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Attack on Pak prisoner in Jammu jail
Chamel Singh’s family says it has been given raw deal
Sanaullah was part of prison band
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Children suffering from trauma in quake-hit Chenab valley
Poor network irks 3G
Internet subscribers in Jammu
Militant killed in Kupwara encounter
Bring back Kashmir’s prisoners lodged outside: Mirwaiz
Azad to visit earthquake-hit Doda, Kishtwar
Govt lists steps to revive bee-keeping in state
PDP expresses concern over deteriorating Indo-Pak ties
Police verifying inputs of infiltration in Kupwara
Workers’ strike halts rail project
First post office at shopping mall
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Attack on Pak prisoner in Jammu jail
Jammu, May 3 “The prison has the capacity to house 950 prisoners and currently it has 391 inmates, including 22 Pakistan nationals. Out of 22 Pakistani prisoners, 11 were convicted and imprisoned in militancy-related crimes,” said a senior official of the jail. Before 2001 when the prison was not given the status of Central Jail, the majority of the prisoners were Kashmiri militants and foreign mercenaries. After 2001, the jail began getting local prisoners as well, said the official. The Kot Bhalwal prison hogged media attention when the Central government set free three of its inmates and hardcore terrorists — Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh — in December 1999 in exchange of passengers on board IC-814 flight hijacked to Kandahar. The official said that despite a few incidents that brought a bad name to the prison in the past, it had been able to make a good impression because of its social and reformatory activities like the musical band introduced by Superintendent Rajni Sehgal, who was suspended today. “Other vocational activities like handloom, embroidery, cutting and tailoring, physical fitness regime and studies through the IGNOU centre have a good impact on the reformation of inmates,” he said. However, today’s incident has again brought the prison in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, he added. There have been a number of incidents in the prison in the past too that have invited attention. On October 16, 1998, laxity in the security system on the part of the jail staff and officers had resulted in the escape of three top Pakistani militants Major Irfan, Mohd Salim and Mohd Khalid from the Kot Bhalwal jail. On December 18, 2006, tension prevailed in the same jail after more than 300 prisoners, including militants and foreign mercenaries, refused to go into their cells protesting against the jail administration orders to “improve” discipline on the jail campus. On November 17, 2012, a prisoner Ashok Kumar found an earthen pot with 107 rare metallic coins. Before the release of Masood, the prison was in news after a 180-foot-long underground tunnel dug by militants was unearthed in time. High-security prison
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Chamel Singh’s family says it has been given raw deal
Jammu, May 3 Singh’s family says it has been given a raw deal. “It seems the Centre doesn’t consider Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of India.” “Just draw a parallel between Sarabjit Singh and my husband, Chamel Singh. The treatment given to both families is totally different. My husband was brutally murdered and we had to shuttle from pillar to post to get back his mortal remains, which were returned to us after 57 days after his killing,” said Kamlesh
Devi. She further said Sarabjit’s body was flown on May 3 evening to his native village, a day after his death. “The Prime Minister announced Rs 25 lakh ex gratia to Sarabjit’s family. The Punjab Government announced Rs 1 crore for them, besides government jobs to Sarabjit’s two daughters. Politicians, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Punjab Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister visited Sarabjit’s house in Bhikiwind village but no one visited us when my husband died,” she said. Kamlesh’s son Deepak Singh was also sore over what he called the step-motherly treatment to them. “Till date, not even a single penny has been given to us. No minister of the NC-Cong government visited us despite our village, Molu
Pargwal, falling in the Khour block from where Congress leader Tara Chand was elected as an MLA,” he said. “My father like Sarabjit was also sent across with a purpose. He was also killed in the same prison but the state government has not bothered about us,” he said. Deepak further said the Punjab Government and the Centre honoured Sarabjit’s sacrifice by announcing a total compensation of Rs 1.25
