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NC making inroads into Udhampur district
Pulwama firing: FIR registered against Army unit, civilians
Security personnel stand guard in Srinagar on Monday during a strike call given by various separatist groups to protest against the Pulwama firing incident. — PTI
Doctors help HIV woman realise her dream
Dr Mushtaq Ahmad at his office after conducting a surgery on the HIV positive woman in
Srinagar. A Tribune photograph |
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A heavy rush of pilgrims outside the yatri registration counter in Katra on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Woman gang-raped in Nowshera
Army must learn from its mistakes, says NC
Guv for time-bound inquiry into emergency landing
Valley shuts to protest shooting of civilians in
Pulwama
New Year: A mixed bag of entertainment in Kashmir
NC leader slams PDP for its hollow slogans
NC leader Shafqat Mir during a meeting in Rajouri. A Tribune photograph
Pulwama under curfew for fourth day
Police personnel near the crashed helicopter which made an emergency landing near Katra on Sunday. — PTI
Snow-trapped persons rescued
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NC making inroads into Udhampur district
Jammu, December 31 Parahlad Singh, former vice-president of the Udhampur Municipality, has strong following not only in the Udhampur city but also in rural areas where large number of panches and sarpanches are his supporters. Political observers felt that joining of Parahlad Singh was a big boost to the efforts of the NC to strengthen its base in Udhampur district, which comprises three Assembly segments. It was possible due to the efforts of political adviser to Chief Minister Devender Singh Rana, who has been travelling across the province to strengthen the party base. In the last Assembly elections in 2008, the Panthers Party had won two Assembly segments - Udhampur and Ramnagar - while the party lost Chenani seat to the Congress. As one of its prominent leaders has joined the NC, Panthers Party chairman Harsh Dev Singh has lambasted the ruling party. The NC while reacting to Harsh Dev Singh’s statement said Singh has “given vent to his frustration” realising that their so-called bastion is shaken. While admitting Parahlad Singh in the party, Devender Singh Rana had dubbed the Panthers Party as the “B team of the PDP”. He said “they (Panthers Party) had conspired along with the PDP to bring down the Ghulam Nabi Azad government in 2008 by orchestrating the circumstances that led to the Amarnath Land row and later when they felt the heat of the public outrage, they jumped into communal bandwagon and worked overtime to flair up communal passions, thereby proving their credentials of opportunistic power hungry politics”. He added that the Panthers Party had voted for the PDP candidates Altaf Bukhari in the Rajya Sabha elections and Bharat Gupta in the MLC elections, exposing their real face which has “always given edge to personal material considerations over the welfare of the people of the state”. During the Amarnath Land row, the Panthers Party was a part of the agitation. The agitation was led by the RSS. Harsh Dev Singh, while reacting to Rana’s statement, charged the NC of adopting “double standards to remain in power”. He said the NC has been consistently following “the policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hound with the sole objective of remaining in power”. Spokesman of the National Conference reacted to the statement of the Panthers Party and said Harsh has “indulged in a rhetoric as a diversionary tactic conveniently bypassing the core issues by not clarifying the Panthers’ role in orchestrating the Amarnath Land row, the Panthers voting pattern in the Rajya Sabha and the MLC elections and by not explaining their (Panthers) clandestine relationship with the PDP”. He said their “silence was the admission of the fact that they have no justification as they have a lot to hide and nothing to say on the pertinent issues of political morality and ideological incoherence of the Panthers” raised by Devender Singh Rana, political adviser to the Chief Minister said in a public meeting in Udhampur on Saturday. The spokesman said “Panthers Party was a house of political contradictions and the more one digs into their history, the more one would realise the chameleon character they have”.
