The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	LeT carried out attack on Srinagar hotel, says police Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 20 The police suspects that a militant module of south Kashmir was responsible for carrying out the attack in which a hotel employee was killed near Nowgam on Srinagar bypass road yesterday. Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) had claimed the responsibility for the attack on the city outskirts. Police sources privy to the investigation said though investigation into the case was broad-based, they claimed that they had an input about the possible attack by an LeT module since the past five days. “There was an input of a possible militant attack in the city on the day when the Governor and the Chief Minister attended the special award ceremony of the annual convocation of Kashmir University on October 17. After these inputs we had put our men on a high alert in the city. The militants, most probably from south Kashmir, struck on Friday near Nowgam on Parimpora-Pantha Chowk bypass,” the sources said. “The module which belongs to different parts of south Kashmir carried out the attack outside the hotel in which a civilian was killed and two others were injured. One of the members of the module was also involved in an attack on the Army patrol near Pampore on July 7 in which a solider was killed and another injured”, the police sources said. The police said they were trying to locate the militants involved in the attack outside the four-star hotel. Kashmir IGP SM Sahai said it was the LeT that carried out the Friday attack. “Definitely it is the LeT which carried out the attack. The investigation into the case is going on”, he said. While the police believes that it was an LeT attack, sources said they were also looking into other possibilities that could have triggered the attack near the hotel. The sources said the police was also looking into the inputs that the owner of the hotel, who is also a former treasurer of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), had been in news last year for his allegations against a JKCA functionary. “We are investigating all the angles,” said a police officer. “We are trying to find out what exactly the target of militants was”, he added. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said some people were bent upon disturbing peace and drag people into difficulties and hardships. “They try to create fear in the minds of people by using mikes and guns as peaceful situation does not suit their style of politics,” he said at a public gathering here. “Such attempts are aimed at disturbing peace and tranquility in the state and make people fearful,” he added.
	J&K ready with bill on minority commission, says Khurshid Sikhs unimpressed, seek implementation of Anand Marriage Amendment Act Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 20 The Sikhs and Hindus settled in the state finally have some hope of legal recognition as minorities. In the first positive sign that the state is seriously contemplating establishing a minority commission, Union Law and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said the Jammu and Kashmir Government has prepared a bill in this regard and is examining the issue. In response to a query by former MP Tarlochan Singh, who had flagged the issue of absence of minority commission in J&K during his tenure as the chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Khurshid said in his October 18 letter, “I have had the matter concerning the setting up of a minority commission in the state of J&K examined and have been informed that the state has prepared a bill on the subject and the matter is under examination.” The state has over 15 lakh Sikh voters, an estimated 60,000 Sikhs are living in the Valley, and there are about 3,700 families of the Kashmiri Pundits. These sections have long been demanding a minority status in the state, where the Muslims are in majority. At the heart of the matter is the inability of the Sikhs and Hindus to avail the central minority benefit schemes. The Minority Affairs Ministry runs three major scholarship schemes for the children of the minority communities and the HRD Ministry runs a means-cum-merit scholarship scheme. As the Sikhs and Hindus are not notified as minorities in the state, the benefits of the Central schemes continue to flow to the Muslims, one of the five (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis) nationally recognised minorities as per the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. In the rest of India, minority schemes are monitored by state-level minority commissions. “J&K is not covered by the NCM Act 1992, whose Section 1 (2) states that the Act extends to the whole of India except J&K. I had written to the state Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar on September 7 last year recommending that J&K can consider extending the NCM Act 1992 to itself by making a recommendation to the President that an amendment be made to the NCM Act 1992 to make the Act applicable to J&K, and by considering enactment of a law for the promulgation of the J&K Minorities Act along the lines of the Model Act developed by the NCM and circulated to all the states. The matter has been discussed with the state Law Minister and the Central Minority Affairs Minister,” Wajahat Habibullah, chairman, NCM, said. The Sikhs in the state, however, are not amused. J&K National Sikh Front president Varinderjit Singh told The Tribune today, “Every regime promises to set up a minority commission but doesn’t set up one under the garb of Article 370 and special status. Our wards are suffering.” Meanwhile, the Sikhs in J&K have another pressing demand — validation of the recent amendment to the Anand Marriage Act by the Parliament of India thereby allowing the Sikhs to register marriages under their own Act instead of the Hindu Marriage Act as was the case earlier. In J&K, the state Assembly is yet to approve the said Central amendment. Former NCM chief Tarlochan Singh said, “The state Assembly must honour the long standing wish of the community and adopt the amended Anand Marriage Act in J&K.”