crore, government jobs to his daughters, announced state mourning for three days, besides declaring him a martyr. “Why a similar response remains elusive in our case,” he asked. |
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Sanaullah was part of prison band
Jammu, May 3 Sanaullah, a Pakistani prisoner, was attacked by a fellow inmate inside the jail today morning and suffered serious injuries. He was attacked a day after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh died at a Pakistani hospital following a murderous attack on him in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. The idea of a music band in the prison was conceived by the suspended jail superintendent, Rajni Sehgal, and it had attracted media attention in the country recently. “Yes, once a militant, Sanaullah Haq was a prominent bagpiper of the Kot Bhalwal Jail band,” said Sehgal. She seized the opportunity to set aside speculations over the incident, saying, “It was a minor scuffle between two inmates (Sanaullah and Vinod Kumar, a court-martialed soldier from Uttarakhand) over some trivial issue. Both of them were smoking ‘beedis’ while they had been tasked with watering and maintaining flower beds of the jail garden this morning when the scuffle broke out between them.” “Since, Sanaullah was a Pakistani prisoner, he was more important to us. We immediately separated them and rushed him (Sanaullah) to a hospital. And, it was not an attack but a scuffle between the two inmates,” she said. “Sanaullah, a resident of Dalowali village in Sialkot district of Pakistan, has been in the Kot Bhalwal prison since 1999 and had been groomed to play bagpipes with perfection. The band, of which he was a part, had hogged the media attention in the country in recent times,” said a jail official. Once convicted for various crimes, ranging from militancy to murders, the jail superintendent had groomed and reformed the prisoners into musicians of sorts, he added. He, however, said this morning something serious must have happened between the two prisoners that led to the incident. We had put a proposal before the government seeking permission for the band to perform outside the jail premises, but the incident may now have a negative impact on our proposal, he said. Initially, the band had 20 members, which later come down to 12 as some inmates were released after completing their terms. Dressed in red and black uniforms, the bagpipers and drummers were “musicians” and not criminals, said the official. |
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Children suffering from trauma in quake-hit Chenab valley
Doda, May 3 Those children have been mostly affected who were at school at the time of the earthquake and were not able to find ways to deal with the situation. They remained inside their schools for around half an hour till their parents came to fetch them. One such student is Alisha Jan (name changed). She was among 150 students at her school, Green Land Public School at Ghat village, 5 km east of the Doda district headquarters, when the earthquake shook the region. During the earthquake, Alisha along with her classmates stayed on the school lawns. “Since then, Alisha is in stress and is not coming out of her house. She is quiet. Despite many efforts by her family members, she is not speaking to anyone,” said Alisha’s mother. Continuous aftershocks for the past three days are increasing the trauma of children and every time there is an aftershock, they run out of their homes which is adding to their stress. Describing the situation during the earthquake, Muhammad Kamil (5), who was her mother in the house, said, “The earthquake was very disturbing and sounded like (hoooooo) and it felt everything was coming down to the earth.” Experts feel that after the earthquake, people are going through acute stress and it will take a couple of weeks to subside. “This phenomenon is called post-traumatic stress disorder, which is common after earthquakes or any such calamaties. Children and elders are vulnerable to it and it will take people around two weeks to come back to normal,” said Dr Jagdish Thapa, a psychiatrist. Dr Thapa said people with strong personalities would come out of the PTSD. “Those who are weak and have taken extra stress need counselling. Parents and teachers can help children to come out of the stress,” he said. |
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Poor network irks 3G
Internet subscribers in Jammu