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Pulwama firing: FIR registered against Army unit, civilians
Srinagar, December 31 The official said the case with FIR number 399/2012 had been registered and the police was investigating charges against the Army, which include attempt to murder (Section 307, RPC) and endangering life or personal safety of others (Section 336, RPC). Other sections under which the case has been registered include rioting (Section 148, RPC), and mischief causing damage (Section 427, RPC). Seven civilians were injured, one of them critically, when they were fired upon at Pulwama town on Friday (December 28). The circumstances in which the seven people were hit remained unclear as the police version, the Army’s account and that of the injured civilians clashed with each other. While the police claimed the seven civilians were injured in a “retaliatory action” when a “mob” attacked an ambulance at Pulwama town carrying an injured Army Major for treatment, the Army said its personnel were not involved in the firing on civilians as its ambulance was being escorted by a police vehicle only and not by its own personnel. Several injured civilians, admitted at a hospital in Srinagar, alleged they were fired at “without provocation” from an Army vehicle when they were carrying an injured man to a hospital. Doctors confirmed that all the injured were hit by bullets. One had suffered brain injury and another was hit by three bullets. Protests had erupted in several parts of the south Kashmir district when two Laskhar-e-Toiba militants were killed on Friday morning following which curfew was imposed in the area. Three security forces personnel, including two officers, were also injured in the gunfight at a village in Pulwama. The state government has launched a formal investigation into the incident appointing an Additional District Magistrate to conduct the probe while the Army too is conducting a separate probe into the incident. Meanwhile, the Kashmir region observed a shutdown on Monday to protest against the firing incident in Pulwama. The shutdown, called by hardline separatist group led by Syed Ali Geelani, was widespread in several south Kashmir districts while it had a partial effect in Srinagar, where the passenger traffic remained unaffected but shops and many commercial establishments were closed. Small protests also erupted at several places in south Kashmir where protesters threw stones at police and paramilitary personnel, who were deployed in strength in the region. Yet to get copy of FIR, says Army An Army officer on Monday said it was yet to receive a copy of the FIR filed at Pulwama police station. “So, there is no scope for comment. But, what we are hearing is that it is a generalised FIR. Let the investigation conclude but we are very sure that our boys have not fired,” the Army officer said. |
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Doctors help HIV woman realise her dream
Srinagar, December 31 In a breakthrough caesarean section, the medical and paramedical staff, led by Medical Superintendent of Lal Ded Hospital Dr Mushtaq Ahmad, performed one of the most complicated surgeries of their careers. The team of 10 doctors, who operated upon the woman yesterday, were also vulnerable to the infection. The HIV positive woman, hailing from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, whose identity has not been disclosed, was earlier shooed away by doctors at the Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) Centre, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), the Valley’s only tertiary care hospital. Her husband, who also is HIV positive, was determined to start his own family and together with the help of doctors at Lal Ded Hospital, the surgery turned out to be a successful one. A recent report by the Jammu and Kashmir AIDS Prevention and Control Society has put the number of HIV positive cases detected in the state in 2012 at 452 out of which 60 cases have been reported from Kashmir. “I don’t think in small towns and cities of India, the social stigma attached with HIV positive people has been done away with. Society still looks down upon such people. Even doctors shy away from treating such patients fearing they might be infected. This is more worrisome,” said Dr Javaid Iqbal, Head of the Department of Hematology, Lal Ded Hospital. Dr Javaid said since blood is one of the commonest mediums through which HIV is transmitted, doctors who perform surgery on such patients face 70 to 80 per cent chances of infection. “Even if the injury caused to an HIV positive patient is of the magnitude of a needle prick, the blood spilled can transmit the virus easily with the probability of 80 per cent. Hence, the hospitals need to have special HIV kits, which contain needle cut and prick proof gloves and foot gloves. The paramedical and medical staff need to be trained beforehand on passing the surgical instruments,” said Dr Javaid. The planning for the procedure was done for three days and many doctors had volunteered for the surgery. “I don’t know If I can touch my baby. Will he contract the infection? I hope he doesn’t get to suffer like his parents,” said the HIV positive father of the baby wishing anonymity. As for the newborn’s health, the doctors at the hospital say his HIV status would primarily dependent on CD (cluster of differentiation) count which is to be performed after 24 hours of the infant’s birth. The doctors have advised the mother to stop breastfeeding her child under all circumstances as HIV can be transmitted through mother’s milk. “These people will hopefully live a normal life again and there could not have been a better start to New Year for them than this,” said Dr Mushtaq Ahmad.
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Sea of devotees at Vaishno Devi shrine
Katra, December 31 “Over 68,000 pilgrims are expected to perform darshan at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine on New Year’s Eve. A record number of pilgrims are rushing in to reach the cave shrine to usher into the New Year at the feet of the goddess,” a board official said. The shrine board officials are working round the clock to regulate the rush and are keeping a close watch on the movement of pilgrims. "We have set up special information counters to inform the pilgrims in the Katra and Jammu base camps about the status of rush at the Bhawan shrine so as to regulate their movement,” a senior shrine board official said while giving details of measures taken to channelise the rush. Arrangements for food, woolen blankets, and security have been made at the shrine and the yatra route to avoid any untoward incident, the official added. Sources said if the rush increases beyond a point, the shrine board authorities would suspend the yatra for some time to clear the stranded pilgrims first. On New Year’s Eve last time, more than 58,000 pilgrims had performed darshan at the cave shrine. Board officials said the number of pilgrims would be 10.6 million this year, which is 5 lakh more than in 2011. Regulating the rush
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Woman gang-raped in Nowshera
Rajouri, December 31 In yet another case, a 25-year-old was raped in Jammu. Sub-District Magistrate (SDM), Nowshera, said the woman was allegedly gang-raped by three persons in the Chowki area in Nowshera on December 17. Locals and family members of the victim lodged a complaint with the police today as they failed to get justice from the local panchayat, he added. “The administration was not aware of this incident. We came to know about the gang-rape when people reached Nowshera police station for lodging an FIR against the three accused,” the SDM added. However, when this correspondent contacted sarpanch of the village Bindu Choudhary, he said, “I was in GMC Hospital Jammu for the past 12 days. No such case has been referred to the panchayat till now. I got to know about the incident yesterday night.” He said, “After the incident, family members tried to resolve the issue on their own, but failed to do so.” An FIR under Section 376 of the RPC has been registered against the three accused identified as Kaka Ram (30), Madan Lal and Mohammed Rafiq (22) of Nowshera. The police has arrested Mohammed Rafiq, but two other accused are still absconding. The police has conducted the medical examination of the victim and have started investigation in the case. It has launched a manhunt for the absconders.
