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Two major ceasefire violations in Poonch
Under revised norms, govt to refuse passports to relatives of PoK ultras
Bid to set mosque ablaze in Anantnag
Delay
in empowerment of Panchayats |
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Amnesty team meets Kashmir separatists
New BJP state chief to decide fate of rebel MLAs
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Two major ceasefire violations in Poonch
Jammu/Poonch, October 18 The Army, which guards the 776-km-long LoC, has described the sudden spurt in ceasefire violations as part of Pakistan’s pre-winter strategy to push armed ultras in the state. “Around 11 pm yesterday, 29 Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan army opened unprovoked small arms fire on Mahan and Dogra posts of the Indian Army in the Krishna Ghati (KG) sector and the exchange of fire continued till 1 am,” said an Intelligence source. This stretch of the KG sector is being manned by 1st Maratha Light Infantry and 3 Grenadiers. The fire had come from Pimple, Kash, Batiyar and Chatri posts of the Pakistan army on the other side of the LoC, added the source. Indian soldiers had noticed suspicious movement of three or four suspected militants in the area around 11 pm yesterday. When the soldiers challenged the latter, the Pakistan Army opened fire and also provided cover fire to the ultras in a bid to push them to this side, said the source. However, suspected ultras didn’t succeed in their designs, he added. Though small arms were used, the intensity of the fire traded between the two armies caused panic among villagers of Gani, Balnoi and Sagra along the LoC in the KG sector, added the source. Till 11 am today, the Army launched a search operation in the forest area for the suspected ultras but couldn’t find them. However, the Army has denied any firing in the KG sector. There had been a ceasefire violation in the Guntarian area of Poonch district last evening around 5.30 pm, which lasted till 7.45 pm, said a senior Army officer. He said the Pakistan army had opened heavy fire on forward posts in Guntarian in the Poonch sector in a bid to push militants to this side of the LoC. “They had targeted our NPP-I and NPP-II posts from Joda-I and Joda-II posts with heavy fire forcing us to give them a calibrated but effective response,” he said. The Pakistan army is under a lot of pressure to keep the pot boiling. So, it continues to indulge in such activities, the officer added. Meanwhile, expressing deep concern over the increased incidents of ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) and international border, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has urged the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter and arrest the deteriorating border situation, which has generated fear and panic among people.
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Under revised norms, govt to refuse passports to relatives of PoK ultras
Srinagar, October 18 The authorities in Kashmir have never spelt out their passport clearance policy in public. However, the revised passport policy document of the state government, which has been accessed by The Tribune, underlines that the government has a clear-cut policy and guidelines for clearing passport applications in the state. “In no case should the passport be cleared for an applicant whose militant relative is still in PoK, but for exceptional circumstances on a case to case basis,” states the Jammu and Kashmir home department’s passport policy document forwarded to the Inspector General of Police (CID), Srinagar. The IGP (CID) had, in August 2011, sought clarifications from the home department about the government’s revised passport policy. In the recently concluded Assembly session, the state government said there are still 3,084 Kashmiri youth in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who had gone for “arms training” after the 1990s. The government’s “policy of passport cases” states that the cases of those relatives of a militant should be considered wherein the militant has died 10 years ago. “It should be cleared unless there is any adverse report against the passport applicant regarding his involvement in militancy or disruptive activities. Consideration will however be given on a case to case basis after thorough verification of their present activities,” reads the document, a copy of which has been accessed by The Tribune. Incidentally, in militancy-hit J&K, thousands have been denied passports after being blacklisted by intelligence agencies. These people figure on what officials call a “security index”. Reportedly, around 60,000 families across Kashmir valley, who had either direct or indirect connection with militancy, figured in the blacklist. That such a blacklist exists was acknowledged by CM Omar Abdullah in July this year, when he said his government has cleared 6,000 cases this year which were placed in blacklist. “Passport applicants can also be considered for clearance of passport in case of those whose militant relatives have surrendered before 12 years and have joined mainstream,” the policy documents further reads. “Passport cases of applicants/ex-militants who have surrendered would be considered for clearance only after proper verification about their current status of activities,” the policy documents reads.
