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Yousuf’s son to move apex court
Udhampur-Baramulla rail project fails to meet target
Many rape cases go unreported, says Kashmiri filmmaker
Delhi upsurge: Kashmir valley has seen it all
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2 LeT militants, cop killed in
Panchayat empowerment
Forest Land grabbing case
Separatist leader challenges High Court verdict
State BJP chief for J-K’s ‘full integration’ with country
Protests against Delhi gang rape justified: Hurriyat
Governor, CM extend greetings
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Yousuf’s son to move apex court
Srinagar, December 24 “I have been in touch with my lawyer and we have made up our mind for a legal battle at the apex court,” said 35-year-old Syed Hussain Talib, son of the slain NC worker. He said he would fight the case in accordance with the law of land. “Many of my friends and relatives have been coming to our residence in Bijbehara since Saturday (the day the report was submitted) and told me that they would hold protests in Srinagar against the findings of the judicial probe, but I told them that I will fight the case in the Supreme Court as per the law of the land,” said Talib, who is doing research at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Kashmir. Yousuf had died under mysterious circumstances on September 30, 2011. Yousuf's family has alleged that he died in the custody of the police after he was handed over to the crime branch of the police by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The Chief Minister had summoned Yousuf to his official residence at Gupkar after two party workers alleged that Yousuf had taken bribes from them after he promised one a legislator's job and the other a ministerial berth. On November 18, 2011, the state government had appointed retired Supreme Court Judge HS Bedi as the head of the one-man Commission to probe the death Yousuf in police custody. Thirteen months after the constitution of the judicial probe, the Bedi Commission submitted a 96-page report on Saturday and exonerated the Chief Minister and attributed Yousuf’s death to cardiac arrest. A magisterial probe had already exonerated the Chief Minister in the case, stating that Yousuf had died a natural death and not because of any assault by personnel in the Chief Minister's camp office or by the police. However, Talib said they did not expect anything from the judicial probe set up by the government. “The report was on expected lines and that is why I didn’t appear before the Commission for the first nine months. Later I went there, but did not submit any affidavit,” he said. “We are surprised that the inquiry took 13 months to complete when this result was expected from day one,” he added. The case
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Udhampur-Baramulla rail project fails to meet target
New Delhi, December 24 Originally sanctioned from the Consolidated Fund of India and estimated to cost Rs 3,077 crore, the link was scheduled for completion in August 2007. But poor planning and lack of field surveys by the
Railways caused delay in the project. Its current projected outlay is estimated at Rs 19,565 crore — a cost overrun of six times
the original. The story of the failed project which the then Prime Minister had called a project of national importance was recently brought out by the Comptroller and Auditor General. “This was the most challenging project the Indian Railways has undertaken in terms of constructing a new line in a rugged and hostile terrain with unfavourable security situations. The decision on selection of a gradient should have been therefore made after proper field investigations to establish the workability. But poor planning resulted in the approved project cost shooting from Rs 3,077 crore to Rs 19,565 crore, a cost overrun of Rs 16,488 crore,” the CAG has found in its special performance appraisal of the link. The costs would have to
be borne by India’s tax payer directly as the project is funded by the Consolidated Fund. The project was to connect Baramulla in Kashmir to Udhampur in Jammu via Qazigund. But the project suffered from weak implementation and the section from Udhampur to Katra, scheduled for completion by August 2003, is yet to be completed — a time overrun of 112 months as of July this year. The progress at the section from Katra to Banihal scheduled for completion by August 2007 was only 12 to 14 per cent by
this year. The Qazigund-Baramulla section scheduled to be completed in March 2003 is the only part of the rail link that was opened in phases for people from October 2008 — after a time overrun of 79 months. “The rail link as of 2012 was thus only within Kashmir and not to Kashmir as was the project objective,” the auditor has said attributing the loss of taxpayer’s money and time to the lack of field investigations. “The Railways should have carried out a detailed survey of the area to decide the alignment and gradient that was to connect the neighbouring habitations. The alignment passed through various thrust areas and fault lines in the Himalayas making the line vulnerable to seismic disasters. However the Railways failed to conduct geo technical investigations and relied entirely on aerial maps and satellite imagery. The Railways’ argument that it wanted to show some work on ground does not help. The fact is that
the final location survey was not even drawn up before the commencement of work,” say the CAG findings. The auditor has now asked a dedicated wing in the Railways to ensure timely completion of the project.
