The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	1997 ‘custodial disappearance’ Police awaits sanction for prosecution of accused Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 25 The state police has identified two Army officers, who it claims were involved in the custodial disappearance of a Srinagar youth in 1997. The police has said the investigation into the case has been completed but it is awaiting sanction from the competent authorities for prosecuting the accused. This has been revealed by the police in its status report before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court which is hearing a contempt petition against the Army authorities. Azizi Begum (63), mother of Mushtaq Ahmad Dar of Boatman Colony, Bemina in Srinagar, in her habeas corpus petition before the High Court, had alleged that her son was taken into custody by 20 Grenadiers Unit of the Army in April 1997 and was not seen thereafter. Though the Army has paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakh on the court directions, the family has also been demanding prosecution and the subsequent trail of the accused Army personnel. “It is further submitted that the investigation into the case is complete and the case stands proven under Section 364 of the RPC against Major Vishwajeet Singh and Commandant SK Malik of 20 Granadiers Unit, Boatman Colony, Bemina,” the police officer concerned has submitted in the status report to the High Court. “All legal formalities stand completed and the case file duly completed in all respects stands submitted to the Sub-divisional Police Officer on October 17, 2012, for further action, including sanction for initiation of prosecution against the accused Army officers,” the status report read. The police, in its status report, has said “as soon as” the prosecution “sanction is accorded” by the competent authority, the “case will be resubmitted for judicial determination (trial)”. The habeas corpus petition filed by Azizi was disposed of in her favour on March 25, 2011, by the High Court. Holding 20 Grenadiers responsible for the “enforced disappearance” of Dar, the High Court had directed the Union Defence Secretary to pay Azizi a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. The court verdict, a first of its kind in any disappearance case, was based on an inquiry into the incident conducted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Srinagar, who had held the Army responsible for Dar’s “enforced disappearance”. However, Azizi had subsequently approached the High Court with a contempt petition against the Army authorities for delaying the payment of compensation money. In September, the Army had deposited the compensation money with the High Court Registry. However, the contempt petition is still pending disposal before the court.
	Kulgam encounter: Slain militant mastermind of several attacks Majid Jahangir/TNS Srinagar, December 25 Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Mudasir Ahmad Sheikh, alias Mawyia, a resident of Kulgam, who was killed in an encounter in Kulgam in south Kashmir along with his associate on Monday evening, was one of the senior Kashmiri commanders of the Pakistan-based outfit and was active for the last three years. The police has claimed that Mudasir was involved in the Silver Star hotel attack on the outskirts of Srinagar on October 18, in which two employees of the hotel had died and two others were injured. The Army, too, has termed the killing of LeT commander a big success. “Mudasir was an active militants and his killing is a setback for the outfit,” said the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Victor Force, Major General R R Nimborkar. The Victor Force is the counter-insurgency division of the Army in south Kashmir. The GOC said Mudasir was the main coordinator of the group in south Kashmir and was also recruiting new cadres. “Mudasir had planned many attacks in south Kashmir, including the one on the Army patrol in Pampore on July 7 in which a soldier was killed and another injured,” he added. A police officer in Kulgam said apart from being a part of the group that carried out the attack on Silver Stat hotel, Mudasir was involved in issuing threats to panchayat members a few months ago. “His killing is a huge success for the police and security forces,” he added. Since the past 10 days, police and security forces have shot dead 10 militants of the LeT in four encounters. Mudasir is the second commander of the outfit in Kashmir to be killed in the last two months. On October 13, LeT’s ‘divisional commander’ for north Kashmir Muzamil Amin Dar, alias Urfi, alias Abu Hushaam, a resident of Badambagh in Sopore, was killed in a gunfight. Muzamil, the police had said, was a member of the module that was allegedly involved in a failed attempt to bomb New Delhi earlier this year.
