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NC leader Kamaal denies anti-national remark
Omar reacts to uncle’s comment
LeT militant killed in Kulgam encounter
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Pak-trained militant held, hunt on for 4 others
Mirwaiz not to attend OIC meet
PDP finalises candidates for LC poll
158 unauthorised drug stores closed
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NC leader Kamaal denies anti-national remark
Jammu, November 14 While addressing party workers at Kishtwar two days back, he had allegedly said, “India not Pakistan is our enemy and the Indian Army is the biggest hurdle to peace in the restive state.” Kamaal is an uncle of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as he is Union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah’s younger brother. Not only opposition parties, but even the NC’s coalition partner Congress has also taken serious note of the “anti-national” remark. The Congress finds itself in a tight spot as on the one hand, Kamaal is a senior leader of the NC but on the other hand, opposition groups are targeting the party on this issue. Embarrassed over the irresponsible utterance of his uncle, Omar has denounced Kamaal's comment. “They say never work with animals and children. I think it is safe to add relatives to that list,” Omar tweeted. Facing criticism from all quarters, Kamaal, while interacting with mediapersons today, blamed the media for misconstruing his remark and said he was being victimised by people with vested interests. “I am being made a target by some elements to weaken this coalition government. Media has made me a traitor for the country today. My statement has been blown out of proportion. I said India and Pakistan should sit and talk about the Kashmir issue. Peace for two years is not permanent (here) and so both countries should talk and settle the issues,” Kamaal said. He, however, hastened to add that the media should behave responsibly while reporting such statements. As opposition parties have stepped against him for “propagating secession”, Kamaal said, “I am a true nationalist and my family and I have proven it time and again. My father has always said we have to have good relations with the country and the Centre has always helped us generously.” To placate the furious Congress leaders, he said, “I have a great regard for my country and the Indian National Congress and we in the family are committed to bring forward the good relations which the Congress and our party has. Our family is nationalist. Omar is my nephew and I will always support him. My father brought democracy to the state and I will always support it.” Recalling the association of his family with the Gandhi family, Kamaal said, “We all in the family are committed to carrying forward this relationship and strengthening the hands of Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah for the betterment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and in the interest of the nation,” he said.
ON THE DEFENSIVE
I am being made a target by some elements to weaken this coalition government. Media has made me a traitor for the country today. My statement has been blown out of proportion. I said India and Pakistan should sit and talk about the Kashmir issue. Peace for two years is not permanent (here) and so both countries should talk and settle the
issues — Mustafa Kamaal
‘India is our enemy’
Addressing party workers at Kishtwar recently, National Conference additional general secretary Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal had allegedly said, “India not Pakistan is our enemy and the Indian Army is the biggest hurdle to peace in the restive state.” Kamaal is Union Minister Farooq Abdullah’s younger brother |
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Omar reacts to uncle’s comment
When the Durbar moved to the winter capital last month, the Chief Minister was already entangled in other issues, including panchayat members’ security, the Amarnath road row and the crisis of LPG cylinders in the state. Though Omar had brought down the frequency of his tweets, his uncle’s statement has made him tweet two times this month. “They say never work with animals and children. I think it’s safe to add relatives to that list as well,” he first tweeted on Saturday evening. This was in obvious reference to Kamaal’s reported comment in Jammu. Within a few minutes, Omar added to his tweet: “Funny thing is I don’t need anyone to make things difficult for me when I have relatives to do it for me.” The Chief Minister had been engaged in tackling other issues before the Durbar shifted to the winter capital. The issue of the LPG crisis has also caught the administration, particularly in Kashmir, on the wrong foot for lack of any accountability on the supply of cooking gas over the years. While the rigorous exercise of KYC (Know Your Customer) is relatively a smoother affair in other parts of the country, it has been a Herculean task in the militancy-hit Kashmir. The crisis prompted the Chief Minister to “surrender” two of his domestic LPG connections, as late as November 3, after nearly two months of the crisis. Inside the coalition, there were “overt differences” between the two partners on the safety and security of the panchayat members following the killing of two of them in the Valley in September. Even as Omar had described the issue of the deferred elections to the Block Development Councils as an “avoidable misunderstanding” with the Congress, he had to handle the situation to find a smooth way out. The coalition partners are virtually at loggerheads with each other on the issue of extension of the 73rd Amendment to the state. The row over the reports of construction of a concrete road to the cave shrine of Amarnath also created ripples in political circles. The government, following the statements of hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani on the issue, had to clear its position. It organised air trips for media persons along the Sonmarg-Baltal-cave route to show that no such work was going on in the area. CM tweets
They say never work with animals and children. I think it’s safe to add relatives to that list as well. Funny thing is I don’t need anyone to make things difficult for me when I have relatives to do it for me |
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LeT militant killed in Kulgam encounter
