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Amid hullabaloo over Liyaqat, govt ignores rehab norms
Speaker disallows adjournment motion on Hizb ‘militant’
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News
Analysis
Pak intruder shot dead in Rajouri district
Amnesty slams militants for targeting civilians
Hizbul makes a comeback in Valley after decade of setbacks
Rasheed tells NC, PDP to take up development issues
Governor for making Jammu Central university centre of excellence
Farooq welcomes move to set up special courts for Muslim youth
Omar: 41 foreigners among 86 detained under PSA in state
Move over shikaras, now relish Dal Lake on cycles
Guv thanked for promoting agriculture in Zanskar
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Amid hullabaloo over Liyaqat, govt ignores rehab norms
Jammu, March 25 It seems the coalition regime, which has locked horns with the Delhi Police and has compelled the Union Home Ministry to order a probe, is legitimising the entry of Kashmiri militants to J&K from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir via illegal routes. The J&K Assembly today erupted in chaos with none other than the ruling National Conference demanding an adjournment motion on Liyaqat. Not going too far down memory lane, the state government had recently admitted on the floor of the Lower House that till February 15 this year, 241 Kashmiri militants illegally returned to the state via Nepal and Bangladesh borders. Under the rehabilitation policy announced in 2010, Omar had identified four routes of Chakan da Bagh in Poonch district, Salamabad in Baramulla district, Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and Attari in Punjab for the return of Kashmiri militants. The government had admitted that not even one Kashmiri militant returned to Jammu and Kashmir via the four identified routes under its much-touted “rehabilitation policy”. Even today when the Lower House assembled for the day’s business, at least four MLAs of the National Conference, Nasir Aslam Wani, Javed Ahmed Dar, Peer Afaq and Syed Ruhullah, moved an adjournment motion. Wani later told reporters that Liyaqat’s case must be handled sensitively as it might discourage other militants from surrendering in the near future. “With NC MLAs pressing for an adjournment motion on Liyaqat and Omar’s government earnestly pursuing the case with the Union Home Minister, this government has legitimised entry of Kashmiri militants via illegal routes like the porous Nepal and Bangladesh borders,” said a top Army source. None other than Chief Minister Omar Abdullah this evening stated in the Lower House that Liyaqat was returning to Kashmir to surrender under the rehabilitation policy. On March 23, a cautious-looking Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, who had endorsed the viewpoint of his party MLAs in the Lower House, had said that the state government had taken up the matter with the Delhi Police.
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Speaker disallows adjournment motion on Hizb ‘militant’
The adjournment motion was moved by four NC legislators, Nasir Aslam Wani, Javed Ahmad Dar, Aga Syed Rahullah and Peer Afaq, who sought a debate and reply from the state government on Liyaqat’s arrest. However, Panthers Party members were on their feet and opposed the adjournment motion, saying they would not allow the House to discuss the issue. The Speaker said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had taken up the matter with Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and sought a time-bound and fast-track probe into the issue by the National Investigation Agency. He said they should wait till the reply of the Chief Minister who would speak on the matter and turned down the adjournment motion. Panthers Party member Balwant Singh Mankotia, however, took on the government for supporting the cause of “anti-nationals” and said they would bring a no-confidence motion against the government as “it had lost credibility and the right to continue” in the state. “Those who are involved in anti-India activities should not be discussed in the House. First, they brought an adjournment on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and now on Liyaqat. We will not allow this to happen,” Mankotia shouted. Later, Nasir Aslam Wani told reporters outside the Legislative Assembly that his party wanted to know whether Liyaqat had come back to the state under the rehabilitation policy. “If he has come under the policy, there is no reason to arrest him and put him behind the bars. The Chief Minister has taken up the issue with the Union Home Minister, who has promised him a fair probe,” Wani said. Meanwhile, BJP MLAs staged a sit-in outside the Legislature Complex against the state government for its stance on Liyaqat’s arrest and castigated the NC for bringing an adjournment motion on the issue. Led by BJP Legislature party leader Ashok Khajuria, the protesting MLAs raised slogans against the NC and blamed it for supporting the “anti-national” people. |
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News
Analysis
