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Pak Rangers target BSF men in Chachwal
Shinde reviews development works in Kargil
Custodial death: Jail officer’s increment withheld
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Panchayat members feel betrayed
Disrespect to anthem: KU mulls punishment Laila Khan Murder Case
demand for st status
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Pak Rangers target BSF men in Chachwal
Jammu, October 6 Recurrent firing by the Rangers in the Chachwal area has kept the farmers away from their agricultural fields since October 1. “Around 8.30 am, the Rangers opened unprovoked small arms fire on our ambush parties in
the Chachwal area,” said BSF (Jammu Frontier) DIG JS Oberoi. None of the border guards was injured in the hostile fire, he said. The BSF gave them a
calibrated response and the exchange of fire continued over 15 minutes, the DIG said. A BSF source said the entire sector had been put on alert, while commandants had been asked to keep a constant surveillance on the borderline. The BSF headquarters in Delhi had already been informed about the recurrent incidents of unprovoked fire by the Rangers in the Chachwal area. Hari Singh, a resident of Chachwal village, said recurrent firing had forced the farmers to stay away from their fields since October 1. “Following critical injuries to a couple — Kulwant Singh and Trishla — villagers have stopped venturing near their fields. They have been unable to fetch grass and fodder for cattle,” he said. He said the BSF had asked the villagers to remain vigilant. “A BSF officer has advised us to fetch grass and fodder for our cattle during the wee hours or in the evening, because the Rangers can easily target us during daytime,” he said. The BSF had lodged a written protest with the Rangers in Chachwal on October 2 after the couple suffered injuries in the firing on October 1. The Rangers have been frequently opening unprovoked fire along the border ever since the BSF detected the secret trans-border tunnel in Chachwal, exposing Pakistan before the international community. Recurrent firing
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Shinde reviews development works in Kargil
He said the government was aware of the problems of those living in far-flung areas like
Kargil. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was trying to provide better facilities to the people of
these areas. He also praised the people of Kargil for their bravery and patriotism. He said the issue of raising funds for the completion of the Z-Morh Tunnel and other projects would be looked into. The foundation laying ceremony of the Z-Morh Tunnel, to facilitate an all-weather road connectivity between the Kashmir valley and the Ladakh region, was held near Sonmarg on Thursday. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 270 crore for the construction of a solar power plant and
hydro-electric projects in the district. Another Rs 50 crore had been provided under a special task force programme and council infrastructure plan, while Rs 40 crore had been allocated for various development projects currently under way in the district. At least 1,451 schemes were affected due to the flash floods last year. Out of these, 992 had been restored and Rs 71.49 crore was being spent on various development schemes under the District Plan. Those who attended the meeting included Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs Abdul Rahim Rather, Minister for
Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Qamar Ali Akhoon, Chairman and Executive Councillor of the Kargil Hill
Development Council Kachoo Ahmad Ali Khan, Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam
Wani, executive councillors Haji Ghulam Aamir and Poonchuk Tashi, Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, DGP Ashok Prasad, Principal Secretary
(Planning and Development) BB Vyas and Kargil Deputy Commissioner Razak. Minister’s assurance
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Custodial death: Jail officer’s increment withheld
Srinagar, October 6 The DG (Prisons) has ordered the withholding of annual increment and promotion for one year of the then in charge of the Kupwara jail, Jail Superintendent Ghulam Qadir Padroo, for “carelessness, non-seriousness and lapse” on his part. But the youth’s parents have termed the punishment accorded to the “negligent” officer an “eyewash” and demanded the registration of an FIR and adequate compensation. Sajjad (22) from Sangrampora, Sopore, had died at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, on March 22 while serving detention under the Public Safety Act at the Kupwara district jail. The report of the magisterial inquiry, which was ordered by the District Magistrate, Kupwara, on March 3, had held the Kupwara jail authorities and the jail medical staff guilty of “negligence”. “While acts of omission or commission on part of Ghulam Qadir Padroo (Assistant Superintendent), the then in-charge Superintendent, District Jail, Kupwara, cannot be attributed to have caused the death of PSA detainee Sajad Ahmad Dar, nevertheless there has been a certain amount of carelessness, non-seriousness and lapse on his part, which deserves a major penalty,” said Director General of Prisons Navin Agarwal in his order, which was submitted to the High Court by the respondent authorities last week. Though Sajjad died serving detention under the PSA, his habeas corpus petition challenging his detention is still pending before the High Court. “As a punishment, withholding his annual increment and promotion for one year is hereby imposed upon him,” the DG (Prisons) ordered, while imposing a penalty on the delinquent jail official for the youth’s death. The case
