The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Assembly Session To placate Cong, NC decides not to bring resolution on Afzal Congress objects to use of ‘sahib’ for Parliament attack convict Dinesh Manhotra/Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, March 12 With the coalition partner Congress objecting to the use of honorific “sahib” for Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru by legislators in the Assembly, the ruling National Conference today got into damage-control mode. To placate annoyed Congress leaders, the National Conference ruled out bringing any resolution in the Assembly to bring back the mortal remains of Guru. “There’s no question of bringing a resolution in the Assembly on the issue,” senior National Conference leader Ali Mohammad Sagar, who is holding Rural Development Department portfolio told reporters outside the Assembly. “It is just politics and we know how to counter this politics,” Sagar said while referring to the main opposition PDP. “As far as the National Conference is concerned, the stand of the party is clear”. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mir Saifullah also tried to downplay the issue. “Actually I always add the suffix “sahib” while addressing people, so it should not be an issue,” he said. Earlier senior Congress leader and Minister for Public Health Engineering and Irrigation Sham Lal Sharma made a veiled attack on the National Conference and the PDP for indulging in such tactics. “I think the ground of the mainstream parties is shrinking in the Kashmir valley. So, they have been raking up such issues,” he said. While regretting that the man who was convicted by the land of law of masterminding the attack on Parliament has been addressed as “sahib and shaheed”, he said: “This is really unfortunate and this type of language should not be used in the House. I strongly condemn it,” he said. Later in the Assembly, he demanded that the proceedings of the House where the members had used unparliamentarily language and made unconstitutional statements needed to be expunged from the record of the Assembly. “The House should be allowed to function as per the procedure of the Indian Constitution and whatever is happening on the floor of the House is just contrary to it. There is a procedure in our Constitution where action can be initiated against the members resorting to unparliamentarily and unconstitutional language,” Sharma said. To a question on the Congress stand vis-à-vis any resolution on the return of mortal remains of Afzal in the Assembly, he said his party would take the appropriate position but as per the procedure, the resolution could not be moved or accepted on an issue which had already been discussed in the House. Lashing out at the PDP legislator for questioning the integration of J&K with Indian Union, the minister said the MLAs had taken the oath under the Constitution and they were duty-bound to honour the Constitution. “If somebody questions the integration of state with India, such members should resign from the House and then make any unconstitutional statement,” Sharma said. He also objected to the use of “sahib or shaheed” with Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, saying that the sanctity of the House should be maintained. Who said what in house Someone is calling Afzal Guru as sahib and others shaheed. I condemn it. This type of language should not be used by members in the House who have taken oath under the Constitution of India and the state. — Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Public Health Engineering The state government has requested the Centre for the return of the mortal remains of Afzal Guru to his family members. The seriousness of the government can be gauged from the fact that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has written to the Centre demanding return of Afzal’s body. — Mir Saifullah, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs The honourable way for the government to come out of the prevailing situation is to handover Afzal Guru’s body to his family. The state government, which had complete involvement in Afzal’s execution, has turned a mute spectator on the issue. I would like to ask New Delhi how much injury you will inflict on the body and soul of Kashmiris. — Mehbooba Mufti, PDP president It is a shame that the man who had masterminded the attack on Parliament is being discussed in the House. We condemn the statements of the NC and PDP wherein they used term ‘sahib’ for Afzal Guru. — Jugal Kishore Sharma, state BJP president This all is politics being played by the NC and the PDP in the House. There is a set procedure that any issue on which the state government has no competence can’t be discussed in the Assembly. Let these parties ask their representatives in Parliament to get the issue sorted out there. — Harsh Dev Singh, Panthers Party chairman The Union Home Minister’s comments have hurt the people of Kashmir. Protest is my right. I was doing it. The action of marshalling me out was unwarranted and unwanted. I will vociferously raise the issue tomorrow. — Engineer Abdul Rashid, Independent MLA
	PDP legislator questions integration of J-K with India Tribune News Service Jammu, March 12 Virtually challenging the accession of Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union, PDP member Nizamuddin Bhat today said people of Kashmir had yet to take a decision on living with India. Bhat, who was reacting to a statement by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on return of Afzal’s body, said if this policy of the Centre continued people of Kashmir would be forced to think whether to remain with India or not. Shinde yesterday ruled out handing over Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s body to his family and said, “The body has been buried according to the jail manual and there is no way it can be handed over.” Bhat said the Home Minister had rubbed salt on the wounds of the people of Kashmir. Taking serious note of the utterance of the PDP member for questioning the integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union, Public Health and Engineering Minister Sham Lal Sharma, who belongs to the Congress, said the MLAs had taken oath under the Constitution and he was duty bound to honour it. “If any member questions the integration of the state with India, he should resign from the House and then make an unconstitutional statement,” Sharma said.