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Many rape cases go unreported, says Kashmiri filmmaker
Srinagar, December 24 Jan’s movie documents four gruesome cases of violence against Kashmiri women, including the alleged gang rape of 32 women in a village in Kashmir during a night. “It is an incredibly shameful act what happened in Delhi,” Jan said. Earlier this week, a paramedical student was gang-raped in a bus in New Delhi which shook the entire country, drawing reaction from MP Jaya Bachchan, who demanded the culprits be booked under murder charges, while others demanded death penalty for the accused. Jan, who had close encounters with the victims of the gruesome crime during the shooting of his film, said it was “heart wrenching” to listen to what had happened to the women. His film captures the stories of the victims of alleged gang rape in Kunan Poshpora village in the frontier Kupwara district of north Kashmir. It has been alleged that 30 women were gang raped on February 23, 1991, when Army soldiers cordoned off the village. In the film, the victims narrate the events of the night, show the scars on their bodies and express their long wait for justice. The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sponsored film was stopped from being screened by the authorities at the University of Kashmir and the police at the last minute. Ocean of tears, which runs for 27 minutes and has been shot in several languages, also documents the 2009 alleged rape and murder of two women in south Kashmir’s Shopian district which the CBI said was a case of drowning. The film also narrates the stories of two sisters of north Kashmir’s Sopore town, who the local police claim were executed by militants, a woman whose daughter witnessed her being gang raped by soldiers in south Kashmir and ends with a montage of half-widows of Kashmir. Jan says the “shameful act” of rape has been occurring in the state from time to time and many such cases of violence against women have gone unreported in the region. “In our state, such shameful acts are occurring from time to time by the security forces, police, militants and civilians which we have seen for the past 23 years and it is increasing. The irony is that there are no written records of the same and many cases go unreported,” the filmmaker said.
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Delhi upsurge: Kashmir valley has seen it all
Jammu, December 24 This time, it was Omar’s turn to advise the Centre how to deal with a situation that has arisen following the gang rape case in Delhi. He made it a point to admit his “mistake of not being seen or heard in the summer of 2010”. The protests, which often turned violent and evoked an equally violent reaction from the police and paramilitary forces, left 120 people, mostly youth, dead. His advice was rooted in the fact that he and rest of the Valley residents had seen it all in 2010, when Kashmir was making headlines for the wrong reasons. The global attention was riveted on the “Kashmir issue” once again as it was viewed as a “transformation of a movement from guns to stones”. Whether or not Omar learnt his lessons is open to interpretation. Some on Twitter and leader of main opposition party Peoples Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti, who had condemned the “mishandling of protests” in 2010, has accused the Chief Minister of having learnt no lessons, whatsoever. She recalled the incident of the killing of a teenager, Tufail Mattoo, that triggered the Valley-wide protests in 2010. She said that the response in the Valley in the summer and autumn of 2010 was different from what is being seen now in New Delhi in December 2012. When Kashmir was burning, the nation’s attention was focused on it; an all-party meeting was called, a delegation of political leaders landed in Srinagar and Jammu and a group of three interlocutors was appointed to suggest a political solution to the crisis. Now all that is forgotten. Omar might have forgotten that he too had appeared on TV and addressed the residents of the Valley. He had held a series of press conferences in Srinagar and Delhi to be heard, but he was not heard. There was a disconnect at that time. Similar addresses are being heard this time, but people want justice and want to get engaged. For once, the Centre should heed the advice of Omar. Let the steps announced by the government be implemented and not put in the cold storage as happened with Kashmir.