Jammu, March 25 He accused New Delhi of doing everything wrong on purpose to cover the failures of his own government in delivering good governance and touching on the issues that have no direct impact on the people. Once again he raked up the issue of the terms and conditions under which the state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India – barring three subjects of external affairs, defence and communications, all other affairs to be overseen by the state itself – and ridiculed all those who declared J&K as an “atoot” (integral) part of India. “I don’t understand that as to why this chorus of atoot ang, atoot ang” is repeated time and again. Parliament had unanimously passed a resolution declaring that entire Jammu and Kashmir, including the part under the illegal occupation of Pakistan was an “integral part of India”. His father Farooq Abdullah is the Union minister, and the National Conference has three other members in the Lok Sabha and two in Rajya Sabha. Omar Abdullah, who always uses strong words for the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, said “they (PDP) may be right in asking for ‘self-rule’ as we (National Conference) find autonomy as the best way out and Congress rests its solution on the 1975 Sheikh-Indira accord. All this suggests that “there is Kashmir issue and it needs resolution”. The CM’s body language was clear through his tone and tenor against New Delhi on the issues of the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act. “While Afzal Guru, who was hanged out of turn, cannot be brought back to life, AFSPA once revoked, can be brought back,” he argued. “There is no need to develop cold feet on the issue,” he said. This anti-Delhi rhetoric was aimed at appealing to the emotions of Kashmiris, who were fed up with the politicisation of the issues. He had delivered a similar speech questioning the “atoot ang” theory on October 6, 2010, the year when 120 people were killed on the streets of Kashmir and there were strong voices calling for him to step down. Today, the independent member Abdul Rashid also had suggested to the ruling National Conference and PDP to confine themselves to the issues of “sadak, bijli and pani”. Whenever Omar Abdullah is faced with a situation of empty opposition benches and widespread criticism of the style of governance, he turns to his anti-Delhi instincts to bail him out of the crisis. His fears that the rehabilitation policy for the militants coming from across may get adversely impacted because of the arrest of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen militant Liyakat Ali Shah, were rooted in a twisted fact because Nepal was never acknowledged as a route through which the militants could come and surrender in the Valley. |
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Pak intruder shot dead in Rajouri district
Rajouri, March 25 He said that during late night operations launched by troops in search of his body, they failed, but early this morning, troops recovered the body of an intruder and recovered a few phone numbers, Rupees 2035 Pakistan currency and an Identification card from his procession and no weapon had been recovered from him till reports last came in. This afternoon, 7 Assam rifles handed over body of an intruder identified as Mohammed Maqsood (32) of village Nalli, tehsil Barnai, district Bimber in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to Nowshera police for legal formalities. Additional Superintendent of Police Nowshera Purshotam Lal Sharma said, “We have received the body of an intruder belonging to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and entering 100 metres inside the Indian territory suspiciously yesterday.” As for claims for the body, Additional Superintendent of Police said, “We have not received any reaction from Pakistan, but we have decided that the intruder’s body will be buried tomorrow if Pakistan doesn’t claim it.” |
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Amnesty slams militants for targeting civilians
Srinagar, March 25 Such attacks (by militants), the Amnesty has said, demonstrate a “contempt” for the fundamental principles of humanity. The statement by the rights group has come out at a time when there has been a spurt in attacks by militants on security forces in crowed market areas or killing of panchayat members in Kashmir. A 65-year-old civilian was killed yesterday when suspected militants attacked a police party in a busy market area in north Kashmir’s Sopore town. “Amnesty International has steadfastly opposed both human rights abuses committed by armed groups and human rights violations committed by security forces and the police in Jammu and Kashmir,” the AI said. “The number of civilian deaths seems to have increased since the beginning of 2013. Armed groups have targeted members of the general population in Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions in 2013,” the Amnesty said in its latest statement while questioning the “strategy” and the “modus operandi” of the armed groups. On March 19, the AI said, 18 year-old Suhail Ahmad Sofi, a resident of
Sopore in north Kashmir, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen. Stating that sarpanches or local government officials have also been targeted by militants, the Amnesty said that on February 24,
members of an armed group killed Javed Ahmed Wani, a sarpanch in Baramulla district. “Such attacks demonstrate contempt for the fundamental principles of humanity”, the AI said. “The authorities must investigate all human rights violations and abuses promptly, effectively and transparently and bring the perpetrators to justice in proceedings that meet international fair trial standards”, the rights watchdog Amnesty added.