	Nation saw unprecedented growth under Vajpayee: BJP Tribune News Service Jammu, December 25 The state unit of the BJP celebrated the 88th birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Sushasan Divas (good governance day) here today. Four eminent personalities of the Jammu region were felicitated for their contribution to society at the function. They included former Principal of Government Medical College, Jammu, Dr Rajinder Singh, former chairman of the J&K Service Selection Board Bua Ditta Bhagat, special secretary Sain Dass Sharma (retd) and Chief Engineer AS Wazir (retd). Newly elected state BJP president Jugal Kishore Sharma said the works taken into hand by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had achieved him the distinction of being called “Yug Purush”. He said the rule under Vajpayee was an example of “good governance” as the country had witnessed unprecedented development, corruption free administration and people-friendly government at the Centre. Senior leader Nirmal Singh while praying for Vajpayee’s long life said he (Vajpayee) always talked of Ram Rajya, which even Gandhiji had advocated for the country. Ashok Khajuria said the work done by Vajpayee as the Prime Minister was marvellous. Shamsher Singh Manhas said the path shown by Vajpayee could take the nation a long way. Prof Dipankar Sen, Head of the Department of Economics, University of Jammu, delivered a talk on “Good Governance and Atal Bihari Vajpayee”. Drawing a comparison with the regimes of other Prime Ministers who preceded, professor Sen said Vajpayee had the vision to understand that the Nehruvian model of governance had failed and he introduced pragmatic new concepts during his six-year tenure as the Prime Minister. Sen said Vajpayee believed in long term planning in the interest of the nation and never gave in to the temptation to announce populist schemes simply to earn electoral benefits without futuristic gains for the nation.
	Jammu gang rape Victim’s family wants death for culprits Villagers decide not to send their daughters to schools, colleges Tribune News Service Chingayani (Gharota), December 25 While the country is outraged at the gang rape of a paramedical student in a moving bus in New Delhi, another gang rape of a college student in Chingayani, on the outskirts of the winter capital, has sent shivers down the spines of villagers who have decided not to send their daughters to schools and colleges. Villagers, mostly Muslims and the Scheduled Caste people, said higher secondary schools and degree colleges were located far-off from the village. So, the girls did not feel safe about travelling to their institutions alone. The victim’s family, however, said it wanted the girl to continue her studies who is a bright student, provided the rapists were not given bail. The victim is the eldest among her five siblings. “It is very difficult for us to make both ends meet. I have been suffering from tuberculosis for the past two years and my elder son has been working hard to run the house. My daughter is the only girl from the village who got admission in the college. We would like her to continue her studies, if the culprits are not given bail as they may again harm her after their release,” said the victim’s father. Around 1.30 am on the intervening night of December 22 and 23, three youths, according to the family, barged into their house and forcibly took away the girl to a nearby forest area. They raped her and left her at the crime scene. The victims’ mother had raised an alarm but all in vain. The family along with some villagers couldn’t trace the girl in darkness. The girl reached the Gharota police station after travelling nearly 5 km and lodged a complaint with the police in the wee hours on December 23. The police arrested two persons, Gayan Singh and Shammi Kumar of Ranjan village. However, she couldn’t identify the third culprit, who had accompanied the rapists that night. “My daughter has seen a tough time since her childhood and this incident has ruined her life. While the entire country is outraged at the gang rape of a girl in Delhi, we also want justice for our daughter,” said the girl’s mother. Presenting a brave face, the victim’s mother said nothing short of “hanging the culprits would heal the wounds of our daughter.” Village sarpanch Mumtaz Ahmad said following the incident, the people of the village were scared to send their girls to schools and colleges, as they believed that it was not safe for them to walk long distances to reach educational institutions. “Villagers had a meeting today morning and they told me that they would not send their daughters to schools and college after Class X,” Ahmad said. A senior police officer said they had registered a case under Section 376 of the RPC against the arrested persons who are in 10-day police remand.
	Tourists miss snow as Kashmir celebrates Xmas Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 25 Christmas was celebrated with fervour across the Kashmir valley, but tourists here missed celebrating a white Christmas. Members of the Christian community were seen thronging churches for prayers in the morning. In the summer capital, the main Christmas mass was held at the Holy Family Catholic Church on the Maulana Azad road here. Father Mathew Thomas, who led the prayers at the Holy Family Catholic Church, said Christmas was celebrated with fervour across the Valley. “Prayers were held at all churches as Christmas was celebrated in Kashmir along with other parts of the world,” he said as a local dressed as Santa Claus was seen distributing sweets to children on the church premises. A few members of the Muslim community too were at the church to extend Christmas greetings to Christians. Father Thomas said they prayed for peace in the state and the entire world during the mass. While tourists wishing to celebrate a white Christmas had left for the Gulmarg ski resort that is already covered in a snow blanket, others enjoyed a sunny day in the summer capital. “We came all the way from Mumbai yesterday with hopes of celebrating a white Christmas. But we still enjoyed celebrating Christmas here for the first time,” said Michelle, a student, who has come here with her family. She said the Christmas celebrations at the Holy Family Catholic Church were “grand and charismatic”. Christmas celebrations in Kashmir were a low-key affair last year amid a controversy over the alleged Christian conversions. The conversion controversy had come to the fore in November last year after a video of a local Muslim youth being allegedly converted to Christianity appeared on the social networking sites. A local Shariat court had then ordered a “lifetime ban” on four Christian missionaries on allegations of luring the Muslim youth to convert to their religion.
