The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Azad visits quake-hit areas again Asks Doda-Bhaderwah residents to rebuild damaged houses instead of going for repair Amir Karim Tantray Tribune News Service Jammu, May 14 During his second visit to the quake-hit areas of Doda-Bhaderwah within 10 days, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad today advised the people to rebuild their damaged houses instead of repairing them. “Going for repair will not serve the purpose and threat will always remain there. So it is better to rebuild houses on modern lines,” Azad told the affected people at Ghat village, 5 km from Doda town, where he visited a few houses in Tantray, Bhagat and Butt Muhallas (localities). He said the damage was severe and most of the structures had been damaged and needed to be rebuilt on modern lines with quake-resistant technology. Besides Ghat, Azad visited Doda town, Bhaderwah, Bhalessa and different areas where the people have suffered damage and took stock of the relief work. He directed the administration to expedite the assessment process by May 15 so that a complete picture is known and he is able to get a relief package from the Prime Minister. Azad has shown keen interest in providing relief to the affected families and is in touch with the administration. In Bhaderwah town, Azad visited almost all the wards and took stock of the situation and relief operation. “During the visit, Azad asked the people to take photographs of their structures damaged in the quake if no survey team has reached their area and submit these pictures to the administration so that they get relief,” Abdul Majeed Wani, Minister for R&B told The Tribune, who was accompanying the Union Minister to all these areas. Talking to reporters at Bhaderwah, Azad reaffirmed that he will soon get a relief package for the people of the area where almost 80 to 90 per cent structures had developed minor to major cracks. On May 1, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake had jolted Doda and Kishtwar districts, with tremors being felt in the entire north India. The Doda-Bhaderwah area received maximum damage and the government buildings as well as private houses had developed cracks. On May 4, Azad made his first visit to the area and expressed shock that the kind of damage he had seen on ground was not conveyed to him. Azad said more than 10,000 tents were needed so that everyone is provided a shelter. He said the vice-chairman, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India, MS Reddy, who accompanied him to the area earlier, has constituted a technical team to formulate a comprehensive project and conduct programmes with the people for avoiding any damage in future. “The team is on the job and will submit its report in a day or two. The NDMA will do its best to provide all possible help to the quake victims of the area,” Azad added. Meanwhile, during his visit to Ghat village, Azad skipped a public meeting where hundreds of people were waiting for hours and straightway went to board his chopper after visiting the quake-hit people.
	Governor reviews Amarnath pilgrimage arrangements Visits yatra base camps at Baltal and Pahalgam, conducts aerial survey Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 14 Governor N N Vohra today visited the base camps at Baltal and Pahalgam and also conducted an aerial survey of the entire yatra route to review the preparedness for the upcoming Amarnath yatra scheduled from June 28. Vohra, who is also the Chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), undertook an aerial survey of the entire yatra area, including the holy cave, Panjtarni, Mahagunus Top, Sheshnag and Chandanwari. While reviewing the snow situation, the Governor asked the CEO, SASB, Navin K Choudhary, to ensure snow clearance at the earliest to facilitate putting in place other yatra arrangements in time. The Governor later inspected the ongoing construction work of sewage treatment plants (STPs) at the Baltal and Nunwan base camps and directed the officials concerned to complete it well before the commencement of the yatra. He also inspected the treatment blocks being constructed for the treatment of waste from langars. The Governor directed the CEOs of the Pahalgam Development Authority and Sonamarg Development Authority to make effective arrangements for the daily collection, dumping and disposal of garbage on scientific lines. While reviewing the arrangements for providing medical facilities to the pilgrims, the Governor impressed upon the Chief Medical Officers of Anantnag and Ganderbal districts to set up medical camps with adequate manpower, equipment and medicines. The Governor impressed upon the Public Health Engineering Department to have underground water supply facility at the base camp locations to avoid unnecessary expenditure every year for bringing water supply pipes and then transporting them back after every yatra. Power Development Department officials told the Governor that power supply at camp locations would be operational by June 10. The Governor asked the Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag and Ganderbal to make sure that the requisite permission for setting up of tents and shops was granted to deserving persons from local areas as per the guidelines in a transparent manner. The Governor stressed the need for proper traffic management and directed the traffic officials