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Army must learn from its mistakes, says NC
Srinagar, December 31 The NC, while asking for an “impartial probe” into the incident, demanded harsh punishment for anyone found responsible for firing at civilians in Pulwama town last week. Seven people were injured in the firing incident. The incident has been mired in confusion as the police, Army and civilians gave varying accounts. “An institution that has brought laurels to the country should learn from its past mistakes. Your one wrong move can bring the state back to boil,” NC spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said as the ruling party aimed guns at the Army. The NC, led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has for two years been demanding the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some parts of the state. The Act gives a legal immunity to the armed forces operating in the state. “In the garb of the AFSPA, you cannot simply go on doing what you want to do,” the NC said. “We will not tolerate nor will any civil society accept any such accesses on any civilian anymore,” the party spokesman said. The National Conference strongly condemned the Pulwama shooting, saying such incidents are “highly unacceptable and will only alienate people further”. Referring to the 2010 summer and autumn agitation in the Kashmir region, in which more than 120 civilians were killed in police and paramilitary firing, the NC spokesman said the “origin” of those protests was the “fake encounter that took place in north Kashmir’s Machil area where a unit of the Army killed three persons and passed them off as terrorists trying to infiltrate into the area, when they had absolutely nothing to do with that”. “If you (Army) don’t learn from your past mistakes then we are sorry, you are only making things worse for the people who have sacrificed a lot to restore peace in the Valley,” the ruling party said. Meanwhile, the PDP blamed the NC for unleashing a “reign of terror” on the people and demanded the “continuous siege” of Pulwama town and its adjoining villages be immediately ended. “We criticise the NC-led government for unleashing a reign of terror on the people of the state,” a joint statement issued by PDP leaders said. The PDP leaders also demanded an immediate release of innocent youth, who have been arrested in the last four days, and called for an end to persecution of youth on “flimsy charges”. “Instead of resolving issues being faced by the youth, the present government targeted them viciously and framed thousands of them in false cases,” a PDP leader said. The PDP leaders said the “narrow-minded repression” was leading to the radicalisation of the youth. |
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Guv for time-bound inquiry into emergency landing
Jammu, December 31 As directed by the Governor, the CEO has written to the Director General, Civil Aviation, to take immediate cognisance of the incident and commence a time-bound inquiry. The incident took place around 12.10 pm on Sunday. Board officials, a medical team and the Katra police immediately rushed to the accident site. Providing details, the CEO said two passengers and the pilot were brought to the Katra hospital by a rescue helicopter while the other four passengers were brought to the hospital
by ambulances. After being administered medical treatment, the passengers were referred to Government Medical College, Jammu, for further examination and treatment. The CEO had arranged for their evacuation to Jammu by helicopter but this could not materialise for want of IAF clearance due to the weather condition over the Nandni hills. Consequently, all injured passengers were brought to Government Medical College, Jammu, in Critical Care Ambulances and
have been declared out of danger. The pilot was evacuated from Katra to the Command Hospital, Udhampur, for the required treatment. The Governor has directed the CEO to ensure the best medical treatment and the required assistance to the passengers and their families at the shrine board’s expense. Deputy CEO Rahul Sharma and Vinod Gupta, Medical Superintendent at the shrine board have been deputed to supervise the medical treatment of the passengers at Government Medical College, Jammu.
