The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Lopsided dialogue won’t work: CM to separatists
Tells them to hold talks not just with Pak but also Centre
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 20
Even as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today welcomed the ongoing talks between the moderate Hurriyat faction and Pakistan, he said the separatist leaders of Kashmir should also hold talks with the Centre. He said a lopsided dialogue process would not yield any result with regard to the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

The Chief Minister, who said this after inaugurating a renovated bridge at Zaina Kadal in old city, made the comments in reference to the moderate Hurriyat’s ongoing visit to Pakistan. The chairman of the amalgam, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, along with other separatist leaders is currently holding talks with a cross-section of people in Pakistan.

“After returning from Pakistan, they should also talk to the Indian leadership. No one has put any condition for talks with them,” Omar added.

He said the separatists should put their agenda before the people and accordingly initiate a dialogue with the Government of India unconditionally to work out a solution for J&K which was acceptable to all stakeholders.

The Chief Minister said the “other separatist group” should also get involved in talks to address complex issues for the good of general public and peace and prosperity in the state. He was referring to chairman of the hardline Hurriyat faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

“It is the universal truth that militancy has achieved nothing and dialogue is the only way forward to settle problems. Peace is imperative for development and helps generate wide-ranging economic activities and employment opportunities for people in general and youth in particular,” he added.

encounter ends
Killing of Lashkar militants triggers clashes in Sopore
Tribune News Service

Villagers look at the rubble of a house damaged during an encounter between Army jawans and militants at Saidpora in Sopore on Thursday. Tribune photo: Amin War

Srinagar, December 20
The 30-hour-long encounter between Lashker-e-Toiba militants and the security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore town ended on Wednesday night. Six militants were killed and a Major and a jawan were injured in the gunfight.

“The operation in Saidpora, Sopore, was called off last night after the bodies of the six militants- five foreigners and one local - were recovered from the encounter site,” said a police officer. “We are trying to identify the foreign militants killed in the encounter,” he said.

The police and the Army had initially suspected that a top commander of the LeT in north Kashmir, Fahadullah, was also trapped in the encounter in Saidpora village on
Tuesday morning. But after the encounter ended, the police said Fahadullah was not part of the group that was eliminated.

Two houses and a cowshed were also damaged in the gunbattle. While the body of a local militant, identified as Athar Yousuf Dar, alias Naveed, was handed over to his family on Tuesday evening, the bodies of the five foreign militants were buried today at Panzala in the Rafiabad area of Sopore.

Sopore SP Imtiyaz Mir said Naveed had joined the militant ranks last year and was involved in many violent incidents.

“Naveed was involved in the killing of a Special Police Officer, Mushtaq Ahmad, on November 20 in Baramulla and had carried out an attack on an Army patrol party near Pampore on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on July 7, in which a soldier was killed and another was injured,” Mir said.

“He (Naveed) was also involved in many grenade attacks in Sopore town.”

Residents said Naveed was studying at a local college. He had actively participated in 2010 street protests which had sparked after three youths from the Rafiabad area of Baramulla district were allegedly killed in a fake encounter by the Army at Machil in Kupwara in April 2010.

The killing of the six LeT militants triggered clashes between the police and protesters in the town today. The town observed a shutdown against the killings. Minor clashes were also reported from Chanakan, main chowk and Batapora localities of the town.

73rd Amendment Row
Panchayat members to take fight to Delhi
M Aamir Khan
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 20
With its demand for the implementation of the 73rd Amendment not finding favour with the state government so far, the main conglomerate of state’s panchayat members has decided to take its fight to New Delhi.

The All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) has pinned its hopes on a panchayat convention in New Delhi on December 22, where it will raise its concerns with AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders.

If their demands continue to remain unaddressed, they will observe Republic Day as “black day” and then sit on a dharna outside Jantar Mantar from January 27.

“A four-member AJKPC delegation led by our chairman Shafiq Mir will attend the national convention celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution that begins in New Delhi on December 22. As senior Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Jairam Ramesh will be present there, we will raise our issues with them,” said AJKPC spokesman Ghulam Hassan Punzoo before leaving for the convention here today.

Punzoo regretted that their demand for the extension of the 73rd Amendment to the state had not been met so far.

Stating that they had also been seeking implementation of the “spirit” of 73rd Amendment, he said: “Our state has a special status under Article 370. We should then also have some special position regarding the 73rd Amendment.”