to ensure proper parking of vehicles. The Governor has also directed the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, to coordinate with the Army to ensure the shifting of Baltal Helipad to Neelgrath. The Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution officials informed the Governor that adequate supply arrangements had been made for the yatra. However, the question of providing subsidised ration and gas cylinders needed to be decided by the state government with the approval of Union Ministry concerned. PILGRIM TRAIL The Amarnath yatra will begin from June 28 Pilgrims trek via two routes - Chandanwari and Baltal The steeper Baltal route is preferred by those who wish to return to the base camp in a day Chandanwari route, which is longer, is preferred by the elderly and more ardent devotees, who believe that Lord Shiva took the same route to the holy cave shrine Over 6.20 yatris had paid obeisance at the holy cave last year
	Coordination Committee meet NC, Cong fail to reach consensus on civic poll Differences persist between them on panchayat empowerment too Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, May 14 The urban local bodies elections have been further delayed as the coalition partners, the National Conference (NC) and the Congress, have failed to take a decision on it at the Coordination Committee meeting held today. Differences continue to persist between the NC and the Congress on the issue of incorporating the relevant clauses of the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in J&K Panchayati Raj Act. Sources said at today’s meeting, the NC’s representatives ruled out meeting the deadline set by the Congress to hold the urban local bodies elections by June-end. “National Conference representatives argued that the annual Amarnath yatra was beginning from June 28 so it was impossible for the government to hold the elections simultaneously with the yatra. They said it was better to hold the elections after the pilgrimage,” a source said and added that Congress representatives could not counter the NC’s argument to delay the elections. As reported earlier, the Congress had set a deadline of June 30 to complete the process of the urban local bodies elections at any cost. Elections to the urban local bodies were scheduled to be held in February 2010 but the government has been delaying these elections by giving one or the other excuse. As the Congress representatives took a tough stand at today’s meeting, it was decided that within a couple of days the committee would discuss the controversial clauses which were not acceptable to the NC. Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Saifuddin Soz, who is the chairman of the Coalition Coordination Committee, tried to downplay the differences. “There is a broader consensus between both parties that relevant clauses should be incorporated,” Soz told The Tribune. He said some contentious clauses would be discussed in the next meeting so that both parties arrive at a consensus. When his reaction was sought on the failure of the meeting to take a decision on the civic body poll, Soz said, “It was decided today that we must wait for some time to hold the urban local bodies elections in a peaceful atmosphere.”
	Amit Shah to visit Jammu on May 17 Modi’s aide to begin ‘mission to rejuvenate BJP’ Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, May 14 Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s trusted lieutenant Amit Shah, who was recently designated party national general secretary, will start the mission to “rejuvenate the BJP for Modi” from J&K. Shah, former Home Minister of Gujarat and facing charges in a fake encounter case, will visit Jammu on May 17 to “review” the functioning of the party in the border state. Shah’s visit to J&K assumes significance because though the party’s other national general secretary J P Nadha is in charge of J&K but the party high command has decided to depute Modi’s man to get the feedback to suggest measures to revitalise the demoralised party cadre in the state. Officially, the state unit of the BJP has stated that Shah is visiting Jammu to review preparations for the forthcoming “jail bharo andolan” to be started from May 27. Sources, however, said that Shah’s visit to Jammu was a part of a well-planned strategy of the party. Shah, known for his election skills, would prepare a report after his visit and the same would be submitted to the high command for further action. “Jammu and Kashmir represents the core of the ideology of the present BJP and the erstwhile Jan Sangh. So, Modi has deputed his aide to start the mission from this state,” a source said. During his daylong visit to Jammu, Shah would convene a meeting with senior leaders besides holding discussions with heads of different morchas to get a feedback on the prospects of the party in the state. “As far as the number of Lok Sabha seats go, J&K is not so important for the BJP but the party has decided to start this mission from J&K and then move down to other states and systemically cover the entire country to make an accurate assessment of the winnable Lok Sabha seats”, sources said. Like in other parts of the country, Modi is the most popular BJP leader among party workers here. In March, BJP workers had left an important meeting as a mark of protest when a national leader had snubbed them for shouting pro-Modi slogans in the function.
