29 Shankroo from Sanasar defected from the BJP. A retired forest official, Mohd Ali, and a retired ‘girdhavar’, Romesh Chander besides Vaishno Devi, Nagina Bano and Satya Devi were also among the 21 new entrants to the INC. The defectors said they had joined the INC because of the secular and progressive policies of the INC and the able and sincere leadership of Ashok Kumar in Ramban and Ghulam Nabi Azad, Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi at the Centre for whom the “development and welfare of poor is the sole agenda”. On September 22, over 112 NC youth had joined the BJP here. While welcoming the new entrants into the INC, Kumar assured them due respect and responsibility in the party besides trying to come up to their expectations. Later, a party workers’ interactive meeting was presided over by him where he addressed the demands of workers.
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Work on Wular Lake project to resume soon
Srinagar, September 29 The government claims that the worker huts, which were damaged by the suspected militants, have been reconstructed at Adipore village near Sopore. “We have reconstructed huts at the site for labourers. We have also set up new sheds for the policemen who will guard the project and that way the work at the site has already begun,” J&K’s Public Health Engineering and Irrigation Minister Taj Mohideen told The Tribune. “But the actual work on the project will start in a day or two,” he added. Government officials said after the militants swooped the site and threatened the labour, the government was trying to convince the contractors to resume the work at the Centrally funded Lake Conservation project site - on the edge of Asia’s largest fresh water lake. “We assured full security to the labourers at the site and the contractors have agreed to resume the work. The work at the project will start by Monday,” Baramulla Deputy Commissioner Khwaja Ghulam Ahmad said. On the intervening night of August 27 and 28, a group of three to four heavily armed militants, barged into workers’ huts at Aadipore village and threatened them of dire consequences. For two hours, the labourers were kept hostage. Militants also used a bulldozer to demolish an embankment which was being raised by the workers as part of the Wular Lake Conservation project. The militants warned the workers, most of them non-locals, of dire consequences if they continued construction at the site. After the incident, the work on the project was suspended. The J&K police later deployed around 24 personnel to guard the site at Aadipore. The ‘Wular conservation project’ is a Centrally sponsored project to conserve the Asia’s largest fresh water lake - Wular. The work on the Rs 389-crore project was started in August. The conservation project is located close to suspended Tulbul Navigation Lock Project and Wular Barrage. The militants suspect that the ‘Wular conservation project’ is part of the Wular Barrage project and in the name of conservation of the Wular lake, the Government of India was violating the Indus Water Treaty. |
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Centre’s skill development scheme fails to deliver
Jammu, September 29 The stakeholders, including instructors and candidates, have termed the scheme as “another medium in the consolidation of existing exploitative power structure.” While the authorities recorded 100 per cent expenditure on the implementation of the scheme during the past two years, a sizeable number of part-time instructors had been running from pillar to post for their remuneration. The poor and under-privileged candidates, who were imparted skill development trainings, allegedly have been denied certificates or diplomas after the completion of their respective programmes. Following complaints, the state Education Department had also ordered a probe into irregularities and embezzlement in the implementation of scheme on January 18 this year. It had asked the Director, School Education, Jammu, to furnish a detailed report within 15 days. Eight months down the line, the Education Department has failed to conduct the investigation. Jan Shikshan Sansthans are institutes of “people’s education” focusing on poor, illiterates, neo-literates, under-privileged and unreached. They provide need-based and literacy-linked vocational training in most courses at a very low cost without insisting on age limit or prior educational qualifications. They reach out to their “clientele groups” by setting up sub-centres in the heart of the slum or in remote rural areas. Information accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has also raised a question mark on the credibility of these institutes as the authorities denied information vis-a-vis local funds generated (Rs 50 per candidate on a monthly basis as development fee during the training programmes) and expenditure on salary of officials. The document stated that Jan Shikshan Sansthan Jammu had set up 108 sub-centres in 2009-10 and 101 sub-centres in 2010-11 to provide skill development and link literacy with vocational skills for poor and under-privileged people. It was also revealed that an amount of Rs 6.91 lakh was paid to part-time instructors in 2009-10 and Rs 6.95 lakh in 2010-11. Pawan Sharma, a part-time instructor, alleged that there were “gross irregularities” in the use of funds under the scheme. “I imparted six-month plumber training to 35 candidates at Jourian sub-centre in Akhnoor in 2010-11. For a part-time instructor, there was a provision of a fixed remuneration of Rs 2,000 per month, which I was denied. Similarly, a good number of part-instructors, including 24 in Akhnoor subdivision alone, were denied their remuneration,” he said. “Even a large number of candidates have not been issued certificates thereby turning scheme meaningless for them,” said another instructor, adding that both instructors as well as candidates had been running from pillar to post but the authorities had been showing complete indifference to their problems. Majid Ahmad, Director, JSS, Jammu, admitted that some part-time instructors were yet to receive their monthly remuneration. “I had received some complaints vis-a-vis non-payment of remuneration to instructors. It was found that though the payment cheques were prepared but they (part-time instructors) didn’t collect them. The cheques were valid for a specific period,” he said. On the probe into irregularities and embezzlement, the director said they had provided all the necessary record to the investigators and he was not aware about the present status. |
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Mirwaiz invited to Pak by president Zardari