Jammu, May 3 The Internet users in Jammu city were left in the lurch after January 16 when the only CDMA (code division multiple access - a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies) network provider, TaTa DOCOMO, closed down its operations in the state. Its subscribers had no other option but to adopt the 3G services of other telecom operators. There are five telecom operators in Jammu, Airtel, Aircel, Reliance, Idea and BSNL, which provide 3G services and claim a speed of up to 7.2 mbps. “After Tata Photon, I bought Aircel’s 3G dongle. I have been paying Rs 699 per month as its rent, but most of the time it doesn’t work, especially when I need it the most,” said Shivani Koul, a subscriber. “The company assures speed up to 7.2 mbps, but it hardly gives more than 100 kbps. Sometimes it even goes to zero kbps. The company officials say we have limited access in Jammu city due to interference from Pakistan,” said Shivani. The problem is the same with other network providers and subscribers are suffering due to the apathy of the telecom providers. “I got a Reliance connection after watching its attractive banners and advertisements of high-speed data cards, but it works like the old dail-up connection,” said Mohammad Aarif, a resident of Gujjar Nagar. “The dongle doesn’t work in my locality. Every time I have to go to my friend’s place to connect to the Internet. I cannot even discontinue the connection, as the dongle was a one-time purchase and it is not compatible with any other network. I complained to the customer care, but nothing has been done so far,” Aarif said. The subscribers of other telecom operators such as the BSNL, Airtel and Idea are also facing problems due to low speed and limited connectivity. The subscribers say they have no other option but to continue with their current service providers as there is no substitute in the state. The officials of various telecom operators refused to comment on the issue and said they needed to get permission from their corporate office to talk to the media. |
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Militant killed in Kupwara encounter
Srinagar, May 3 The encounter began yesterday evening. The Army and the police launched the operation after receiving information about
the movement of militants in the forests of Hafruda, nearly 85 km from
Srinagar. “A search operation was launched in the area. As the search was going on, militants opened fire on the troops. The fire was retaliated and an encounter erupted around 7 pm on Thursday,” said an Army officer. “One militant took position in a forest hideout and kept firing at the troops,” he said. A cordon was maintained throughout the night by
the troops. “In the wee hours today, the exchange of fire began again, in which an unidentified militant was killed,” he said. “Some arms and ammunition were recovered from the hideout.” The Army officers said the operation was called off today afternoon. Meanwhile, panic gripped the Pattan area of Baramulla district today after the Army and the police cordoned off a market after receiving information about the presence of a militant in the area. A search operation was carried out but no one was arrested. |
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Bring back Kashmir’s prisoners lodged outside: Mirwaiz
Srinagar, May 3 Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of separatist group Hurriyat Conference, said the attack on Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistani prison was “condemnable”. “The attack on Indian citizen Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistani jail and his death is regrettable and we understand the pain of losing a life because we have seen thousands of our loved ones being murdered,” Mirwaiz said, addressing a Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid in the old city here. The separatist leader also demanded that political prisoners from Kashmir who are lodged in jails outside the state be shifted to the jails located in the region.
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Azad to visit earthquake-hit Doda, Kishtwar
Jammu, May 3 All health institutions have been made functional in the area following the calamity. Azad, who belongs to Doda district, will convene a meeting of all senior officials of Kishtwar and Doda districts. Ironically, no senior minister of the state government has so far visited the affected area to assess the losses. Meanwhile, Director, Health Services, Jammu, Dr Madhu Khullar, told The Tribune that all health institutions in this belt were functional, as most of the buildings of these institutions were safe. “Some buildings develop cracks but these buildings are safe,” she said and claimed that Roads and Buildings Department had been asked to prepare a detailed report of the losses to the buildings of the Dr Khullar said the Health Department had prepared a detailed report to be presented before the Union Health Minister to seek help from the Centre to further improve health infrastructure in this belt. Dr Khullar, who has been camping in the affected areas for the past three days, said health institutions even in far-flung areas were functioning.