	Ex-cop who threw shoe at CM held for extortion Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 14 A former policeman Abdul Ahad Jan, who threw a shoe at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Independence Day in 2010, was today arrested by the J&K Police on charges of theft, extortion, impersonation and cheating. The former head constable was arrested at 3 am by the police after a truck driver from Punjab, Kulwant Singh, lodged a complaint that a “policeman” (Jan was dressed in police uniform) forcibly took Rs 38,000 from him. Kulwant in his complaint said he had parked his truck near Pampore town on his way from Srinagar to Jammu around 1 pm on Monday to relieve himself. “As I returned, I saw a policeman in my truck who asked me why I had parked my truck on the road. He ordered me to drive the truck towards Jammu and show the documents of the vehicle. When I reached Lethpora (about 4 km from Pampore), the policeman took away Rs 38,000 which I had kept in the dashboard. The policeman immediately disembarked from the truck and fled away,” Kulwant told the police. The shocked truck driver immediately rushed to the police station Pampore and lodged a complaint. A case was registered and investigation taken up. “The driver gave a description about the man who was involved in the extortion. We zeroed in on many people and when we showed the picture of a few known extortionists, he recognised Abdul Ahad from Ajas Badnipore who was terminated from police service two years ago,” said Superintendent of Police, Awantipore, Abdul Wahid Shah. “In the past too Jan has been involved in various extortions on the highway,” he added The police rushed teams to Jan’s Bandipore home but did not find him there. “We questioned his son and finally Jan was arrested from the Dalgate area of Srinagar on Tuesday,” the SP said. “We also recovered a uniform and Rs 38,000 cash from his possession,” he added. Jan has been booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 379 (theft) and 379 (extortion and impersonation) of the RPC. Jan had thrown a shoe at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah when he went up on the podium to unfurl the Tricolour on Independence Day in 2010 in Srinagar. After throwing the shoe, which didn't hit Omar, Jan shouted pro-freedom slogans. Jan was quickly overpowered and taken into custody. Fifteen personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir security wing were suspended after the incident. However, after the personal intervention of Omar, Jan was released two days after the shoe throwing incident.
	Imtiaz Ali shoots for ‘Highway’ in Pahalgam Suhail A Shah Anantnag, May 14 Bollywood director Imtiaz Ali along with his crew, including lead actors Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt, have been shooting for his upcoming flick, Highway, in the Pahalgam area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir. According to reports, the crew has been shooting in Pahalgam’s dense forests for the last three days, some 3 km from Aru village of the scenic tourist destination. Imtiaz Ali has been shooting for the film across the length and breadth of the country and is now in Kashmir to shoot some sequences. This is Ali’s second film which he is filming in the Kashmir valley. In 2011, the director had shot ‘Rockstar’ with Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri in the Valley. The director had then said that he would never portray Kashmir in a bad light, “From the last few years, militancy in Kashmir has been the subject of many Bollywood movies. Perhaps there is no further need to saturate and repeat the same subject,” Ali had told a local daily. While the shooting of Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Jab tak Hai Jaan’ in Kashmir has been a high point in the return of Bollywood to Kashmir, Imtiaz Ali was the first filmmaker who made an effort to revive Kashmir’s legacy as a preferred Bollywood shooting destination. A lot of people from the entertainment industry have been visiting Kashmir over the last two years. In April, mythological teleserial ‘Mahabharata’ was shot at Tulip Garden in Srinagar.
	Kashmiri novelist’s ‘The Collaborator’ set for Hollywood Azhar Qadri/TNS Srinagar, May 14 The debut novel of a UK-based Kashmiri writer has been acquired by an independent US-based film production house and is all set to be adapted for the big screen, setting stage for the first Kashmir-themed Hollywood film. The novel, The Collaborator, by Mirza Waheed, has been acquired by Mulberry Films, a New York-based independent film production company. “The Collaborator has been acquired for a film by a New York-based independent film company, Mulberry Films,” Waheed told The Tribune in an online interview. “I am pleased about the possibility of the novel being adapted for screen.” Mulberry Films’ website confirmed that it had acquired Waheed’s novel. According to the website of Mulberry Films, two other books, including Daniel Mason’s, The Piano Turner - a drama set in the early 1800s in colonial Burma - and Rick Moody’s, Purple America, have been acquired by the company. The Collaborator achieved international acclaim when it was released in 2011. The novel is set in the early 1990s, the initial years of militancy, in a remote village near the Line of Control in Kashmir. The novelist said the director, actors and the writer for the film were yet to be decided. The novel’s protagonist is a village headman’s son who is “seemingly forced to collaborate” and go into the Valley to count corpses, fearing each day that he will discover one of his friends among the dead. The Collaborator was published by Penguin Books and would be the first film with an all-Kashmir theme produced by a US-based production house. Waheed was born and brought up in Srinagar city before he went to New Delhi to study English literature. He joined the BBC’s Urdu service in London in 2001. The big picture UK-based Kashmiri writer Mirza Waheed’s debut novel ’The Collaborator’ has been acquired by a New York-based film production company Mulberry Films to be adapted for the big screen ‘The Collaborator’ achieved international acclaim when it was released in 2011. The novel is set in the early 1990s in a remote village near the LoC in Kashmir