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Panchayat members feel betrayed
Jammu, October 6 Panchayats members feel “betrayed” as the Congress general secretary, who had earlier promised to support the implementation of the 73rd Amendment, skipped the subject altogether during his visit to Kashmir. BSP state president Tulsi Dass Langeh termed Rahul’s visit futile and misleading. “The Congress general secretary has failed to live up to the expectations of the people in general and panchayat members in particular,” he said. Kulbhushan Khajuria, sarpanch of the Sonjawana panchayat, who was part of the delegation of nine sarpanches that met Rahul last week at New Delhi, said the Congress leader’s visit had failed to inspire any confidence in panchayat members. |
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Estates Dept seeks shifting of 160 Kashmiri Pandit families
Jammu, October 6 Sources said an official meeting between the Revenue, Relief Organisation and the Estates Department had given a go ahead to the proposal and the file was now pending with the Revenue Department for the final approval, which was likely to be given its consent, in view of a huge expenditure it had to incur to hire hotels and lodges for the employees. Most of the displaced Pandit families have so far resisted the move of the government to relocate them, despite use of force by the administration in the past and clashes between government employees and militancy-affected families. There are around 3,500 quarters of the Estates Department in Jammu, while the number of quarters in Srinagar is just 1,250. Several hundred quarters at Janipur, Sarwal, Subash Nagar and the BC Road were allotted to hundreds of Kashmiri Hindu families in 1990 after selective killings by terrorists forced nearly 3 lakh members of minority community to leave their homes and villages. However, about six years back, the Estate Department had issued notices to them asking them to vacate these two-room sets so that the employees from the Valley could be accommodated in these quarters. Director Estates RK Koul said, “There is a proposal. They will be shifted to the Jagti Migrant Colony. Darbar move employees are facing a lot of problems and putting them in hotels is costing is a lot of money.” Every year, the Civil Secretariat with about 7,000 employees moves to Srinagar in summers and to Jammu in winters. Official records like thousands of files are transported in buses and trucks on the 300-km Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The whole exercise costs the cash-strapped state approximately a whooping Rs 100 crore annually. However, the All-State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) vice-president, RK Raina, claimed that if decision was taken to shift the families they would resist the move. “Administration have been harassing these families during the past six years and fully knowing that there are no basic facilities at Jagti, how will they live there?,” Raina said. Raina claimed that most of people living at estates quarters were retired or very old and Jagti is far off from any civilian population in case of emergency. “This is a clear harassment of militancy victims, who are facing wrath of the Estates Department. Till there are no proper facilities at Jagti, they should not be shifted,” he said. Police denial There is a proposal. They will be shifted to the Jagti Migrant Colony. Darbar move employees are facing a lot of problems and putting them in hotels is costing is a lot of money RK Koul, Director Estates
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Congress to launch campaign to incorporate 73rd Amendment to Constitution Srinagar, October 6 “We will launch a campaign across the state and go to each and every place to implement the 73rd Amendment,” Saifuddin Soz, president of the Pradesh Congress Committee, said here today. Stressing the need to adopt the amendment, Soz said it was necessary to empower panchayat members who had aspirations to be the “real representatives” of the people. “I again tell them (government) to adopt the amendments directly or incorporate these in the state Panchayat Raj Act,” he added. Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s assertion on the devolution of powers, the PCC chief said the devolution of powers to the sarpanches and panches certainly means adoption of provisions of the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, in whatever form it is made. He pointed out that Rahul Gandhi also maintained that he would support their sarpanches and panches’ campaign for devolution of powers. “Rahul also said this should be done within a time frame,” Soz stated. Soz held that the elected panchayat members, over 4,000 of whom alone from the Kashmir Valley converged at the panchayat conference addressed by the Congress general secretary, had aspirations of empowerment. “We shall remain with the panchayat members and make them empowered,” Soz said in reply to a question. Referring to his letter written to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the implementation of the amendments, Soz said it had become unavoidable as the issue could not be properly addressed. “The issue had come up in the Coordination Committee but could not addressed,” Soz, who is also chairman of the National Conference-Congress Coordination Committee, said. “The Chief Minister must show courage and let us work together,” Soz added and held that 73rd Amendment was in the interest of the panchayat members for overall development at the grass-roots level. Replying to a question,” Soz said it was up to the Chief Minister to disclose the names of two Congress ministers who opposed the empowerment of panchayats. “If two ministers feel otherwise, it cannot be done and we support the empowerment,” he added. Soz disagreed with the government’s view that the spirit of the 73rd Amendment had been incorporated in the state Panchayat Raj Act. “This is wrong and cannot be accepted,” Soz said. The Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Ali Mohammad Sagar (NC), told the State Legislative Council that the spirit of the amendment was incorporated and more steps were being taken to empower the panchayat members.
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Disrespect to anthem: KU mulls punishment Srinagar, October 6 Official sources said two senior faculty members, including Dean (Research), were seen sitting in the second row among the audiences when the National Anthem was being sung at the Science Congress in which Vice-President Hamid Ansari was present along with Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The university authorities, including Vice-Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmad, have taken strong note of the disrespect shown to the National Anthem by senior staff members and students and is contemplating a stern action against them. Sources said following the incident, the authorities had made special surveillance arrangements, including putting up CCTV cameras in the convocation complex, where the convocation was held later. At the convocation, around 25 students, including PhD scholars and gold medallists, remained seated while the National Anthem was being sung in the presence of dignitaries. The students were identified and photographed by the security staff, the sources added. Sources said Professor Ahmad had taken it upon himself to brief the faculty and students about “respecting” the National Anthem preceding important events, but the directions were not adhered to. “This has forced the university authorities to take a tough stance so that embarrassing situations are not repeated,” an official in the VC office said. The Act Two senior faculty members, including Dean (Research), were seen sitting in the second row among the audiences when the National Anthem was being sung at the Science Congress in which Vice-President Hamid Ansari was present along with Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
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Laila Khan Murder Case Jammu, October 6 While Tak has been arrested, Wani remains absconding. Both men hailed from Kishtwar district in the Jammu region. “Shakir Hussain Wani has not been caught as yet but since the Mumbai Police has chargesheeted him also, we await a formal request from them to arrest him,” the Doda-Ramban-Kishtwar range DIG, Garib Dass, said. However, Wani had no criminal past as no case had ever been registered against him in Jammu and Kashmir, he added. But the Jammu and Kashmir Police definitely have some clues about the whereabouts of Wani, said a top police source. The Mumbai Police had filed a chargesheet before the 37th Metropolitan Magistrate Court against the duo. The accused have been booked under the Sections 302, 363, 364, 397, 201 and 120B of the IPC. The Pakistan-born starlet Laila and five family members were reported missing by her father Nadirshah Patel in February last year. The family members included Saleena Patel (51), her elder daughter Azmina (32), twin children Zara and Imran (25) and Reshma Sagir Khan (19). Shakir, who had been kept as a watchman at the Igatpuri farmhouse of the starlet by Parvez Tak, had helped him execute gory murders of Laila Khan and her family members on the night of February 8, 2011. Shakir belongs to Gandoh village of Doda district and has married a woman from Tak’s native village, Bonjwa, in neighbouring Kishtwar district.