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Hizbul makes a comeback in Valley after decade of setbacks
Srinagar, March 25 Hizbul Mujahideen, which was founded in 1989 by militant commander Master Ahsan Dar, has claimed the responsibility for the four major attacks on security forces in Kashmir this month. Five CRPF personnel, two policemen and a BSF constable were killed and nine others were injured in the attacks. One civilian was also killed in the attacks. Hizb, which fights for the merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan, is the only major militant outfit operating in the region apart from pan-Islamist Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Most of Hizb’s commanders and cadre are locals while most of LeT’s and JeM’s cadres and command structure are Pakistani. The fidayeen attack in which five CRPF personnel were killed and six others injured at Bemina on the city outskirts this month, was also claimed by Hizb. The police says the two fidayeen militants, killed in the attack, and their commander, Mohammad Zubair, alias Abu Talha, who was arrested a kilometre away from the attack site a day after the attack, were all Lashkar members. It acknowledges that it was Hizb which facilitated the attack. The return of the militant group and its capacity to carry out deadly assaults has come as a surprise as most of its members and top commanders have been killed or arrested in the
last one decade. Hizb lost dozens of its top and veteran commanders in the last 10 years, depleting the outfit of the resources and manpower. The group had also lost its grip on militancy after it called for a ceasefire in July 2000, which later resulted in its vertical split and infighting. It was during this period that LeT and JeM, operating from Pakistan, emerged as the major players of militancy. A year after the ceasefire broke down, Hizb expelled its military operations chief Majeed Dar and replaced him with Ghulam Hassan Khan, alias Saifullah, who was killed in 2003. Saifullah was replaced by Gazi Naseerudin, who was killed in January 2004. Naseerudin was replaced by Gazi Shahabuddin, who was killed in May 2004 and replaced by Gazi Misbahuddin. Misbahuddin was arrested in 2007. Hizb’s chief commander Syed Salahuddin, nom de guerre of Mohammad Yousuf Shah, a resident of central Kashmir’s Soibugh village, who is now based in Pakistan, has in recent months hinted at renewing militancy in Kashmir. In an interview with a local news agency three months ago, Salahuddin rejected the separatist leadership’s trumpeting of “peaceful struggle” and warned that only arms would solve the Kashmir issue. Kashmir IGP Abdul Ghani Mir says militancy is not yet over in the region. “The situation is not like that where we can say we have reached zero-militancy,” the IGP told The Tribune. “Militancy is there and we are in a position to tackle it,” he said. The IGP said the fidayeen attack in Srinagar was carried by LeT militants and facilitated by Hizb. He said all indicators suggested the Sunday afternoon attack on policemen in north Kashmir’s Sopore town was carried out by Hizb and the militant outfit has already claimed the responsibility for it. A police officer involved in the counter-insurgency grid said the attacks were an attempt by Hizb to revive itself. |
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Rasheed tells NC, PDP to take up development issues
Jammu, March 25 Rasheed said it was high time for both parties to introspect. He said the parties should either stand firm on their political agendas (NC’s autonomy and PDP’s self-rule) or leave the resolution of the Kashmir issue to the Governments of India and Pakistan and the Hurriyat leaders. “The PDP and the NC should either work together to solve the Kashmir issue politically or restrain from talking about the agendas which they cannot plead at any level. It will be proper for them to keep their agenda restricted to the basic issues of development such as roads, water and electricity and leave the resolution of the Kashmir issue to the Hurriyat leaders and the Governments of India and Pakistan,” the MLA said, while participating in a debate on grants for departments, being held by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Legislative Assembly here. Rasheed said it would be a big relief to the people of the state, if these two parties stopped exploiting Kashmiris in the name of resolution of the Kashmir issue. He told the Chief Minister that people wanted to know if his party had contested the Assembly elections four times and the parliamentary elections five times on the agenda of restoring autonomy, had his party been able to get to it? “Similarly, the PDP has done it thrice by seeking votes in the name of self-rule, but it even lacks the capability to take over Omar Abdullah in the Assembly over smaller issues. The failure of both these parties has seized the right to question Hurriyat people about their achievements,” he said. He said, “Rather than blaming Pakistan and the Hurriyat leaders and calling their own people miscreants, Omar and Mufti should ask their conscience that is it not their failure that they have not moved an inch towards the resolution of the Kashmir issue which has pushed each Kashmiri to the wall.” He also criticised the PDP for boycotting the Assembly session and said the excuses given by the party did not carry any weight. |
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Governor for making Jammu Central university centre of excellence