“We are optimistic about the panchayat convention as more than 500 sarpanches from across the country will be attending it and we will vociferously present our case. The implementation of 73rd Amendment or its spirit will empower the panchayats at the grass roots,” he added.

The other AJKPC demands include grant of monthly honorarium besides security and insurance cover to panchayat members.

Miffed with the state government’s attitude, the conglomerate had recently threatened to withdraw support to the National Conference-Congress coalition in 2014 state Assembly elections if their demands were not met.

The AJKPC threat has come after it extended support to the coalition candidates in the recently concluded elections to the four seats of the Legislative Council.

The conglomerate has also made it clear that the AJKPC had not cast an “ideological vote” and would have extended support to any party in power, be it the opposition PDP or BJP.

Functioning of CM’s grievance cell reviewed
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 20
Adviser to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Mubarak Gul today reviewed the functioning of the Chief Minister’s grievance cell during a surprise visit here.

Gul was informed that the grievance cell had so far received 18,354 complaints, pertaining to various departments, out of which 17,404 had been disposed of and 950 were pending with various departments.

He was also informed that the complaints were being disposed of promptly and officials at the ground level were responding satisfactorily. Gul said the grievance cell had become an important portal for registering complaints with the Chief Minister. He said the Chief Minister was himself monitoring the complaints received from the public and was keen to see its successful functioning.

He instructed the officials on phone to submit the status report of the complaints being forwarded to them by the cell within 15 days. He directed them to monitor the complaints personally and visit the places, if the complaints called for such action.

Chillai kalan, 40 days of harsh winter period, begins today
Bismah Malik
Tribune news Service

Srinagar, December 20
Although the Valley has been under the grip of an intense cold wave for the past few weeks, the coldest 40-day winter period, “chillai kalan”, begins tomorrow, followed by a 20-day-long “chillai khurud” and a 10-day-long “chillai bacha”.

The 70-day harsh winter period brings with it maximum chill.

Chillai kalan (which means 40-day-long in Persian) is usually marked by dry cold wave, followed by heavy snowfall and formation of thick layers of ice over water bodies.

When the harsh winter period ends, the air, earth and the water tend to be warmer, signalling the arrival of the spring by early March.

During this period, the night temperatures stay well below the freezing point.

Even if marking of chillai kalan has been customary in practice, meteorological experts do not rule out the possibility of it being the harshest winter period.

“We have always observed the arrival of strong western disturbances from the Caspian sea to the Valley through Pakistan and Afghanistan during chillai kalan (December21- January 30) which signals the occurrence of moderate to heavy snowfall in the planes and higher reaches,” a Met Department official said.

The tourist resorts of Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Yusmarg are already experiencing heavy snowfall, which is likely to boost winter tourism.

Meanwhile, people in the Valley are bracing up for chillai kalan, by stocking sufficient essential commodities.

The winter woes are expected to worsen due to acute electricity shortage, frozen water taps and burgeoning LPG and Kerosene prices.

Kashmiris have, however, carved their own special ways of dealing with such harsh winters.

A majority of households keep sufficient stocks of dried vegetables so that they can be consumed when roads close due to heavy snowfall and going out becomes impossible.

For the elderly, chillai kalan is a reminiscent of the good old days when the Dal Lake would be covered by a thick sheet of ice and children would play cricket and skate on it.

“Chillai kalan usually attracts filmmakers as beauty is resplendent at this time. You have the frozen Dal Lake surrounded by chinar trees and the Zabarwan mountains covered with snow. This is once in a lifetime opportunity for many,” said Zareef Ahmad Zareef, an eminent historian.

Rs 143-cr job plan falls flat
Departments yet to work out modalities to fill vacancies
Bismah Malik
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 20
Despite the state government’s approval for engagement of 43,000 educated youth as casual or seasonal labourers in various public departments in October 2010, not a single appointment has been made so far as the departments concerned are yet to work out modalities for adjusting the youth.

The Rs 143-crore plan was aimed at countering stone-throwing in Kashmir during the summer of 2010.

Joint Director of the State Planning and Development Department S Bilal Ahmad said the notification for the appointment of the educated youth in the age group of 18-37 on a casual/seasonal and minimum need basis was communicated to various state departments on October 25, 2010.

The notifications were communicated to the Power Development Department, Public Health Engineering, Irrigation, Public Works, Floriculture, School Education and Forest Departments.

Bilal Ahmad said none of these departments had yet come forward with their respective proposals on how to fill the allotted vacancies.

He said the funds allocated for the recruitment of the youth would be monitored and released by the state Finance Department.