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2 LeT militants, cop killed in
Srinagar, December 24 “It is a huge success. Both the LeT militants were involved in the Silver Star hotel attack in Srinagar in October,” said Kashmir IGP SM Sahai. The attack on the hotel was carried out by four Lashker militants. They had divided themselves in two groups. Police sources said soon after the attack on the hotel, it had identified all the four militants involved in the shooting. A police spokesman in Srinagar said the Kulgam police along with 9 Rashtriya Rifles and 18 Battalion of the CRPF launched a joint operation at Dodhipora, Kulgam, in the afternoon. “The militants fired upon the search party and tried to flee. However, the security forces pursued them and killed the militants in paddy fields between Dodhipora and Kanipora,” he said. A head constable, Niyaz Ahmad, was killed in the encounter. The police recovered arms and ammunition at the encounter site. This is the second major encounter in the past one week. On December 19, six LeT militants were killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s Sopore town.
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Panchayat empowerment
Srinagar, December 24 The exercise is being carried out to remove bottlenecks in making the three-tier Panchayati Raj system functional and build a consensus over the Congress demand for the implementation of the 73rd Amendment in the state. “We have already held meetings in Baramulla, Anantnag and Kupwara and the exercise will continue in other parts, including Beerwah, Shangus and Pulwama. As we want to make the panchayat system fully functional, we are meeting the panchayat members to thank them for their support in the LC poll and to know about problems faced by them on the ground,” said Ghulam Nabi Monga, vice-president of the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC). Monga, who won one of the four LC seats, is leading the ongoing Congress exercise. He said the Congress was committed to fighting for the implementation of the 73rd Amendment and that the panchayat members were being apprised of their rights. He said the party had prepared a document in this regard and the same would be placed before the next Coordination Committee meeting. Monga said the document has also recommended direct elections to the Block Development Councils (BDCs) and that “no outsider” but only a panchayat member be elected as the BDC chairman. “We want amendments in the state Panchayati Raj Act so that only a panch or a sarpanch can be elected as the BDC chairman,” said Monga. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently said the state government was waiting for the report of the NC-Congress Coordination Committee, headed by JKPCC chief Saifuddin Soz, before going for the BDC poll. The BDC elections, which were supposed to be held earlier this year, were postponed at the last moment after the Congress stated that the poll process was futile without the extension of the provisions of the 73rd Amendment to the state. Monga said the 73rd Amendment entailed provisions of reservations for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women and its implementation was necessary to fully empower the panchayats. He said the party would also continue to raise pitch for sanctioning remuneration and insurance cover to the panchayat members. |
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Forest Land grabbing case
On December 7, the panel had issued a contempt notice against Taj asking him to appear in person on December 17 to show cause as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. Taj, who has been accused of grabbing forest land in Shopian district of Kashmir, had issued a letter to the media on November 26 addressed to Forest Minister Mian Altaf that he had been given a clean chit by the JKSAC and the Vigilance Organisation in September 2005. However, the JKSAC after a thorough perusal of its official records in Srinagar and Jammu offices, prima facie found the minister’s statement to be false. The panel headed by its chairperson Justice YP Nargotra (retd) and member Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain (retd) observed that “how he (minister) could have made such a claim when in the records of the JKSAC there is nothing to suggest that allegations of land grabbing were ever looked into or probed.” Taj’s counsel SM Choudhary contended that going by some print media reports the Minister had assumed and concluded that the complaints of land grab against him must have been looked into and dismissed by the JKSAC. Taj’s counsel had annexed news reports of two local dailies dated September 14, 2005, which stated that “protesting people from Shopian visited the Accountability Commission office in Sonawar and registered a complaint against the minister there”. Sources quoted by a local news agency in the news reports had also stated that (the then) Chairman, JKSAC, Justice RP Sethi (retd) gave a patient audience to the people and received the details in full. However, the panel was not impressed by the counsel’s reply. “We are not impressed by the reply. Simply because some newspapers carried a news item mentioning that audience was given to the residents of Shopian by Justice Sethi (retd) coupled with some inquiry conducted by the Tehsildar of Shopian, the respondent (Taj) could not have validly and legally assumed that a complaint had been in fact entertained by the commission and dismissed. Before arriving at such a conclusion, the respondent ought to have verified the facts from the records of the commission. The statement made by him thus on the face of it appears to be false and misleading,” observed JKSAC. Consequently, Taj was put on notice for committing contempt of the JKSAC and directed to file his statement of defence, if any, by January 4 next year. The JKSAC also requested the State Advocate General to appear in the case on behalf of the state for assisting it. The charges