Jammu, March 25 The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the Central University of Jammu, was reviewing various issues relating to the development of the university at a presentation made by Dr SS Bloeria, Vice-Chancellor of the university, at Raj Bhawan here today. The Governor stressed the benefit of integrated research projects being undertaken by the university, particularly on identified issues which have significant relevance vis-à-vis the problems faced by the three regions of the state so that the research outcomes could help in the rapid growth and development of the state. He said to secure such an objective, it would be beneficial to identify some inter-disciplinary collaborative research projects to enable exploitation of new approaches and innovations. The Governor emphasised that while establishing various buildings and structures on the campus, measures should be taken for harnessing solar energy and systematic conservation of water resources, which were scarce in the area. In his presentation, Dr Bloeria dwelt on the vision, mission and profile of the university and the salient features of the teaching and research facilities to be put in place at its upcoming campus. He said eight PG and four integrated M.Phil/Ph.D programmes were being run in the university during 2012-13 session and it proposed to start four more integrated M.Phil/Ph.D programmes during 2013-14 session. These include public policy and public administration, national security studies, human resource management and tourism and travel management. Referring to the campus development, he said the campus would be developed in three phases. Principal Secretary
to the Governor Navin K Choudhary participated in the discussions. |
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Farooq welcomes move to set up special courts for Muslim youth
Srinagar, March 25 The Union Minister said some Muslim youth who were behind bars might have been implicated under false charges. “Yes, there may be many youth from the Muslim community who are innocent but are still in jail. I think establishing special courts will be a relief to such youth,” Farooq said on the sidelines of the three-day-long Kashmir Poetry Festival, which was inaugurated by him at the Radio Kashmir auditorium in Srinagar today. Union Minister for Minority Affairs K. Rahman on Sunday had said the Home Ministry had approved setting up of special courts for Muslims and had promised to establish such courts soon. Farooq also said that the suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant Liyaqat Ali Shah who was arrested by the Delhi Police three days ago would be released if proven innocent. “The state government has taken up the matter with the Central government and the inquiry is being conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). If he is proven innocent as claimed by his family, he will be released,” the Union Minister said. — TNS |
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Omar: 41 foreigners among 86 detained under PSA in state
Jammu, March 25 He, however, said it might not be appropriate to disclose their identity. “No woman has been detained under the PSA till March 20,” the Chief Minister said. Omar said this in reply to a cut motion of PDP legislator Shafi Ahmad Wani in the state Assembly here. In respond to another cut motion, Omar said 100 women prisoners, including 13 convicts and 87 undertrials, were lodged in different jails of the state. The Chief Minister said no person under 18 years had been detained under the
PSA. |
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Move over shikaras, now relish Dal Lake on cycles
Srinagar, March 25 “We are very serious about popularising bicycling among the people. While bicycling is the answer to traffic snarls, we will be setting up bicycle parking points across the city, especially at tourist spots. We will also make available bicycles on rent,” said Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Commissioner G N Qasba. He said tourists, especially foreigners, would also be able to go sightseeing on bicycles. “Besides cycling around the Dal Lake, they can also visit pilgrim sites like Hazratbal and other shrines. We are hopeful that it will bring about a big change in the manner people commute in the city. Besides, there will be provisions for renting a cycle from one spot to the other. A person can take a cycle from Lal Chowk to say Nishat Garden only,” Qasba said. For the eco-friendly plan to materialise, the SMC has already issued a notice inviting offers from bicycle companies or dealers to popularise bicycling as a means of short distance transport in the city. The SMC is also planning to ensure that bicycles are sold through instalments. Qasba said separate parking spaces for bicycles would be earmarked at the existing parking lots of the city. While the setting up of special bicycling tracks might not be possible in the near future, the SMC Commissioner said pedestrian and bicycling paths were an “important component” of the Srinagar Mobility Plan that would be blended with the revision of the city Master Plan, which is currently being drafted by the Srinagar Development Authority (SDA). While the SMC is planning to officially launch its bicycling dream in May, Qasba said the event was likely to be inaugurated by a local centurion. “I know a person, who is around 100 years old and has been bicycling around the city for the last 80-odd years. Bicycling is the reason for his good health and he will be our mascot,” he said. The summer capital had hosted the second leg of an international cycling event, Tour De India, last year that was attended by several foreign cyclists. The foreign cyclists had noted that Kashmir had the potential of playing host to other international cycling events as well.
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Guv thanked for promoting agriculture in Zanskar
Jammu, March 25 The demands presented by the five-member deputation, led by president of the Association Nazar Mohammad, included a judicial inquiry into the incident that took place at Padum in Zanskar on September 23, 2012, and adequate relief to the affected families. The delegation thanked the Governor for taking a keen interest in the development of the remote area of the Ladakh region, particularly focusing on the promotion of the agriculture sector. After hearing the delegation, the Governor observed that the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, would be asked to initiate urgent measures to ensure normalcy in the area. He stressed that peace, harmony and normalcy were the essential pre-requisites for development and progress. The Governor emphasised the need for strengthening communal harmony and brotherhood to make Jammu and Kashmir a frontline developed state of the country. — TNS |
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Jammu, March 25
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Jammu, March 25
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Srinagar, March 25
