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Hurriyat leaders to meet Pak High Commissioner
Moderate Hurriyat leader to fight elections
NC set to counter opposition propaganda
Submit documents by Dec 8, IG told
Army officer charred to death
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Kashmir’s half widows refuse to remarry
HC ruling on ‘talaq’
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Hurriyat leaders to meet Pak High Commissioner
Srinagar, November 10 The delegation from moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is expected to finalise the itinerary of their forthcoming Pakistan visit during their meeting with Bashir. The Hurriyat’s week-long visit to the neighbouring country commences from December 17, during which they are expected to hold wide-ranging consultation with Pakistani leadership, sources said. “The five-member delegation led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq left for New Delhi today morning, where they are scheduled to have deliberations with Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir with regard to their Pakistan visit in December”, a Hurriyat spokesman said here. The other senior Hurriyat leaders who are accompanying Mirwaiz to New Delhi include Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat, Moulvi Abbas Hussain Ansari, Bilal Gani Lone and Aga Syed Hassan. “During their meetings, the delegation members will brief Pakistani diplomats about their stand on the Kashmir issue in the backdrop of increasing Indo-Pak bonhomie”, Pakistan Visit The Hurriyat’s week-long visit to the neighbouring country commences from December 17, during which they are expected to hold wide-ranging consultation with Pakistani leadership. |
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Moderate Hurriyat leader to fight elections
Srinagar, November 10 “We are ready for the elections. We are not afraid of anything, we are not afraid of defeat,” Ansari
said. Ansari, who headed separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference before the present chairman, Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq, took over, said the group was ready to contest the elections, albeit some conditions. The separatist leader said the elections should be held under the supervision of the SAARC countries and that they should not be asked to take oath under the Indian or Pakistani constitutions. “We should not be asked to take an oath which says Kashmir is an integral part (of India) or Kashmir banega Pakistan (Kashmir will become Pakistan). That should not happen,” he
said. Ansari’s statement is a withdrawal from Hurriyat’s longstanding policy of delegitimising the election process in the state. Most of the Hurriyat leaders had last participated in the state elections in 1987 under the banner of Muslim United Front.
Ansari said if the 1987 elections had not have been rigged, they would have formed the
government. Ansari also defended the embattled panchayat members who have been threatened by Syed
Salah-ud-Din. “We cannot build roads and bridges for people, we cannot provide them electricity… I advise Salah-ud-Din that we should not interfere and if we do, we should build roads and provide electricity to people ourselves,” Ansari said.
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NC set to counter opposition propaganda
Jammu, November 10 The decision to hold the rally was taken at a meeting of party members addressed by the Chief Minister here today. Speakers in the meeting emphasised the need of highlighting various developmental projects implemented by the coalition regime in the Jammu region so as to further strengthen their base here and to counter opposition parties. With an eye on the 2014 Assembly elections, the National Conference has started an aggressive campaign especially in those constituencies of the Jammu region where party candidates had lost the 2008 polls by narrow margins. Apart from concentrating on the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to further strengthen its base, the National Conference is also paying special attention to five Assembly segments of Kathua district. While addressing the party workers, Omar said 2013 would be the year of reaching out to the people of the state and that their performances would act as their ticket to win the next elections. He directed the ministers, advisors and legislators of his party to make a rapport with the public by ensuring maximum redressal of their grievances. The Chief Minister asked the party workers to actively take part in the implementation of the development policy of the coalition government and to take feedback from people regarding the development in their area. Omar told them to contribute positively towards strengthening the coalition and helping the government in fulfilling its promises made to the people of the state. He cautioned the party ministers against ignoring the grass-root level workers. Omar asked the party workers to shatter the designs of their detractors by exhibiting unity and working for the upliftment of people tirelessly. The meeting was also addressed by provincial president of the National Conference Rattan Lal Gupta, Minister for Industries and Commerce Surjeet Singh
Slathia, MLA Rachpal Singh, Political Advisor to Chief Minister Devender Singh Rana among others. |
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Submit documents by Dec 8, IG told
Srinagar, November 10 On June 9, Major Singh reportedly shot himself after gunning down his wife and two children at his residence in Selma, California. He was the prime accused in the case. The Chief Judicial Magistrate(CJM), Srinagar, who is hearing the case, had on October 10 directed the Inspector General of Police (Crime Branch) to get a copy of the FIR relating to the death of Major Avtar Singh either directly from the Selma police station, California, or furnish a copy of the information from the Interpol about Singh’s death.However, as the case came up before CJM Rajeev Gupta today, the prosecution was not able to produce it. “The court has now directed the prosecution to produce original copies of the letters it had received from the Interpol about the death of Major Singh in the US. They have been given time till December 8 to do so,” said advocate Hafizullah Mir representing Andrabi’s family. ANDRABI KILLING CASE March 8, 1996: Lawyer Jaleel Andrabi ‘kidnapped’ by Major Avtar Singh, who served in the Army during 1990s March 27, 1996: Andrabi’s body fished out of the Jhelum in Srinagar June 9, 2012: Major Singh reportedly shot himself after gunning down his two children and wife in his home at Selma in the US |
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Army officer charred to death