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Valley shuts to protest shooting of civilians in
Pulwama
Srinagar, December 31 Protests also erupted at several places in south Kashmir where protesters threw stones at police and paramilitary personnel. The hardline Hurriyat Conference had termed the shooting as “state terrorism”. Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in a gunfight with the security forces on Friday last week. The two slain militants, Imtiyaz Ahmed
Teli, alias Fahadullah Kashmiri, was a resident of Pulwama district, while Mohammad Aamir
Bhat, alias Khalid, was a resident of Shopian district. Seven civilians were also injured in a subsequent shooting at Pulwama town, several kilometres from the encounter site, which
the injured men blamed on the Army. Meanwhile, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front
(JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik along with other separatist leaders was detained at Pampore town while on his way to the south Kashmir
district. Malik was detained along with JKLF leaders, Noor Mohammad
Kalwal, Mushtaq Ajmal, Bashir Kashmiri and M Shahid at Pampore, his party spokesman said. “Malik and other leaders were on their way to Pulwama where a few days back two youths were martyred, some residential houses were damaged and many people were injured in a shooting by the Indian Army at Pulwama
Chowk,” the spokesman said. Malik was heading to the south Kashmir district to show “solidarity” with the families of the slain militants and to meet the injured civilians. The JKLF spokesman said the party condemned the detention of its leaders and said the imposition of curfew, making arrests, beating people and “other acts of tyranny” cannot stop people of the state from “raising their voices for independence.”
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New Year: A mixed bag of entertainment in Kashmir
Srinagar, December 31 While tourists along with many locals are thronging the snow-clad Gulmarg ski resort in north Kashmir that is hosting a New Year gala, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation’s (JKTDC) New Year bash got the thumbs up from residents of the summer capital. “The response has been overwhelming. We got double the booking and could not accommodate all, said JKTDC general manager (Travel and Operations) Shamim Ahmad Wani. The JKTDC is hosting a dinner-cum-musical show by a local band, Jhankar, at Nun Kun restaurant on the banks of the Dal Lake and at Chasma Shahi, a Mughal garden. “There will also be a fire cracker show on the banks of the Dal Lake later,” Wani added. While locals wishing to celebrate only have the Dal Lake and Gulmarg to choose from, top hotels of the city have preferred to keep the celebrations in-house. “The events have not been publicised because of local sensitivities. The celebrations will be in-house and behind closed doors with some high-profile guests,” said a Valley’s top hotelier on condition of anonymity. “Had the situation been completely normal, Kashmir would have been among the top spots for New Year parties.” While another hotelier, also wishing not to be named, said some top hotels were “forced” to host New Year parties only due to high-profile guests, others have preferred to give New Year events a miss. Sajid Farooq, who is the treasurer of the Hoteliers’ Club, a group of elite hotels of Kashmir, said many hoteliers have preferred not to host New Year events. “Given the disturbance witnessed in Kashmir, it is not right to make a lot of noise on New Year. My conscience too does not allow me to hold New Year events and I preferred not to hold one at my hotel,” he said.
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NC leader slams PDP for its hollow slogans
Rajouri, December 31 Addressing the gathering, Mir congratulated the Chief Minister for his vision and for providing a transparent and accountable government at the grass-roots level. He said there was an unprecedented and all-round development in the state. Mir said a lot of employment opportunities had been created by the present government for unemployed youth of the state. He appealed to the people to repose confidence in the sincere, honest and visionary leadership of Omar Abdullah, who had helped in the development of Rajouri in the shape of modernised District Hospital, Mini Secretariat, alternate bridges, two more degree colleges, road connectivity to all most all rural pockets and speedy compliance of the historic Mughal road. Those who were present on the occasion included Haji Omar, Haji Naseer, Chowdhary Liaqat, Makhan Din and Chowdhary
Gulzar.
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Pulwama under curfew for fourth day
Anantnag, December 31 Reports said strict restrictions were enforced in the area. Barricades were erected at several places, restricting any kind of movement in the town and adjoining areas. “The security forces in riot gear has sealed all entry and exit points in Pulwama town and adjoining areas,” a source said. Situation went out of control in this south Kashmir district during an encounter on Friday, when the Army allegedly fired on civilians at three places, injuring more than 10 people. The Army, however, denied charges and a magisterial inquiry was initiated into the matter by the district administration. The area has been put under curfew since the firing incident took place.
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Guv extends New Year greetings
Jammu, December 31 Recalling developments during the outgoing year, he observed that among other aspects, the overall security scenario had further improved and militancy-related violence had also remained under control. The Governor wished the people a happy New Year and expressed sincere hope that 2013 shall usher in sustained peace, progress and prosperity in the state.
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Snow-trapped persons rescued
Srinagar, December 31 Tariq Ahmad Magray (25), Hilal Ahmad Dar (25), Parvaiz Ahmad Khanday (17) and Mohammad Latif Laadi (40) had
got trapped due to heavy snowfall in Keller area of Shopian, the police spokesman said.
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Srinagar, December 31
In Kashmir, where even talking about Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) raises eyebrows, a team of doctors took it upon themselves to help realise the dream of an HIV positive woman of becoming a mother.
Rajouri, December 31