	Infant killed, 4 injured in road accident Our Correspondent Rajouri, December 25 A six-month-old infant was killed and four others, including the parents of the dead boy, were injured in an accident in Rajouri district late last night. Sources said Mushtaq Hussain, a resident of Jaglanoo village, along with his wife Taj Begum and six-month-old son were on their way to Jammu from Rajouri in their Santro car. Mushtaq’s two relatives, Mohammad Shakeel and Talib Hussain, were also in the car. Apparently Mushtaq lost control over the car after he fell asleep and it collided with a rock on the roadside near Chingus village on the Poonch-Jammu highway. All the passengers were seriously injured in the accident. People from nearby houses and shops rushed to the accident site to help the victims and intimated the police at the Chingus police post. The injured were taken to District Hospital by the police where doctors declared the boy dead. The police has started the investigations to know the reason behind the accident. A hospital source said all the injured were out of danger.
	Ministers, MLAs using more power in govt accommodation Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, December 25 As the cash-strapped state grapples with nearly Rs 2000-crore power deficit every year, legislators of the ruling as well as opposition parties --- appear to be the main violators of the Power Development Department’s (PDD) much-hyped Voluntary Load Disclosure Scheme (VLDS). Cabinet ministers and legislators have not only made “excessive” use of electricity at government-allotted accommodations causing a big loss to the state exchequer, but they have also shown little regard to the VLDS guidelines when it comes to consumption of electricity at their private residences. This disclosure was made by the PDD authorities in response to an RTI application filed by Balwinder Singh, convener of the Sangarsh RTI Movement, an organisation of RTI and social activists. He had sought information regarding the monthly bills, units consumed and the sanctioned load and connected load in private and official residences of politicians and PDD officials from April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2012. The RTI response disclosed that some legislators and top bureaucrats had two or more power connections, which was in brazen violation of norms. There was also a huge difference between the power bills paid by ministers in government quarters and private accommodations. To begin with, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is holding the PDD portfolio, had consumed 1,90,512 units of power worth Rs 5,88,540 at his official bungalow. He, however, consumed only 6,545 units of power at his private residence for the period. The power connection at the Chief Minister’s private residence stands in the name of his father and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah. The actual load at the private accommodation of the Minister for Social Welfare Sakina Itoo was just 0.7 kilowatt (KW) and she paid electricity rent at flat rate of just Rs 317 per month. And when it comes to consumption of electricity at her government accommodation, she consumed 1,45,248 units of power costing Rs 4.47 lakh to public exchequer. Minister for Public Enterprises Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed had shown load of 0.5 KW at her private residence and the cost of energy consumed was just Rs 3,166, that too on a flat rate. But at his government accommodation, the electricity load was 30 KW and had consumed 1,90,512 units of power worth Rs 5,88,540 for the period. Speaker of Legislative Assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone had been paying electricity rent on a flat rate at his private residence but at the government bungalow he had consumed 1,19,400 units of power worth Rs 3,66,468. Minister Aga Syed Rahullah had shown a load of only 1 KW at private accommodation which was in complete contrast to the load of 18 KW shown at his government bungalow where he had consumed 1,12,920 units of power worth Rs 3,46,266 for the period. Minister of State for Roads and Buildings Javed Ahmed Dar, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s uncle Mustafa Kamal, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir and legislators had disclosed electricity load of just 0.5 KW at their private residence while they consumed power worth lakhs of rupees during the period. Apart from the political leaders, senior PDD officials too enjoyed cheap electricity on a flat rate causing a huge loss to the state exchequer. Official sources said though the PDD had recently introduced the VLDS for domestic and commercial consumers to give them opportunity to get their unauthorised load regularised yet a majority of power connections supplying electricity to the private residences of ministers, legislators, bureaucrats and senior PDD officials didn’t revise their load and they were still enjoying cheaper electricity. “In some cases the government has lodged FIRs against the citizens on the allegations of power theft, then why are these politicians and PDD officials being given preferential treatment?” questioned Balwinder Singh. He said the reason for the huge gap in power consumption between official and private residences of politicians was that bills of official residence were being paid from the state exchequer while the bills for private residences were being paid from their own pocket.