Srinagar, November 14 The Lashkar commander, Shabir Ahmad Mir, was killed in a gunfight with security forces, comprising the Jammu and Kashmir Police, 9 Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF’s 18 battalion, in Kujjar village of Kulgam district. A police spokesman said the “joint search operation” was launched after “specific information” about the presence of an armed militant in Kujjar village was received by the security forces. “During the search, militants opened fire on the search party triggering an encounter. One militant was killed in the encounter this evening,” the spokesman said in a statement issued yesterday. The police had earlier identified the slain militant as Showkat Ahmad Tak of Panzgam village of Pulwama district, adjoining Kulgam district, where the gunfight took place. This morning, however, Tak’s mother said the body was not of her son. “She said her son had a mark on his back, which was not on the body of the killed militant,” a police source said. The militant was later identified as Shabir Ahmad Mir, a resident of Chinigam village of Kulgam district and a commander of the LeT outfit. A police officer said Mir was an ‘A’ category militant who was involved in the killing of a sarpanch in Howur-Mishpora village of Kulgam district on February 9 this year. The killing of Ghulam Ahmad Dar, the sarpanch of Howur-Mishpora village, had triggered a spate of resignations from the panchayat members in Kulgam district and other adjoining districts in south Kashmir. “The militant was also involved in posting letters against sarpanches and panches,” the officer said while requesting anonymity. Mir, who became a militant around two years ago, was also involved in the snatching of an AK-47 assault rifle and an INSAS rifle from two policemen in Kulgam district last year, the police official said. The militant was buried in Chinigam village in the district today afternoon. |
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Pak-trained militant held, hunt on for 4 others
Rajouri, November 14 The militant has been identified as Mohammed Mahroof Ahmed, whose code name is Danish and is a resident of tehsil Thanamandi in the Berote area of the border district. Police sources while confirming his arrest said four youth along with Mahroof, belonging to Kashmir division and associated with the Hijbul Mujaheedin, had entered India and later left for Srinagar along with their Pakistani wives. The sources said their code names were Sikander, Tariq, Waseem and Naseem. Mahroof (26) had crossed over to Pakistan in 2003 along with a group of militants when he was a student of class seven. A warrant had been issued against him in September 2011. The police recovered a fake passport from his posession while interrogating him at the Thanamandi police station. A few days back, a Lashkar militant, Showkat Ali alias Walid, had disclosed during an interrogation that he had provided a fake passport to Mahroof. Showkat, a resident of Pangai in Thannamandi, was arrested by the police on Tuesday along with his wife and two children. Both Showkat Ali and Mahroof had received arms training together and were living in Karachi. Mahroof is being interrogated by Intelligence agencies in Thannamandi and may be shifted to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), Jammu, for further questioning. Rajouri-Poonch Range DIG Police Danish Rana said, “We have arrested him and the interrogation is on.” The SDPO, Thanamandi, said a massive hunt to nab the other four militants, who had crossed the border with Mahroof, had been launched. |
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cong infighting
Jammu, November 14 Interestingly, both Malhotra and Taj belong to the Congress party but the decision of the former to constitute a House committee to probe into the allegation of land grabbing has infuriated the latter. Although the House committee constituted to probe the forest land grab by the PHE Minister was dissolved on Monday, the minister said the panel was constituted with malafide intension just to defame him. “The chairman has been misusing the august House just to settle personal enmity,” he alleged. “The constitution of the House committee was against the precedence in the Parliamentary history of the country, to probe against a sitting Minister that too a member of the Lower House without referring the matter to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, which is a normal practice in the Legislative business,” he said, adding that ideally, the House committee should have been against a department not a minister. The minister argued that anti-graft institutions such as the State Accountability Commission (SAC) and the Vigilance Organisation were functional, so there was no reason to constitute a committee to probe allegations against him. He alleged Malhotra was trying to create differences between the ruling coalition partners. “The removal of the chairman is a must for saving the democratic institutions and for the smooth functioning of the coalition,” he said. Taj said the issue had been looked into by the Accountability Commission in 2005 and had been probed by the Vigilance Organisation, Kashmir, in 2011, conveying that no forest land was grabbed by him. |
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Panchayat forum nominates candidates for Council poll
Srinagar, November 14 “We have decided that the sarpanches and panches will contest the elections... by doing so we will get representation at a broader platform," All Jammu and Kashmir Panch Sarpanch United Forum (AJKPSUF) chief spokesman Khurshid Malik said while addressing a press conference here. Criticising the government as well as the opposition for playing an “irresponsible, highly disappointing and anti-panchayat” role towards their empowerment, he appealed to other panchayat organisations besides elected panches and sarpanches to take part in the elections. “These four seats belong to us... if we boycott, our voices will not be heard,” Malik added. He said the role of MLAs and MLCs towards them had been “deceptive” and had only harmed the steps towards their empowerment. Says no to security