	Omar questions Geelani over Amarnath road statement Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 20 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has thrown open a challenge to hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani, who had threatened to launch an agitation on the issue of construction of a road to the Amarnath cave shrine. “A separatist leader is talking of agitation and issues calendar without looking into facts and ascertaining the truth,” Omar said while addressing a public gathering at the inaugural function of a new shrine complex in downtown Srinagar today. Asserting that no road was being built from Pahalgam to the Amarnath cave, the Chief Minister described Geelani’s threat as a “false propaganda”. “The papers submitted by the state government in the Supreme Court and the order of the apex court itself substantiates and vindicates the fact that no road is being constructed in the said area,” he said. The CM said those indulging in this propaganda should go through the 200-page document provided by the state government to the Supreme Court in this regard and to show if there was any mention about building the road. “I will keep two helicopters of the state at your (Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s) disposal to fly over the Pahalgam-Amarnath track. You select any photographer of your choice and have a complete aerial view of the mountains and the track and show us where a macadam is being laid,” he said and ridiculed the falsehood being circulated in this regard to disturb peace. He said some people had made it their mission to create law and order problems for their benefit. “While we are working hard to restore peace and tranquility, provide employment to youth, help trade and tourism activities to flourish and carry forward a comprehensive development programme across the state, they are bent upon disturbing tranquility for their self-interests,” he said. Omar said neither the Amarnath shrine board had asked the state for any land nor was the state government going to give it to the board. He said the construction of gates was only to regulate the flow of yatris and restrict the movement of a particular number of them on the track on a particular day to avoid overcrowding and to ensure safety.
	Heavy firing by Pakistani troops in KG sector Ceasefire violations now a daily routine, says Jammu-based defence spokesman Tribune News Service Jammu, October 20 With no let-up in truce violations, Pakistani troops yet again opened heavy fire targeting seven forward Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati (KG) sector of Poonch district late last night. Last night around 10.30 pm, the Pakistani troops opened heavy fire on Kranti, Kirpan, Ghora, Chajaman, Ravi, Sheri and Bichu posts of the Indian Army in the KG sector, said an Intelligence source. He said Pakistan had opened fire from its Daku, Roza, Pimple, Battal, Bandar, Badmash and Kash posts on the other side of the LoC. During the intense violation, a group of three to four militants are suspected to have sneaked into the Indian territory, the source added. However, the Army denied any successful intrusion by the ultras. The Intelligence source further said, “Initially, 29 Baloch Regiment and 653 Mujahid Regiment of the Pakistan army opened small arms fire but soon they switched over to LMG and HMG fire. They also used few mortars and rocket launchers during the skirmish that lasted till 11.30 pm.” The Indian posts in the KG sector are being manned by 1st Maratha Light Infantry and 3 Grenadiers under the command of the KG Brigade. The source further said that of late ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army had become a daily affair. “It is a disturbing trend but the Army is alert to the situation,” he added. There had been a ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops in the KG sector of Poonch district last night, said Defence PRO Col RK Palta. Colonel Palta said approximately 400 to 450 rounds of small arms, light and heavy automatic weapons were fired by the Pakistani troops.
	Ex-minister condemns spurt in ceasefire violations Tribune News Service Jammu, October 20 Condemning the repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Indo-Pak border, former Union Minister and MLA Chaman Lal Gupta said Pakistan was well versed with the fire power of India and still it indulged in the misadventure of ceasefire violations. “We have shown Pakistan our retaliation power in the wars of 1948, 1965, 1971 and also in the Kargil war. The aim behind the move seems only to facilitate the infiltration of ultras to promote cross- border terrorism in J&K”, Gupta said in a statement issued here. He also ridiculed the policies of New Delhi with regard to Pakistan and observed that on the one hand, Pakistan talks about maintaining cordial relations with India by promoting trade, cultural ties and other people-to-people contacts, on the other hand, it resorts to firing to continue its proxy war against India. This, he said, was just hypocrisy because New Delhi had no Kashmir Policy. Alleging failure of the UPA government to pursue further what was achieved during the NDA rule as Army build-up in 2002-03 was withdrawn only after the then Pakistani President General Musharraf had publicly assured that no territory under the control of Pakistan would be allowed for terrorist activities and the ceasefire would be observed strictly. But after the change of guard at New Delhi, the things have returned to a deplorable path that on the one hand there was much about dialogue to have lasting peace, on the other hand, there is no let-up in the aggressive postures by the enemy, he said.