	Amid Afzal uproar, demand for Jammu state Tribune News Service Jammu, March 12 The demand of separate state for the Jammu region echoed in the Assembly today. When National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members were competing with each other in the Assembly on the return of Afzal Guru’s mortal remains, Jammu State Morcha (JSM) legislator Ashwani Sharma shouted, “This House is wasting time on a person who had masterminded killing of nearly 20 people. The Assembly has virtually been hijacked by sympathisers of militants.” “This House has no time for discussing issues relating to people of the Jammu region so we demand separate state for Jammu to get rid of those people who waste time discussing such terrorists,” he said. Pointing towards Congress MLA from Bhaderwah Mohammad Sharief Niaz, who was silently watching the sloganeering members of the PDP, Ashwani said, “When Jammu would be a separate state, Niaz sahib would be our first Chief Minister.” Not only JSM member, even BJP and Panthers Party members expressed their resentment against ignoring important issues in the Assembly and wasting time on Afzal Guru. “I failed to understand why this House is wasting time on a terrorist. There are many other important issues,” said Panthers Party MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia. He said during every session these parties (NC and PDP) waste precious time of the Assembly on such terrorists. Earlier, PDP and NC members made it a point to suffix Afzal Guru with “sahib” and “shaheed” titles. Veteran PDP leader Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, who had earlier remained associated with the Congress for a long time, held Afzal in high regard. He said Afzal was a martyr. Similarly, PDP member Javed Mustafa Mir made it a point to repeatedly call Afzal as “sahib”. Mir was repeatedly raising slogans such as “Guru sahib ki body ko wapas lao wapas lao”. National Conference leaders also called Afzal as “sahib”. Even Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mir Saifullah called Afzal as “sahib”.
	Afzal’s family to continue its fight for return of his body Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, March 12 A day after Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde ruled out handing over the body of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to his family, the latter says it would continue to fight for the return of his mortal remains. “We are very clear that we will fight through all the means to get the mortal remains of our brother,” said Afzal’s cousin Yaseen Guru. “We are looking for various options for getting the body. We are in touch with our lawyers and we as a family are very resilient and we have decided to continue our fight for the return of his body,” Yaseen added. Since the hanging of Afzal on February 9, the Valley has remained on the edge. The Mutahidda Majlis-e-Mushawarat (MMM), the Joint Consultative Council of several separatist groups spearheading the protests to seek the return of mortal remains of Afzal and JKLF leader Maqbool Bhat, continue to issue weekly protest calendars. Afzal’s family also rejected the offer made by the Union Home Minister to the family to visit Tihar Jail to offer prayers. “We now only want Afzal’s body back and nothing more,” Yaseen asserted. On February 12, Afzal’s family had moved an application before the District Magistrate Baramulla, seeking his body for the last rites. On the same day, the DM had forwarded the family's request to the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, and the state Home Department for necessary action. The state government forwarded the family request to Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. On the Assembly proceedings today, Yaseen said the state legislators were not honest about demanding the return of the bodies. “If they (legislators) are sincere, they should resign as the Union government has refused to hand over the body,” he said. The separatists too have condemned the Union Home Minister’s statement on the return of Afzal’s body. “The decision to not hand over the body has exposed the Government of India,” said hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
	Stone-throwing: Youth succumbs to his injuries Our Correspondent Anantnag, March 12 A youth, who was injured in a stone-throwing incident in the Mattan area of Anantnag district on Friday, succumbed to his injuries at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar last night. His body was taken to his native village, Ahang, Mattipora, and buried there this morning. With the death of Riyaz Ahmad Khanday, the death toll in the Kashmir valley following the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru has gone up to five. The police said four persons were arrested in this connection on Sunday. They were identified as Mohammad Iqbal Najar, Aamir Hussain Najar, Aamir Bashir Malik and Sartaj Ahmad Wagay, all residents of Kralpora village near Mattan. Those arrested have been remanded in police custody for seven days. Two more accused persons are yet to be arrested, the police said. Deputy Inspector General of Police, south Kashmir, Vijay Kumar along with Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Farooq Ahmed Shah and the Anantnag SSP visited Khanday’s house and gave ex gratia relief of Rs 1.50 lakh from the Red Cross to the family. After Khanday’s death, the police has added Section 302 of the RPC to the FIR. While the police has maintained that the deceased was confronted by some youths and was beaten up, the family claimed that he was hit by a stray stone on his head. According to his family members, Khanday, accompanied by three other youths from his neighbourhood, was going to Anantnag on Friday evening to fetch cement bags in his load carrier auto. “Some youths were throwing stones at security forces at the Tik Bagh area of Mattan. That is when he was hit with a brick on his head,” Nazeer Ahmad Khanday said, while quoting a boy accompanying the deceased. “There was no altercation between him and the youths who were throwing stones,” Nazeer said. “He (Khanday) confronted some stone-throwing youths and told them that there was no strike. He told them what will he feed his family if he does not work,” the police said. “The miscreants beat him up and he died after fighting it out for three days at SKIMS,” it said.