Even as the issue of security to the panchayat members has generated a lot of debate following militant threats, the AJKPSUF said the security was not “desired”. "The security is not desired due to several reasons... locals will have to cross security barriers before meeting panchayat members,” Mir said. He said if security was provided, it would create problems for women panchayat members as their husbands or brothers might objected to their being accompanied by security personnel. The AJKPSUF nominated Khurshid Malik, Ajaz Mir as candidates for the Legislative Council poll while Ghulam Hassan and Sheikh Ashaq Hussain Vilgami were nominated as covering candidates for the Kashmir valley. Mir said the political parties had betrayed them by not nominating panchayat members for the four Legislative Council seats, which they said were meant for them only. Incidentally, another panchayat amalgam -- the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (JKPC) --- had earlier announced boycott of the Legislative Council elections in the Jammu region. Panchayat group backs coalition
Soon after the AJKPSUF announced names of candidates, another panchayat group said it would support the candidates fielded by the National Conference-Congress coalition partners. Addressing a press conference, the patron of another group named Panch and Sarpanch United Forum, G N Mir, said his group would support the candidates fielded by the coalition partners. He claimed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had personally called him and assured that all their demands would be met. However, his statement did not go well with some panchayat members, who walked out of the press conference shouting: “We will only extend support to elected panchayat members and not those of the government.” When asked why they were supporting political parties when the panchayat elections had been contested on a non-party basis, another member of the forum G M Shaheen said they were giving them a “chance” so that panchayats could be adequately empowered. Regarding the resentment among its own members, Mir said people were free to take their own decisions in a democracy. |
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Mirwaiz not to attend OIC meet
Srinagar, November 14 The OIC conference is being held at Djibouti on November 17, wherein the OIC Contact Group on Kashmir is also scheduled to meet. “The OIC general secretary Kemal Akmeludin Augloo had formally invited Mirwaiz on behalf of the OIC and Republic of Djibouti to participate in the 39th conference. However, due to a busy schedule, Mirwaiz will not be able to attend the conference”, a Hurriyat spokesman said. By not attending the conference, he will also skip the OIC’s contact group meet on Kashmir, which would be held on the sidelines of this conference. Sources within the Hurriyat pointed out that Mirwaiz and his other colleagues were busy preparing for their forthcoming visit to Pakistan in December. The Hurriyat is busy holding wide-ranging consultations with different sections in Kashmir, including lawyers, traders and other civil society members. Meanwhile, the five-member Hurriyat delegation returned yesterday, after meeting Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir in New Delhi. The group, headed by Mirwaiz, had left for Delhi on November 10. “In New Delhi, the delegation met Bashir and apprised him of the current situation in Kashmir”, the spokesman said. “During a detailed discussion with the Pakistan High Commissioner, the delegation talked about human rights violation by troops in Kashmir and the restrictions on religious and political activities of people”, he added. The other Hurriyat leaders who had accompanied Mirwaiz to New Delhi included Moulvi Abbas Ansari, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Gani Lone, and Agha Syed
Hassan. |
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PDP finalises candidates for LC poll
Jammu, November 14 Sources said Kaloen panchayat sarpanch Gurmeet Singh Bajwa, a UK-educated MBA graduate, and senior party leader Ved Mahajan would contest two seats from Jammu province while former minister Peer Mohammad Hussain and Saif-ud-din Bhat would contest two seats from the Kashmir valley. Over 15,700 voters would elect two MLCs from Jammu while over 18,000 would vote to elect two MLCs from Kashmir province, including the Ladakh region. |
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Power lines yet to cover entire border length
Jammu, November 14 However, the BSF, which relies upon diesel generator sets to light up the border, attributes the shortcoming to the difficult terrain and not to any slackness on the part of the government. The BSF had completed the fencing project along the international border in the Jammu region in 2002-03. “A border fence without floodlights has no meaning. Our fencing work in 2002-03 culminated with the border flood lighting (BFL) project. Though we have almost covered the entire international border with floodlights, diesel generator sets are being used where transmission lines are not available,” said a senior BSF officer. “The Power Development Department has provided the BSF dedicated transmission lines but in problematic areas where transmission lines are not available because of the difficult terrain, we use diesel generator sets,” he said. The officer said the BSF was in regular touch with the state government to get transmission lines in areas which were yet to be covered. “Some projects for laying transmission lines are already under process and administrative hiccups are being overcome,” he said. The officer admitted that floodlights ensure effective border management. “Floodlights give a clear view to our boys during night and hence it becomes a lot easier for them to see suspicious movements without any hindrance,” he said. The BSF uses anti-fog equipment and anti-fog lamps during winter along the international border to detect and ward off possible intrusion attempts by Pakistani militants. India shares 3,323-km (including 776-km-long Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir) border with Pakistan. This border runs along Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
objections by Pak
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158 unauthorised drug stores closed
Jammu, November 14 The court had directed that no unlicensed or unregistered drug sale outlet should be allowed to function in the state. Drugs and Food Control Organisation controller Satish Gupta stated that nine stores in Jammu, two in
Kathua, five in Samba, 15 in Srinagar, 10 in Ganderbal, four in
Bandipora, 21 in Budgam, 20 in Baramulla, four in Kupwara, 19 in
Anantnag, nine in Kulgam, 15 in Shopian and 26 in Pulwama have been sealed so far. Gupta stated that some of the owners of the said establishments were approaching the authorities concerned for revoking the act citing change of business and the matter had been referred to the Senior Advocate General, J&K High Court, for
his opinion. |
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Srinagar, November 14