	Govt ignoring border residents, says Mehbooba Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 20 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti after visiting Churanda village near the Line of Control (LoC) has said border residents have been abandoned by the government. Interacting with the villagers who gathered at Charunda village on Friday, where she met the families of the three victims who lost their lives in border shelling, she said the people living in these areas had been left to fend for themselves in highly inhospitable conditions. A PDP spokesman said Mehbooba interacted with the families of Mohammad Shafi Khatana, Liyaqat Ali and Shamima who lost their lives earlier this week in one of the worst violations of the decade-long ceasefire between Indian and Pakistani forces along the LoC. “Mehbboba urged the government to provide adequate compensation to the families and take measures for their complete rehabilitation,” the spokesman said. Mehbooba told the gathering that she had also urged Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to intervene into the matter. Refering to the total withdrawal of civilian administration from border areas, Mehbooba said the population there faced immense problems in the absence of proper healthcare, education and civil supplies. She said the people in these areas were completely dependant on goodwill of the Army for facilities of ambulance and fuel.
	Hoteliers, Pandits take a dig at Hurriyat chief Jammu, October 20 Jammu hoteliers and displaced Kashmiri Pandits today lashed out at the Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani for his opposition to the construction of a road between Baltal and the Amarnath cave shrine and to providing facilities to Amarnath pilgrims. “The reasons given by the secessionist leader are both ludicrous and vicious in nature. The opposition to the move of providing facilities to the Amarnath pilgrims indicates a communal and a sectarian mindset,” Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president, Panun Kashmir---a frontal organization of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs)--- told reporters here. The KP leader said the Amaranth pilgrims had been suffering unusually high casualties due to lack of appropriate facilities on the route. “The objections relating to environmental degradation were never raised in the case of the Mughal Road and the Sinthan Road, for which thousands of trees had to be cut. In the case of the Amarnath shrine, objections are being raised only to hurt the sentiments of the Hindu society, including the indigenous Pandits of Kashmir,” Chrungoo said. — TNS
	Soz meets PM on LPG crisis Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 20 The J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president, Saifuddin Soz, has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to increase the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders to 12 per annum for Jammu and Kashmir, keeping in view special circumstances in the state. Soz, according to a statement here today, had earlier discussed the matter with the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Jaipal Reddy, and got his assurance that he would consider this plea sympathetically. Soz apprised the PM of his discussion with the Petroleum Minister. He said the state deserved special consideration for this relief due to two factors. These were, he said, a long spell of cold weather every year in the state and a remarked reduction in the dependence on wood for cooking, which he said had increased the forest cover in the state. The state PCC chief also made a plea that non-subsidised LPG cylinders should be made available in the market freely and black-marketing be checked by punishing the defaulters.
	CRPF man hurt in gun battle Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 20 A gun battle broke out in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district this evening after the police and paramilitary forces launched a search operation in Shallapora, Sopore. Sumith Kumar, a CRPF personnel of 179 battalion, was injured in the encounter, which is still going on. The police suspects that a foreign and a local militant were hiding in the locality. A police spokesman said the police had specific information regarding the presence of militants in Shallapora, Sopore. “The area was cordoned in a joint operation by the police, 22RR and CRPF personnel. The militants fired upon the raiding party, which was retaliated triggering an encounter,” the spokesman said. “The area has been cordoned and search is going on.” The police said a tight vigil was being maintained to ensure that the militants don’t escape the cordon during the night. The encounter erupted a day after militants attacked an Army convoy near a hotel on the outskirts of Srinagar, killing a hotel staffer and injuring two others.