	PIL filed against use of pepper gas on protesters Ishfaq Tantry/TNS Srinagar, March 12 With resentment growing against the use of pepper gas by the police and security forces to quell protests in Kashmir, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the J&K High Court seeking directions for restraining the authorities from using pepper gas on civilians. The PIL has also prayed for compensating the victims in case of death or other health hazards suffered due to the exposure to pepper gas, which has been termed as ‘life threatening’ by the health experts. The PIL has been filed even as the State Human rights Commission (SHRC) had last week issued an interim direction to the state police authorities, asking them not to use pepper gas after residents in Kashmir complained of its health hazards. “The police is rampantly using pepper gas and tear gas to disburse mobs. This has far-reaching consequences on non-combatants, bystanders and the dwellers”, said advocate BA Misri in his PIL filed in the high court today. Citing various media reports as evidence about the hazardous effects of the “noxious” pepper gas, the PIL alleges that its use has already claimed several lives during the past few weeks in the Valley, particularly in Srinagar city, where the large-scale use of pepper gas on protesters by the police and security forces has been witnessed. The PIL says that the exposure to pepper gas infuses multifarious disorders, diseases and uneasiness, especially among the children and aged. “The police unmindful of the direction of the SHRC is excessively using pepper gas even on the slightest provocation despite the fact that this gas is of hazardous nature and can induce or aggravate respiratory diseases, pulmonary edema, acute elevation in blood pressure which is associated with risk of stroke and heart attack,” Misri has submitted in the PIL. Stating that the gas spreads in the atmosphere beyond the target area, the PIL says that there is no justification for the police to resort to such hazardous action. The PIL says that “the respondents (police and security forces) be restrained from using pepper gas during mob management”. The high court is yet to list the matter for hearing. Pepper gas ‘harmful’ Pepper gas, experts say, contains an active ingredient called capsaicin, which is derived from capsicum and is highly irritating This gas was introduced in Kashmir by the police authorities two years ago to control the agitating mobs Experts and doctors, while warning about the harmful and hazardous effects of pepper gas, have termed it life-threatening
	Ex-legislators from Kupwara present demands to Governor Tribune News Service Jammu, March 12 Former legislators from Kupwara district AR Badana and Nasir Khan called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today and apprised him about development demands of their area. They demanded improvement and upgrade of Chowkibal-Teetwal and Meejyal-Keran roads, recruitment drives in the Army and paramilitary forces at Karnah and Keran for the youth, more funds for construction of buildings and raising other infrastructure for Army Goodwill School, Hajinar, Karnah, and measures for securing the rapid socio-economic growth of Pahari-speaking people. They discussed with the Governor matters relating to measures to be taken for the development of the people of the area, particularly those living along the border line. The Governor assured the ex-legislators that the issues raised by them would be taken up with the authorities concerned.
	3 held for Kupwara grenade blast Our Correspondent Kupwara, March 12 The police in Kupwara today claimed to have arrested three persons responsible for a grenade attack on an Army bunker at the general bus stand in Kupwara. The attack on the Army bunker took place on November 1, 2011, in which three pedestrians Asif Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Thindipora, Bashir Ahmad Mir, a resident of Drugmulla, and Tasleema Bano, a resident of Gugloosa, were injured. A police spokesman said the kingpin of the attack, Javid Ahmad Shah, a resident of Shortmuqam in Lolab, who is an overground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was arrested. “During sustained questioning, the accused confessed to his involvement in the incident and on his revelation two more accused, overground worker of JeM Mohammad Abdullah Bhat, a resident of Maidanpora in Lolab, and overground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen Nawaz Ahmad Shah, a resident of Shortmuqam, were arrested for their involvement in the incident,” the spokesman said. The police said Nawaz was involved in a murder case and an FIR under Section 302 of the RPC was registered against him at the Lalpora police station. All the three arrested persons have been booked under Section 307 of the RPC and 3/5 of the Explosive Substances Act.
	Minor reshuffle in judiciary Legal Correspondent Jammu, March 12 In a court meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Justice M M Kumar,a minor reshuffle in the higher judiciary was ordered. According to the order issued by the Registrar General, J&K High Court, Suresh Kumar Sharma, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Baramulla, Kaneez Fatima has been transferred and posted as Special Judge, Anti-Corruption CBI Cases, J&K, against the available post due to the elevation of B L Bhat as Judge of J&K High Court. Kartar Singh, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Samba, has been transferred and posted as Principal District and Sessions Judge, Jammu, against a vacant post after the retirement of Jang Bhadur Singh. Inder Singh, Judicial Member, J&K State Sales Tax Tribunal, has been transferred and posted as Principal District and Sessions Judge, Samba, in place of Kartar Singh.
	Three held for Kupwara grenade blast Our Correspondent Kupwara, March 12 The police in Kupwara today claimed to have arrested three persons responsible for a grenade attack on an Army bunker at the general bus stand in Kupwara. The attack on the Army bunker took place on November 1, 2011, in which three pedestrians Asif Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Thindipora, Bashir Ahmad Mir, a resident of Drugmulla, and Tasleema Bano, a resident of Gugloosa, were injured. A police spokesman said the kingpin of the attack, Javid Ahmad Shah, a resident of Shortmuqam in Lolab, who is an overground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was arrested. “During sustained questioning, the accused confessed to his involvement in the incident and on his revelation two more accused, overground worker of JeM Mohammad Abdullah Bhat, a resident of Maidanpora in Lolab, and overground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen Nawaz Ahmad Shah, a resident of Shortmuqam, were arrested for their involvement in the incident,” the spokesman said.