	Soz for early resolution of problems of Rajouri migrants Our Correspondent Rajouri, December 25 Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Prof Saifuddin Soz, who was accompanied by MP Madan Lal Sharma, addressed sarpanches and panches at Dak Bungalow in Nowshera today. After paying obeisance at Gurdwara Nonehal, Nowshera, Soz addressed the panches, sarpanches and hundreds of party workers and thanked them for reposing their faith in the party in the recently held Legislative Council elections, in which the coalition government won all the four seats. He said the state and the Central governments were serious about empowering the panchayats in the state. He expressed concern over problems being faced by people of the border district who had migrated at the time of wars and due to the ongoing firing by Pakistan. He said, “I have discussed the issue with the Centre and the ministry concerned and hopefully they will take some steps to settle the issue once and for all.” He said the people of the region had been facing a lot of problems, including road connectivity and telecommunication services. “The government is fully aware of the problem and will make provisions to install more towers in border villages.” Soz assured people belonging to the Sikh community that he would talk to External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid so that the issue of visiting their religious places in Pakistan is taken up with the authorities concerned and a suitable solution is found.
	Delhi gang rape: Moderate Hurriyat terms it shameful Demands impartial probe into similar incidents in Kashmir Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 25 The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has condemned the Delhi gang rape incident and termed it a shameful act. The conglomerate has, however, demanded a probe into similar incidents which have happened in Kashmir over the years. “The Hurriyat Conference terms the gang rape of a girl student in New Delhi a shameful and inhumane act,” a Hurriyat spokesman said in a statement here, suggesting that such crimes, if happening somewhere else, should also be condemned “unequivocally”. The spokesman said the kind of reaction and public ire this incident had evoked was natural. He, however, condemned the “Indian civil society and other groups” for what he called its “double standards” over similar crimes which happened in Kashmir over the years. “In Kashmir, over the years, the modesty of hundreds of women was outraged, but the criminal silence adopted by the Indian civil society, media and the people speaks volumes about their double standards on such issues,” the spokesman said. He said that Hurriyat Conference led by the Mirwaiz “demands an independent and impartial probe” into such incidents which were “perpetrated in Kashmir” for over two decades. Earlier on December 23, hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, while terming the Delhi gang rape a “shameful and inhumane crime”, had suggested that culprits be “stoned to death” as per the Islamic law.
	Amid winter chill, Jashn-e-Chillai Kalaan to bring cheer in Valley Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 25 With temperature hovering around zero degree mark in Kashmir leaving little for the residents to cheer about, a festival to celebrate the winter chill is scheduled to be held soon in the region. Funtoosh: Jashn-e-Chillai Kalaan- meaning celebration of the winter- will be held on January 5 at the Convocation Centre of University of Kashmir. One of the organisers said the event would showcase Kashmir’s culture and music alongside taking a comic dig at local issues. Chillai Kalaan- the 40-day period of the harshest period of winter which began Friday last week-has been a nightmarish experience to residents for generations together. It is the extreme freezing spell when roads gather frost and the water supply freezes. The life in Kashmir during Chillai Kalaan comes to a standstill and roads are deserted with no traffic after evening. “It is an attempt to bring cheer to people during the winter. The opening theme of the event is Chillai Kalaan,” Sibath Qureshi, one of the organisers of the event said. A skit will be staged on bad governance which has been directed and written by young artist Rayees Mohiuddin, another organiser of the event. A parody with a message to quit smoking will be performed and a traditional costume and heritage show will also be part of the event. “The costume show will be an event in which participants dressed in traditional clothes will carry heritage items such as old copper utensils,” Qureshi said. A musical performance is also scheduled to be held. Jashn-e-Chillai Kalaan was a hit among the audience last year. “We will have a fusion of different local musical instruments,” Qureshi added.