	Troops, militants exchange fire in Kupwara forests Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 14 On the eight day of the search operation by the Army and the Special Operations Group of the police, a brief exchange of fire took place in the wee hours today between militants and troops in the forests of Kupwara near the Line of Control. The troops have been searching for militants believed to have sneaked in from Pakistan recently. Police sources said the firing took place in Hachmarg forests of Kupwara, but there was no report of any casualty. “The exchange of fire continued for some time, but there has been no casualty,” said a police officer. “The searches in the forests of Rangwar, Chowkibal, Sadhna and Bangus continued for the eight day today,” he said. The sources said a group of heavily armed militants had infiltrated from Pakistan last week and after their movement was noticed, an operation was launched on May 7 in the forests of Chowkibal, Kupwara. The Army had also pressed into service helicopters on the first two days to track down the militants. “The weather condition in area has been bad during the past week and we are searching the forests carefully,” a source said. While the police says the operation is continuing, there are reports that suggest the militants might have managed to give a slip to the Army. Pak national arrested Jammu: The Army on Tuesday apprehended a Pakistani national along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Khour area of Pallanwala sector in Akhnoor subdivision near here. The Pakistan national has been identified as Ahmed Khan.
	CM for complete health cover for children Srinagar, May 14 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has impressed upon the Education Department to ensure 100 per cent coverage of schools under drinking water supply (DWS) and sanitation facility with focus on combining health programmes to ensure complete health cover to children. He was chairing a meeting to review the progress on Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) here today. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Minister of State for Education Feroz Ahmad Khan and other senior officials. An official spokesman said the Chief Minister gave an approval for the constitution of the state education advisory board to give expert advice to the Education Department on various issues pertaining to the growth and development of education in the state. “The targets fixed under Centrally sponsored flagship programmes should be made time-bound,” Abdullah said. The meeting was told that during the current financial year, 309 new primary schools would be opened while 138 primary schools would be upgraded to the upper primary level. — TNS
	Police yet to make breakthrough in attacks on cops Majid Jahangir/TNS Srinagar, May 14 When top security officials from various security agencies met in Srinagar yesterday, they termed the recent attacks on policemen a dangerous trend. A threadbare discussion was held during the Core Group meeting on devising a strategy to stop attacks on policemen involved in law and order duty. Since March, seven policemen who were on law and order duty have been shot dead by militants in three different attacks. None of these cases have been cracked so far. Hizbul Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for all the attacks on policemen. “There is a policy shift in militant strategy as local militants have started taking control of militancy once again and they want to unnerve the police by such attacks. Militants are also targeting the police as they are unarmed and are also soft targets. They want to provoke them so that civilians are caught in the exchange of fire,” said a senior police officer in Srinagar. “In the Sopore attack, we have been able to identify the militants who were involved in the attack, but all accused are still at large. In the other two attacks, one in Handwara on March 2 and another on May 10 in Pulwama, there has so far been no breakthrough,” he said. “The police is on the forefront in the anti-militancy operations and it may be a reason for the attacks on policemen.” DIG, north Kashmir, JP Singh said the unarmed policemen were soft target for militants. “These attacks had happened in the past, but there has been a spurt in such attacks in the recent past,” the DIG said.
	Army defuses IED in Kupwara Kupwara, May 14 The Army today claimed to have averted a major tragedy by defusing an improvised explosive device (IED) on the Lolab-Kupwara road near Khumriyal in Kupwara district. Police sources said around 11 am, a road-opening party of the Army discovered the IED near Khumriyal, Nawabazar, on the Lolab-Kupwara road. The movement of vehicles and civilians on the road was restricted for about two hours. Later, a bomb-disposal squad of the police reached the spot and the IED was defused without causing any harm to life or property, sources said. Panic gripped the area as the Army and the police cordoned it off. On Sunday, the Handwara police and 47 Rashtriya Rifles defused an IED on the Kupwara-Handwara road near Tooti Gund in Handwara tehsil. — OC