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demand for st status Jammu, October 6 They have also started mobilising the members of the community to launch an agitation in support of their demand. They had held several “secret meetings” in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch during the past few days and chalked out a strategy to give new shape to the current “movement”. “Around 40,000 unemployed youth of the Pahari community, who are frustrated due to a step-motherly treatment by the state and the Central government, cannot be misled. They have decided to launch a Rajasthan-like agitation in the state so that the government is compelled to consider their demand ,” Shahbaz Khan, chief executive member of the Jammu and Kashmir Pahari People Movement (JKPPM), Rajouri, said. Khan alleged the state and the Central Governments were provoking the people for resorting to vigorous protests. “Some Gujjar leaders have been unnecessarily opposing our demand to score personal gains. They are bent on exploiting the people to create negative and bitter feelings between the two communities,” the JKPPM leader said. He said the struggle for the ST status to Paharis was 18 years old when the Central Government had included Gujjars and Bakerwals in the category in 1991. “Former Chief Minister and Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah had approached the Centre on October 14, 1991, recommending for ST status to Paharis. Similarly, on December 26, 1993, then Governor of the state KV Krishna Rao also wrote a letter to then Union Social Welfare Minister in which he had recommended to include this community in the ST category. Thereafter, several recommendations were also made to the Centre but the government had turned a deaf ear to the demand,” he said. Syed Mushtaq Bukhari, chairman of the J&K Pahari Cultural and Welfare Forum and vice-chairman of the State Advisory Board for Development of Pahari, said the Central Government would have to accept the long-pending demand of the Pahari-speaking people. “Our demand of getting the ST status is genuine because this status is must for the uplift and betterment of socio-economic conditions. We also met the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, in Srinagar during his recent visit who had also endorsed our case,” Bukhari said, adding that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also shown “seriousness” and recommended the demand to the Centre. “No doubt, the demand of the Pahari-speaking people was under active consideration of the Central government but the Centre will have to expedite the process,” he maintained. Recently, a delegation of the Pahari-speaking people from Rajouri, Poonch and Kupwara districts led by Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Shabir Ahmed Khan had recently met All- India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi and submitted a memorandum pleading for conferring the ST status to the Pahari community of the state.
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14 wildlife species vanishing from state Jammu, October 6 The IUCN lists the names of the endangered and the critically endangered wildlife species found in different parts of the world in its Red Data Book and takes up the issue with the respective governments to save them. Official sources say the species listed by the body from J&K include the snow leopard found in the snow-covered mountains of Ladakh, common leopard, ibex, brown bear, himalayan tahr, markhor, serow, hangul, musk deer, chiru, Tibetan gazelle, golden eagle, western tragopan and the cheer pheasant. A source said so alarming was the condition of the markhor, hangul and the chiru that they had been listed as the critically endangered. The rest have been placed in the list of the endangered species. Among these, the markhor, which is the largest mountain goat in the world, is listed under the Schedule 1 of the J&K Wildlife Protection Act and is found in dense pine and birch forests of the state. The mountain goat is commonly sighted in the Limber, Lachipora and Hirpora wildlife sanctuaries in the Valley. The Hangul, a sub-species of the European red deer, is found only in Kashmir and can be seen in the Dachigam National Park, Srinagar. The chiru, or Tibetan antelope, is mainly found in the Changthang and the Chang Chen Mo valleys in Ladhak. Jammu Wildlife Warden Tahir Shawl said, “We know about the IUCN listing of these animals. Various projects have been started with the help of the Central government to save the wildlife in the state. Notable among them is the project on snow leopard, markhor and the hangul.” Shawl said there were directions from the government to make every possible effort to safeguard the animals, which are under threat mainly due to the depleting forest cover and a rapid increase in human population.” The recorded forest area of the state is 20,230 square km. About 59 per cent of the geographical area of the state is under permanent snow cover in the form of glaciers and cold deserts. This area is unable to support plantation but many of the endangered species are found there. Forests here exhibit remarkable diversity ranging from sub-tropical to temperate to alpine because of the distinctive geo-climatic conditions prevalent in the three regions of the state, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Endangered animals The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the snow leopard, common leopard, ibex, brown bear, himalayan tahr, markhor, serow, hangul, musk deer, chiru, Tibetan gazelle, golden eagle, western tragopan and the cheer pheasant of J&K in the Red Data Book, which includes names of the endangered and the critically endangered wildlife species found in different parts of the world.
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Srinagar, October 6