“So far, not a single engagement has been made under this plan. The Planning Department is yet to receive proposals from departments which will chalk out the modalities prior to the engagements,” Bilal Ahmad said.

Of the 43,000 appointments, 20,500 will be made in Jammu and the same number in Kashmir while 2,000 engagements will be made in the Ladakh region.

The engaged persons will be paid minimum applicable wages of Rs 100 per day and will not be entitled to the voluntary service allowance under the Sher-e-Kashmir Employment Welfare Programme for Youth.

Soldier remains untraceable
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 20
The bodies of six soldiers, who lost their lives in an avalanche that hit the Hanif sub-sector in the Turtuk area of Siachen Glacier on the morning of December 16, were today flown to capital cities of Guwahati in Assam, Imphal in Manipur and Aizawl in Mizoram from Kolkata.

Success again eluded the Army today in its search operations to trace Sepoy Hetia of Assam, who had gone missing on the fateful day in the Hanif sub-sector.

“Today the mortal remains of three soldiers were flown to Guwahati, two to Imphal and one to Aizawl in different aircraft from Kolkata. Tomorrow they will be taken to their respective villages for a military funeral,” said a senior Army officer.

The soldiers who lost their lives in the avalanche were Sepoy P Singh, Sepoy Sameul, Sepoy Kipbarlang, Sepoy Kalita, Sepoy Boro and Sepoy Neloni. They belonged to 1 Assam Regiment, which is part of the 102 Siachen Brigade. They hailed from Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram. The officer said efforts were on to trace the missing soldier. The search conducted today in the Hanif sub-sector remained unfruitful.

Cong leaders celebrate poll victory in Himachal
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 20
Senior Congress leaders and workers assembled at the party headquarters in Jammu under the leadership of senior vice-president Dharam Pal Sharma and celebrated the party’s victory in Himachal Pradesh.

Party leaders congratulated the Central leadership of the party and leadership of Himachal Pradesh for ensuring the party’s victory in the state. They expressed satisfaction over the election outcome in Gujarat, where the party has maintained its position.

Those who joined the celebrations included Minister for Health Sham Lal Sharma, Hari Singh, Gurmukh Singh, MLC Ghulam Nabi Monga, Mula Ram, MLC Ravinder Sharma, MLC Indu Pawar, Om Chopra, Manmohan Singh, Ashwani Puri, Ravi Singh Salathia, Narinder Gupta and Pranav Shagotra.

Meanwhile, a meeting of Congress workers was held at RS Pura under the chairmanship of Congress leader Karan Bhagat to celebrate the victory of the party in Himachal Pradesh.

Bhagat congratulated the Centre on the party’s victory in Himachal Pradesh. He said this was an outcome of the pro-people policies of the Congress-led UPA government.

When will vigilance panel be operational, High Court asks govt
Ishfaq Tantry
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 20
The J-K High Court has asked state government to explain how much time is required for making the State Vigilance Commission functional. In this regard, the court has directed the Chief Secretary to file a fresh compliance report.

These instructions were issued by a division bench of the High Court today in matter related to the rehabilitation of poor and exploited girls of the state.

“The Chief Secretary in his (earlier) compliance report has stated that the J&K Government has enacted the J&K State Vigilance Commission Act and a three-member Vigilance Commission is to
be set up”, the bench observed in its detailed orders passed today while referring to the contents in the earlier compliance report of the J-K Government.

Though the government has already nominated former Director General of J&K Police Kuldeep Khoda for the coveted post of state Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), however the formal orders for his appointment as the CVC have not been issued as yet.

“The Chief Secretary shall file a fresh compliance report as to how much (time) period the state government would require for making the State Vigilance Commission functional,” the high court said in its orders.

The court in its orders also observed that the Chief Secretary in his earlier compliance report had said that government was shortly constituting a committee to examine and recommend fresh amendments to the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act so as to make it “more stringent”

In July, the high court had directed the state government (through the Chief Secretary) to take steps for amending the J-K Prevention of Corruption Act or making new laws for retrieving money/wealth and confiscating properties accumulated through corrupt practices.

However, the bench observed that the state government had so for not complied with its orders wherein the Chief Secretary had been directed to take steps by giving proper and due publicity to the schemes sponsored by the Central and state governments aimed at uplift of the poor girls so as to enable them to earn their livelihood and lead a dignified life.

The Court has now directed the Chief Secretary to file a separate compliance report within six weeks.

The matter has now been posted for the first week of February.