Srinagar, September 29 Though final dates of the visit are not yet known, the Hurriyat leaders are likely to travel to Pakistan in mid-October. The invitation to Mirwaiz was extended by Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session on Friday evening, a Hurriyat spokesman said. He added that during the meeting between Zardari and Mirwaiz, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Pakistan’s US Ambassador Sherry Rehman were also present. “On this occasion, the president of Pakistan repeated the invitation of government of Pakistan to Hurriyat chairman and his other colleagues to visit Pakistan and exchange views with the ruling and Opposition parties,” the spokesman added. Earlier in February this year, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, during her India visit, had also extended invitations to Kashmiri separatists, including Mirwaiz-headed Hurriyat Conference, Geelani’s Hurriyat and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), for discussions with the leaders of that country. However, the visits could not materialise since then. Sources in the Hurriyat told The Tribune that the dates for the visit of Hurriyat leaders are not yet known. “We understand that the APHC has conveyed mid-October as the convenient time for visiting Pakistan to the authorities. However, the exact dates are not yet known,” the sources said, adding that it is quite possible that Pakistani authorities might have conveyed the dates to Mirwaiz during his meeting with president Zardari. During his meeting, the spokesman said, Mirwaiz “thanked” Pakistani president “for endorsing the right of self-determination to J&K people” and for his country’s “continuous moral, diplomatic and political support,” to Kashmir. Zardari, in his address to the UN General Assembly while raking up Kashmir issue, had advocated right to self-determination for Kashmir’s, which, however, was rejected by India by saying that Kashmir has “peacefully chosen its destiny.” The spokesman claimed that Pakistan president “fully endorsed the view that without the participation of Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue process, India and Pakistan cannot address the Kashmir problem.” |
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Kashmiri boatman, journalist walk red carpet in Hamburg
Srinagar, September 29 It was the first time the duo walked into a film theatre, a place which remains shut and is a taboo in their homeland. Bhat, who rows a boat in the Dal lake taking tourists on joyrides to earn a living, and Sofi, a journalist, are the lead actors in an independently produced film, Valley of Saints. The film, a romantic drama directed by Kashmiri-American Musa Sayeed, was shot in Kashmir during widespread and deadly street protests in 2010. The movie was released this year on January 23. The duo left for Hamburg from Srinagar on September 25, a journey that took them thousands of miles away to another realm. “It was a night none of us will forget soon,” the Facebook page of Valley of Saints, which is operated by the film’s director, stated on Friday evening. “Last night was magical.” The two protagonists of the movie have lived their entire lives in Kashmir’s sans-entertainment and conflict-ridden landscape where theatres have been dysfunctional for most of the last 20 years, a fallout of militancy which shook the entire region. The actors’ lives have been deeply influenced by region’s 23-year-long armed conflict. When in 1999, the Regal Cinema reopened after remaining shut for a decade, it was attacked on the first day itself, forcing its closure again. The place is now used as a godown. Bhat (28), who has been a boatman since he was a young teenager, while talking to The Tribune before leaving for Germany expressed great disbelief at the honour coming his way. “It is unbelievable that being a shikarawala, I will go to Germany as an actor,” he had said. Over a thousand people came to see the opening night of the festival, which began with the screening of the Valley of Saints, the film’s Facebook page stated last night. Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz, Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, Iranian filmmaker Mohamad Rasoulof and Spiderman villain Willem Dafoe were in attendance. But the two most important audience members were Gulzar Bhat and Afzal Sofi, our lead actors, who saw the film for the first time,” it said. Before leaving for Hamburg, Sofi had said he would continue to write and work as a journalist but would also act if a "good chance" came his way. Bhat, though, said he was content with rowing his boat amidst the calmness of the Dal lake. |
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Guv condoles demise of Brajesh Mishra
Srinagar, September 29 “The Governor has conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul,” a Raj Bhawan spokesman said here. The spokesman said Vohra recalled his long association with Mishra ever since he handed over the charge to him when the NDA government took over in March, 1998, and his frequent meetings with Mishra on important security issues after Vohra was inducted as a member of the first National Security Board.
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Man gets life for killing son, father-in-law
Jammu, September 29 The accused was living in the house of deceased Kamlu for the past nine years. He was cultivating the landed property of his father-in-law and was living a peaceful life. But a year before the incident, the accused started demanding the transfer of property in his name. The father-in-law tried to persuade him that he was the only heir. So he would inherit it in due course of time. The accused was not happy with the logic of his father-in-law. He continued with his demand for property. On August 18, 2002, he attacked him with a chopper repeatedly and killed him on spot. Thereafter, the accused killed his son. The family members when tried to intervene were also attacked. They also sustained injuries. |
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Days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah categorically rejected the demand for the incorporation of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the state Constitution, the elected sarpanches today said the Congress should withdraw from the government if its ruling coalition partner, the National Conference, remains averse to “empowerment of panchayats”.
Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and his other separatist colleagues have been invited to visit Pakistan by President Asif Ali
Zardari.
It was nothing short of a surreal setting for little known Kashmiris Gulzar Ahmad Bhat and Mohammad Afzal
Sofi- the dazzle of camera lights in Hamburg, Germany, as they walked the red carpet and posed for pictures in front of the banner
'Filmfest Hamburg 2012'.