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Govt lists steps to revive bee-keeping in state
Srinagar, May 3 The number of bee colonies went down from 50,594 in 2011 to 30,000 in 2012. The report stated that only 30 per cent of the apiculture (bee-keeping) potential in the state was being utilised. Director, Agriculture Department, Peerzada Mushtaq said there were thousands of apiarists in the Valley who maintained around 2,000 bee colonies commonly in hives. He said 80 per cent of the bee-keeping business in the state suffered due to Thai Sac brood disease in 1982 and Varraoa mite in 2005. “The bee-keeping sector is gradually reviving itself after those setbacks with various schemes like Rashritya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY). We are inviting the youth of the Valley to start their own bee-keeping units which could fetch them a good amount of revenue,” Peerzada said. Under the Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH) and RKVY schemes, a beneficiary would be funded with Rs 20,000 for the maintenance of a unit comprising 10 bee colonies. Due to continuous decline in the number of bee colonies in almost all regions of the state, the department now contemplates to revive this sector by roping in young, unemployed farmers and entrepreneurs by providing them with adequate incentives and technical guidance. Bee colonies can help in maintenance of the ecological system by cross pollination of agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and forestry crops. The development of this sector could be a great source of employment, especially for the rural youths of the state. |
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PDP expresses concern over deteriorating Indo-Pak ties
Addressing a convention of workers in Srinagar, she said the state government had failed in its duty to protect Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Haq despite an advisory by the Central government to all states on strengthening the security of Pakistani prisoners. “The killing of Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan has been condemned and the people of Kashmir who have been the victims of violence for decades can understand the pain of his family more than anybody else. The people of the two countries must strive to come out of the vicious cycle of hatred and allow peace process to be revived,” Mehbooba said. Coming down heavily on the state government for failing to prevent the attack on Sanaullah in Kot Bhalwal Jail, Mehbooba said it seemed to be something worse than mere inefficiency for which the state government is known. “The attack could be a part of Omar Abdullah government’s agenda to please the fundamentalist and extremist elements in the country to show itself as more loyal than the king,” Mehbooba said, while pointing out that the instability in the region suits the National Conference’s negative politics and vested interests. |
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Police verifying inputs of infiltration in Kupwara
Srinagar, May 3 “We are trying to ascertain the number of militants who have infiltrated through Machil. We have picked up signals of increased communication between militants in north Kashmir in the recent past,” said a senior police officer monitoring infiltration in Kashmir. “We suspect that these militants are holed up in the higher reaches of Kupwara,” he added After the input about the latest infiltration was shared with the Army, troops of the 53 Brigade launched a massive search in the forests of Machil and Kupwara to trace the militants who had sneaked in but they could not find any militants. “There was an input and we are ascertaining the facts,” an Army officer said. However, on record neither the police nor the Army has confirmed that any militant group has infiltrated through Kupwara so far. “There were reports about the infiltration, but it is not confirmed,” Deputy Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir, J P Singh told the Tribune. The Army too said they had no such report about any infiltration so far. “There is no such report of infiltration so far. If there is any infiltration, it would be disclosed by the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), whose figures are valid and accepted by both the Union Home and Defence Ministries," he said. Last year, according to the MAC figures, over 100 militants had infiltrated. In March this year, the police and the Army were at loggerheads after the fidayeen attack in Srinagar as the police said the two fidayeen who carried out the attack had infiltrated through the Uri sector of north Kashmir. The Army had maintained that no infiltration had taken place in the Uri sector. With the melting of snow from mountains and passes, the Army which guards the LoC is apprehending more infiltration attempts in the coming months. The Army said it was keeping a close vigil on three sectors of north Kashmir which include Nowgam, Chowkibal and Gurez as militants in the past have been using these areas to sneak into the Valley. The LoC is fenced with barbed wire and sophisticated equipment like UAVs, high-power cameras, thermal-sensing cameras and long-range observation system. |
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Workers’ strike halts rail project
Katra, May 3 Karan Dev Singh, an employee of the AEPPL, said the company had it had been months since they were paid salaries. He said even after several rounds of discussions and repeated protests, nothing was done in this regard and suspension of the work was their last resort. Banu Partap Singh, an employee, termed the corporation’s approach as unjustified because the employees had been working with dedication and sincerity in the militancy-affected state. “Instead of rewarding us, the company is not paying our dues,” he alleged. The employees working on the project started an indefinite strike on April 23. Banu Partap Singh alleged that for the past one year, the AEPPL had been giving false assurances of paying dues to the employees. “We demand that payments be immediate made or we will keep fighting for our rights,” he added. |
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First post office at shopping mall
Srinagar, May 3 Samuel said this was the first post office in the state which would be functioning inside a shopping mall. “The motive behind such an initiative is to make available postal services to customers visiting the shopping mall at ease,” the Chief Postmaster General said. He said more post offices would be modernised in the coming days. — TNS |
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Doda, May 3
Srinagar, May 3