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Separatist leader challenges High Court verdict
Srinagar, December 24 In 2003, Faktoo (45), was sentenced to life imprisonment for involvement in the murder of human rights activist Hriday Nath Wanchoo in 1992. He is currently serving life sentence at Srinagar Central Jail and completed 20 years in jail this year. Faktoo, alias Dr Qasim, is the husband of radical Islamic group Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi. “Life imprisonment cannot be equivalent to imprisonment for 14 or 20 years, rather it is always meant as the whole natural life,” Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir had said in his judgment, which has now been challenged before a division bench of the High Court by Faktoo through his lawyer Mian Abdul Qayoom. “We have challenged the verdict by filing a leave petition application (LPA) before a double bench,” Qayoom said. He said the matter came up before the High Court division bench today, wherein the state counsel AM margay accepted notice in the open court. “The matter (LPA) has been listed for consideration after the winter vacations,” Qayoom said. Qayoom, in his earlier petition, had argued that “on May 31, 2012, Faktoo completed 20 years in prison as per the Jail Manual and Prisons Act (of the state), which amounts to life imprisonment.” The state government had opposed his release, arguing that “remission earned does not mean remission granted and 20 years does not mean life imprisonment”. Faktoo, who has completed his doctorate degree in Islamic studies while in jail, has denied the charges of murder and has accused the government of “persecution” for his political views.
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State BJP chief for J-K’s ‘full integration’ with country
Jammu, December 24 Sharma, while paying tributes, pledged that he would take forward the party’s mission of ensuring full integration of the state with the rest of the country. Thereafter, Sharma formally assumed the office at the party headquarters. Talking to the media here, Sharma said the state had a number of challenges, being posed by “anti-national” elements and separatist organisations, which had been making all efforts to disintegrate the state. He also said the refugees from West Pakistan, those of 1965 and 1971, Pandit migrants from the Valley and migrants from militancy-affected areas of Jammu had grievances and the BJP would continue to raise their voice at all appropriate platforms.
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Protests against Delhi gang rape justified: Hurriyat
Srinagar, December 24 The Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Geelani said when people become angry they “pelt stones” to express their “anger and sadness”. “This is the truth about the entire world and will continue to remain so in the future also,” Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar said in a statement. “The protests against the incident (gang rape) in New Delhi and other towns are justified and a natural reaction,” the spokesman said. The separatist group, however, drew parallels between the protest in New Delhi and the past protests in the Kashmir region, saying, “It remains to be seen how many protesters will be shot in the head and on chests in these protests, the way it has happened in Kashmir.” “The protests in Kashmir are being blamed on the ISI and it is also been claimed that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba are involved. Compared to it, when protests happen in New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi come out to cool the tempers of protesters. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh call the protests justified,” Akbar said. The spokesman said the difference in the attitude towards New Delhi and Srinagar “deepens the sense of slavery” among Kashmiris. “Our faith becomes strong that India considers Kashmir as its colony,” he said. Akbar, specifically referred to the protests of 2008 and 2010 when over 200 protesters, many of them students, were killed in police firing. Hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani had yesterday termed the gang rape of the New Delhi student as a “shameful and inhumane crime” and suggested the culprits should be “stoned to death” as per the Islamic law.
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Governor, CM extend greetings
Jammu, December 24 The Governor observed that the apostle of peace, Jesus Christ, preached love, compassion and brotherhood, adding that his teachings are perhaps more relevant now than ever before, when the world is ridden with hate, greed, intolerance and violence. He expressed sincere hope that the auspicious occasion would help strengthen the bonds of communal harmony, brotherhood, amity and glorious pluralistic traditions for which Jammu and Kashmir has been known for centuries. The Governor wished the people a bright and happy Christmas and prayed for their well-being. The Chief Minister said Jesus Christ preached love, brotherhood, peace, tolerance and selfless service to mankind. “His message is as relevant today as it has been always,” Omar said and prayed for peace and prosperity in the state and the country.
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Jammu, December 24
Jammu, December 24