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Need to overcome challenges to rediscover Silk Route, says Omar
Governor for reviving traditional relations with Central Asia
Explain silence on Article 370: Omar to Advani
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ITBP braveheart cremated with state honours
Only one of 8 militant attacks solved
Amarnath yatra: Baltal reverberates with Shiva prayers
CET exam to be conducted afresh
Tufail
Mattoo case
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Need to overcome challenges to rediscover Silk Route, says Omar
Srinagar, June 29 He was addressing a three-day international conference on “cooperation, development, peace and security in Central Asia” at the University of Kashmir here today. He said the relations between the country, particularly Jammu and Kashmir, and Central Asia had been historic. “There is perhaps no field of life where we do not possess similarities. Our culture, heritage, languages, architecture, eating habits and religion have similarity,” he said. He stressed on the need to re-discover the Silk Route and re-link the state with Central Asia for a new chapter of socio-economic development. Identifying the challenges to link India with Central Asian countries via Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, Omar said, “Till we overcome this challenge we can have overland contact with these countries via Jammu and Kashmir”. He said flights can originate from the Srinagar airport for the capitals of Central Asian countries to rejuvenate the historic links between the people. Expressing optimism in this regard, the Chief Minister referred to the positive signals from Pakistan relating to the normalisation of relations with the country. “One hopes that the new dispensation in Pakistan at the helm and encouraging voice regarding normalcy of relations with India coming from new Pakistan Prime Minister would bring positivity in normalising the relations,” he said. Omar also referred to his visit to various Central Asian countries as the then Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and said he had observed great interest in the people there to visit India, particularly Jammu and Kashmir, and reconnect the historic bonds. “Same is the position here,” he said. He said the people of the state were interested to visit the Central Asian countries and re-establish tourism and trade links with them. Giving a detailed account of the socio-cultural and religious affinity between the Central Asian states and Jammu and Kashmir, Omar said the country’s policy on Central Asia could be most beneficial for the state and its people, provided the neighbours in the West allow flights from Srinagar to the capitals of these states over their lands. |
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Governor for reviving traditional relations with Central Asia
Srinagar, June 29 The Governor said this in his Presidential address at the inaugural session of the three-day International Conference on “Cooperative Development, Peace and Security in Central Asia: Challenges and Prospects”, at the Kashmir University here today. He said India’s centuries-old relations with the Central Asian countries were deeply embedded in civilisational and cultural commonalities. The international conference has been jointly organised by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, and the Centre of Central Asian Studies (CCAS), Kashmir University. The Governor referred to his goodwill mission visits to the Central Asian countries in the early 1990s and the difficult situations which were prevailing in these countries at that time. He also recalled the useful work done by the India International Centre, New Delhi, in the early years after the break-up of the former Soviet Russia, to organise an international conference to bring out the history, culture and polity of the Central Asian States and to bring out a volume containing the papers presented by Indian and Central Asian scholars. This was done with a view to making these countries better known and for reviving India’s centuries old relations with them. He also referred to the good work being done by Rajeev Sethi, Founder of Asian Heritage Foundation, who was present on this occasion, for reviving, preserving and showcasing the symbols of our rich cultural heritage, adding that such initiatives can go a long way in fostering better understandings and contributing towards sustainable relations with the Central Asian countries. Referring to the serious challenges being faced by the world today, the Governor observed that these include religious fundamentalism which leads to extremism and violence, resulting in human and economic losses, disrupting educational schedules which adversely affect the education of youth. He added that such challenges have to be addressed with mutual cooperation and deeper world-wide understandings. The Governor, who is Chancellor of the Kashmir University, congratulated the CRRID and the Centre of Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir, for organising this international conference on a very important theme and wished the participants fruitful deliberations. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs, addressed the inaugural session of the conference. Talat Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, Kashmir University, in his welcome address, urged Salman Khurshid, for providing opportunities to the scholars of the CCAS for undergoing internship in the Ministry of External Affairs. He thanked the Governor and the Chief Minister for their valuable support in the growth of the university. |
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Explain silence on Article 370: Omar to Advani
Srinagar, June 29 “Instead of advising me to show restraint, Advani Ji should devote some blog space to explain his silence over Article 370 between 1998 and 2004,” Omar wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter. Omar was the Minister of State for External Affairs during the NDA government when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and Advani was the deputy Prime Minister. In a blog post yesterday, Advani had advised Omar not to use “offensive language” and words like “cheating and deceiving”, saying the party has been championing complete integration of the state with the Union of India. “Perhaps he (Advani) can also blog about what constitutional mechanism he plans to follow to repeal Article 370. I might learn something from his wisdom,” Omar tweeted. Advani had recently said Article 370, which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir, should be revoked. Omar had, earlier this week, said “people of Jammu and Kashmir categorically tell them that revocation of Article 370 is not possible at all”. “Any attempt by anyone on this sensitive issue would be on our dead bodies,” Omar said at the inaugural ceremony of a rail line in south Kashmir where the PM and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were present. |