Srinagar, November 10 The officer, identified as Lt Col Sarang Apte from Maharashtra of the elite Parachute Regiment, was affiliated with 5 Para unit based at Sonarwani near Bandipore, 60 km from here. While the Army has ordered an internal probe, initial investigations by the Army revealed that the fire erupted due to a short circuit. “The officer was putting up in an operational shelter which was gutted in the fire that broke out around 1:45 am,” Army spokesman Lt Col JS Brar said in Srinagar. “Though initial findings suggest that the cause of the fire was a short circuit, other aspects are being looked into,” he added. The police said eight barracks were damaged in the fire that was brought under control after two hours. The camp is located on the left bank of Madhumati nullah, 3 km from Bandipore town on way to the frontier area of Gurez. Sources said though the exact cause of fire was being ascertained, the stock of petrol and diesel resulted in instant and high flames engulfing the operational barracks inside the camp. A heavy loss of fuel items, gas and other essential commodities was also reported. “The high flames left little chance for the rescue of the officer who was sleeping,” sources said. The doctor, who performed a post-mortem examination of the diseased, said the body was 100 per cent burnt. “The body was brought to the hospital in the morning. It was 100 per cent burnt and the body parts were totally damaged. We have taken few samples from lungs and heart. The Army said the officer was caught up in the shelter and they could not get him out,” Dr Tariq Hussain Malik said. The Army sources said Apte was a decorated officer and was acting as the second in command of 5 Para. He is survived by his wife and two children - who are based in Ahmedabad. The body was brought to Srinagar to be airlifted to his hometown tomorrow. “He also took part in the Kargil war and was one of the competent and brave officers,” said a senior officer in Bandipore. “He had an accomplished career in operations and during peace time,” he added. The legislator from Bandipore, Nizam ud-Din Bhat, who visited the spot expressed sorrow over the incident and the loss of an Army officer. He also expressed sympathy to the bereaved family. Probe ordered While the Army has ordered an internal probe, initial investigations revealed that the fire erupted due to a short circuit. |
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Kashmir’s half widows refuse to remarry
Srinagar, November 10 These half widows, numbering more than 20,000, have been waiting for their husbands to return for almost two decades now with a majority of them now the lone bread-earners for their families. In a sit-in programme organised by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in Pratap Park, Srinagar, the half widows also criticised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti for failing to fulfil the promises made to them in carrying out fair investigation in the disappearance cases. “It is not just this National Conference government, even its predecessors led by the PDP breached our trust and made futile promises. All kind of investigations which have been initiated failed to deliver somehow and were left incomplete. The more recent issue of mass graves and DNA sampling is just one more farce created to muzzle our voices. But we all know, none of the probes have been fair, “Parveena Ahanger, chairperson, APDP, said. Parveena ruled out any possibility of re-marriage as an option for her organisation members, a major chunk of which comprises half widows, saying that re-marriage is not an option they are looking for. “We are strong women and we have not been protesting to get married. I lost my son at an age of 19 and have carried on single-handedly since then. My sisters have lost their husbands but they still love them. Why should you shut them up with re-marriage?,” she asked. Meanwhile, the APDP in its monthly sit-in programme urged the Indian government to ratify the International Convention for protection of all persons in enforced disappearances. |
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HC ruling on ‘talaq’
Srinagar, November 10 In the joint application, which is listed before the high court on November 12, the Bar association, Jamaat and five other religious groups have sought “amends” to the judgment delivered by a sitting high court judge in a case involving divorce between a Muslim couple. The single Bench of Justice Hasnain Massodi while interpreting the Islamic Sharia law had ruled on April 30 that a husband’s power to pronounce ‘talaq’ was “not absolute”. The high court had held that divorce was the last resort and could be administered only after the husband had exhausted other options. The filing of a re-hearing application comes a day after a former high court judge, Justice (retd) Bashir Ahmad Kirmani, moved a review application before the court, saying the verdict “is likely to operate in a wide area, as such, in its given texture requires a thorough second look.” “We have moved the rehearing application under Article 94 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, under which the J&K High Court being a court of records can rectify or review its own errors/judgments”, senior high court lawyer and Bar president Zaffar Qureshi told The Tribune, adding that they have sought “rehearing” of the verdict on three points. The first point raised by the Bar and other religious groups in their application is that “the high court being a constitutional creation has no right to interfere in the matters of Personal Law in view of Quran and Hadith (teachings of Prophet). “Instead, the court should have decided the case on the basis of the facts and merits, without going into interpretation of Quran and Hadith, which falls under the purview of religious scholars”, Zaffar said. The second point mooted in the application is that the verdict will have “far-reaching consequences” on the future generations of Muslims. The third point raised by the Bar in the application is that a similar verdict by the Supreme Court in famous Shah Bano case in 1985 was later “nullified” by a parliamentary enactment. The HC Verdict The HC in its judgment on April 30 had ruled that a husband’s power to pronounce ‘talaq’ (divorce) was “not absolute” The court had held that it was only after the husband had proved that he had exhausted all the options of reconciliation that ‘talaq’ would become valid Shah Bano Verdict The Shah Bano case verdict was passed by the Supreme Court in 1985, however, it raised eyebrows among the Muslims in India However, in 1986, the Congress government nullified the SC verdict by a parliamentary enactment. It passed Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which diluted the judgment of the SC The “controversial” judgment was delivered in a lawsuit involving Shah Bano, a 62-year-old Muslim woman and mother of five from Indore, Madhya
Pradesh. She was divorced by her husband in 1978 and was subsequently denied alimony |
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A 38-year-old Army officer, who took part in the Kargil war in 1999, was killed early today when a fire broke out in an operational barrack where he was posted in Bandipore district of north Kashmir.
Kashmir’s half widows (whose husbands have gone missing since 1990s) said today they would not re-marry and carry on with their struggle of finding the whereabouts of their husbands, with or without the support of government and other political leaders.
These half widows, numbering more than 20,000, have been waiting for their husbands to return for almost two decades now with a majority of them now the lone bread-earners for their families.