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Bid to set mosque ablaze in Anantnag
Anantnag, October 18 Locals said they spotted smoke emanating from the first floor of the mosque after they offered afternoon prayers. “We could smell something burning while we were offering prayers. Soon after the prayers concluded, we started looking for the source of the smell and found that the smoke was billowing from the mosque’s first floor,” said Abdul Karim, a local. Locals added that it seemed from the pattern of the fire that somebody had deliberately tried to set the mosque ablaze. “Fire had been lit at
five places on the first floor, leaving carpets of the mosque damaged. Some miscreants had
probably tried to set the entire mosque ablaze,” said another local, Tawseef Ahmad. The locals ruled out any sectarian divide being responsible for the fire. “We have never had any sectarian divides in our locality; we live in harmony. This is the work of some miscreant wanting to disrupt peace,” said Farooq Ahmad, another local. District police officials, including the Deputy Inspector General and the SSP, reached the spot and took stock of the situation. “It could be simply called mischief and an attempt to disrupt peace. Our FSL team has taken the samples and investigation has been initiated,” said Anantnag SSP RK Jalla. An FIR under Sections 436, 511 and 295 (A) has been registered at Bijbehara police station. This is the second such incident in a week. On October 12, some miscreants tried to set ablaze a Sufi shrine in Dabrun area of Anantnag district. |
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Delay
in empowerment of Panchayats
Jammu, October 18 Mufti, who was addressing a kisan sammelan at Bishnah area, took the Congress leadership to task for hoodwinking the “gullible” people who had braved all odds to cast votes during Panchayat elections. “The bogey of 73rd amendment was nothing but a gimmick to further delay empowerment of Panchayats,” Mufti observed and asked, “Why did the Congress not raise this issue before announcement of the Panchayat elections in 2011?” He hastened to add that Congress ministers were present in the Cabinet meeting in which the decision to conduct Panchayat elections was taken. “The decision of the government to deny powers to Panchayats is nothing but a cruel joke on the masses,” he said, adding that Congress, a coalition partner in the government, was equally responsible. Not only Mufti but also all other senior party leaders who spoke on the occasion attacked the Congress. Mufti termed the decision to cancel Block Development Councils (BDCs) elections as a shameful act on the government’s part. “Why was a decision to allow provision for reservations for SCs, STs and women not taken before announcing the elections?” he wondered and claimed that when urban local bodies elections were conducted during his tenure, provisions for reservations were made before making the announcement. In an obvious reference to widening differences between National Conference and Congress on vital issues, he said there was lack of consensus between two coalition partners. Keeping in mind the presence of a large number of farmers at the conference, Mufti raked up the issue of seeking Jammu and Kashmir’s share from Ranjit Sagar Dam from Punjab government. He said delay in completion of this project was badly affecting the farming community of the state. He regretted that farmers from different states are taking benefit of the Ranjit Sagar project but farmers of Jammu and Kashmir, who have high stakes in the project, were deprived of their share. He said it was promised that farmers of Jammu and Kashmir would be given water under the inter-state bilateral agreement through Shahpur Kandi project on Ranjit Sagar Dam’s downstream. He regretted that the promise was yet to be fulfilled and the bilateral agreement was not implemented. He said proper implementation of the bilateral agreement would change the fate of farmers of Jammu region. |
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Amnesty team meets Kashmir separatists
Srinagar, October 18 The team comprising Director, Amnesty Programme for India, Sushil Kumar Villath and members Sunita and Rahilla Narchoor arrived here yesterday on an eight-day visit. The team is scheduled to meet mainstream political parties and civil society and local human rights activists to get the latest figures about the detainees under the Public Safety Act (PSA). “The team today called on Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who apprised the three members of the latest human rights situation in J-K, including the disappearance of around 10,000 persons and the presence of unmarked graves in the region,” a Hurriyat spokesman said, adding that Mirwaiz also praised the Amnesty for bringing out a latest report on the PSA in J&K. Earlier, the team visited Geelani at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar where a discussion was held on various issues, including detentions under the PSA, said the spokesman of Geelani-led Hurriyat. Geelani threatens agitation over facilities to pilgrims Chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Geelani on Thursday threatened to launch an agitation against the construction of “Amarnath Nagar” along the yatra track despite the fact that the government has already ruled out the construction of a road to the shrine. Geelani was referring to the recent Supreme Court order on the facilities of healthcare for the pilgrims during the Amarnath
yatra. |
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New BJP state chief to decide fate of rebel MLAs
Jammu, October 18 The process of electing the new president is likely to be completed by the end of December. Sources in the party said a strong group within the state unit of the BJP had been creating hurdles for the return of the expelled MLAs, including former Union Minister and veteran leader Chaman Lal Gupta. “Instead of taking a decision on the fate of the expelled legislators at this juncture, the high command has decided to wait till the state president is elected,” said a source, adding that the party high command would take the opinion of the new incumbent on the issue of taking back the rebels. Sources said a group within the party had informed the central leadership that the base of the BJP had been eroding due to a spilt in the party and that the rebels had intensified their activities in areas which were considered to be under the stronghold of the party. They said the rebels had also lured in a number of hardcore BJP activists. Sources said the group had told the central leadership that rapprochement with the splinter group was a must to effectively contest the next Lok Sabha elections. This group of party members had even initiated the process of taking back the rebels but some locals were trying to sabotage the move as they were eying the Assembly seats of these expelled MLAs. Sources said the central leadership had also realised that following the ruling by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the chances of getting these rebels disqualified as MLAs were remote so it felt that it was better to take them back to unitedly face the Lok Sabha elections. After the cross-voting episode of the Legislative Council elections, which were held on April 13, 2011, out of eleven BJP MLAs, seven were expelled from the party on the charges of casting votes in favour of National Conference and Congress candidates. While former Chaman Lal Gupta was expelled from the party on May 31, 2011, the other MLAs were expelled on November 18, 2011. Due to some technical reasons, these MLAs have not joined any party but they have been attending functions of the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Front. |
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Jammu, October 18