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ITBP braveheart cremated with state honours
Bobiyan (Kathua), June 29 His son Lalit Singh (14) lit the funeral pyre. The hero’s family regretted the silence on the part of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who so far has not expressed condolence over the young soldier laying down his life for the country in the line of duty. “We don’t need the state government’s compensation….what has hurt us deeply in this hour of grief is the silence of the Chief Minister, who so far has not expressed even two words of condolence and moral support to us,” Pawan Singh, eleder brother of Bhim Singh said. Pawan said, “My brother, like the true son of the soil, sacrificed his life for the country but the CM has not uttered a word of condolence.” Naib Sarpanch of Bobiyan-Tirath Singh also reacted acerbically to the CM’s silence and absence of ministers at the cremation of the brave heart. “Though Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Jatinder Kumar Singh, local MLA Durga Dass and police officers attended the cremation, no state minister turned up,” said
Tirath. |
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Only one of 8 militant attacks solved
Srinagar, June 29 The police has only been able to crack the Bemina fidayeen attack, carried out on March 13. In the first six months, 27 security men have been killed in eight deadly strikes, four of which were carried out in Srinagar city. Police sources said though militants involved in most of these attacks had been identified, the police has not been able to track any of them. The upward trend of violence started on March 2 when two policemen were shot dead near the old bus stand at Handwara in north Kashmir in broad day light. The policemen were on a law and order duty. The police said Hizbul Mujahideen was responsible for the attack, but so far the police has not made any substantial breakthrough in the case. In the first fidayeen attack after nearly three years in the Valley, five CRPF personnel and two militants were killed in Bemina on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The police was able to crack the case by arresting a Pakistani militant, a local guide and two other persons who had facilitated the attack.
Many deadly attacks have taken place since the Bemina fidayeen attack, but no breakthrough has been achieved yet in any of the cases. “While the number of militants now in the Valley is less, they have become smarter. The militants work out exhaustive plans and take great care of not leaking them,” said a police officer. Besides, indigenous militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, which had been staying low for a long time, has again started dominating the militancy scene in the Valley. “The militants now work in small groups and any militant active in north Kashmir has very little idea as to who is handling the work of his outfit in south Kashmir. The small modules with the support of over ground workers have made militancy more deadly,” said another police officer. The militants have become tech savvy and they are avoiding being caught. “In the past, security forces and the police have been mostly relying on technological help to make breakthrough in any militant attack case, but now militants have become tech savvy and smarter. They use communication which cannot be intercepted,” the police officer said. “The human intelligence has also dried up and that is another reason why no major case is being solved,” he said. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), central Kashmir, Ahfad-ul-Mujtaba said the cases would be solved. “In the past we have solved all militancy cases and I am sure that the recent cases would be cracked too. We are working on them,” the DIG said.
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Corps Commander inspects security at Amarnath shrine
Srinagar, June 29 Singh, who is also the security adviser to the state government, inspected the overall security arrangements during his visit to the cave shrine on Friday. An Army spokesman said during his visit he interacted with the Army troops and other security forces deployed in the area to provide security for the yatra. “He appreciated them for their dedication and thoroughness towards putting up the security apparatus in place in harmony,” the spokesman said. Singh also paid obeisance at the cave shrine. |
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Amarnath yatra: Baltal reverberates with Shiva prayers
Baltal (Kashmir), June 29 On Friday morning, at the crack of dawn’s first light, a first batch of pilgrims began their march from Baltal base camp, 110 km east of Srinagar city, to the revered cave which houses the ice ‘lingam’-the symbol of Lord Shiva. The pilgrimage, which began with a rainy start, will continue for the next 54 days when each day a maximum of 15,000 men and women, young and old, will walk, ride and fly to the holy cave from two routes-via Baltal and Pahalgam. Baltal is the base camp where hundreds of devotees spend the night in tents and in hope of a morning when they will have the glimpse and make their prayers. Deepika Saxena, a 25-year-old woman from Haryana, is among the 4,000 pilgrims who visited the cave on Friday. It was her second pilgrimage to the cave. On asking her what would she pray, she smilingly refuses the answer saying, “Wishes are not to be disclosed.” The Army is voluntarily arranging free meals, medicines and information centres for the pilgrims. Om Prakash, a resident of Jaipur, is a chartered accountant and it is his first visit to the cave. “The yatra helps us to connect with Kashmir,” Prakash said. Though Baltal is a sleepy place where the gushing Sindh makes a roaring sound. With the start of annual Amarnath pilgrimage, Baltal has become a bustling mini-city attracting Kashmiris from all over the region who see it as a source of their sustenance. Be it a 15-year-old Naib Khan of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district who sells polythene raincoats or the Doda resident, Khurshid Ahmad a ‘ponywalla’, there are nearly 6,000 labourers working and earning a living at Baltal where they provide much of the logistics for the yatra. An official of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said the facilities for the pilgrimage were improving each year. “We are making progress each day. We are learning and it is an ongoing progress,” the officer said, wishing anonymity. The official said among the steps that had been taken or strengthened this year include a regulated diet chart, placing a cap on the daily numbers of pilgrims and disallowing unregistered people to take part in the pilgrimage. In wake of the recent alarm raised by certain security agencies, the arrangements were unprecedented. “We have a three-tier security system in place which includes the Army in the outer cordon, then BSF for security of the route to cave from the base camp and the CRPF and police for internal security,” said VS Yadav, IG, CRPF. He said there was a general militant threat to the yatra this year. At Baltal, however, prayers and chants and hymns would continue. |
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CET exam to be conducted afresh
Srinagar, June 29 The notification issued by BOPEE on June 28 stated that the biology and chemistry examinations, which were postponed till July 5 due to the paper leak issue, had also been cancelled. “BOPEE will conduct the CET examinations once again. We will hold the examinations within a month so that time and efforts of students are not wasted,” BOPEE chairman RD Sharma told The Tribune. However, the biology paper leak issue along with charges of corruption against BOPEE levelled by students and coaching centres have raised uncertainties among the stakeholders about the fairness in the conduct of examinations. “We are still probing the paper leak issue. The interim inquiry conducted will not be hushed up. The probe results will be made public,” Sharma said. The delay in holding the CET examinations has irked students, teachers and managements of coaching centres who term it as a big academic loss. “Our students are inevitably suffering due to foul play by the authorities. It is unfortunate that neither the Chief Minister nor any other minister has spoken up on the issue even as the career of 30,000 students is at stake. Due to the continuous postponement of the examinations, students will not be able to get admission in any college of the country as we are behind the academic schedule,” said the chairman of the Coaching Centres Association, GN War. He said people had lost faith in the BOPEE interim inquiry as charges of the sale of papers have been levelled against the authorities. “The students and even the teachers’ forum have urged the Chief minister to delve into the matter and constitute a committee headed by a high court sitting judge to investigate the issue. By hushing up the matter, things are only going to get worse forcing people to take to the streets,” War
said. |
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Tufail
Mattoo case
Srinagar, June 29 The High Court is hearing a petition by the victim’s family, wherein it has challenged a lower court order which had accepted the final closure report by the police in the Tufail Mattoo killing case, and closed the case as ‘untraced’. The killing of the teenager, Tufail Mattoo, in 2010 had triggered a cycle of violence in the Valley. More than 120 persons were killed in firing by the police and security forces. The family is demanding the prosecution of police personnel involved in the incident. While admitting the petition, the High Court, on the previous hearing, had sought the lower court orders and asked the investigating officer to present the case diaries on the next hearing. However, as the case came up before a bench of Justice Virender Singh today, the investigating officer instead of presenting the record himself, had deputed his junior to the court, who appeared in civvies before the bench. This infuriated the judge, who observed that police officers are supposed to be in proper uniform while appearing before the courts. On this occasion, additional advocate general Riyaz Ahmad Khan, representing the J&K Government, assured the court that in the future, proper procedure and protocol would be followed by police officers while appearing before the court. |
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Three of Akhnoor family yet to return from Uttarakhand
Akhnoor, June 29 “I was so excited to hear that the group of Akhnoor is coming back from Uttarakhand, but my father was not among them,” says Ramesh’s son Deepak. His elder son Kapil Gupta has been searching for his family members with the help of their photographs for 12 days in Uttarakhand. “I heard his (Ramesh’s) voice last on June 15, at 11:15am, when he called me after paying obeisance at Kedarnath temple,” said Deepak Gupta. “They had to move towards Badrinath on June 16 morning, but after the news of the disaster, we have waiting to hear from them but their phones are switched off,” he added. “Everybody has come, but no news about him (Ramesh), can you find him,” is all Champa asks everyone. |
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Kolkata team wins Mughal Rally
Srinagar, June 29 In the Rally Xtreme (motorcycles) category, the provisional winner was Mohit Verma of Chandigarh. Satish Gopalkrishnan and navigator Savera D’Souza of Bangalore led Rally Enduro (SUV category) at Jammu. About 120 rallyists from various parts of the country participated in The Mughal Rally, now seen as one of the most exciting events on the Indian motorsport calendar. Incidentally, Amittrajit Ghosh was also the winner of Rally Xtreme in the Mughal Rally 2012, and Mohit Verma had taken the Rally Crown in the Rally Xtreme (motorcycles) category. Rallyists from Kolkata seem to be riding high at the 4th Mughal Rally, since Subir Roy also hails from the Kolkata. Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir said he was happy on the successful conclusion of the 4th J&K Bank Mughal Rally. “The Mughal Rally spreads the message of peace in Kashmir, both nationally and internationally. Our effort is to showcase the great potential for adventure tourism in J&K. We also want to encourage the youth of the state to take part in adventure tourism,” he said. |
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Srinagar, June 29
Bobiyan (Kathua), June 29
Baltal (Kashmir), June 29
