Jammu, May 31
The Jammu and Kashmir Government’s much-touted rehabilitation policy for Kashmiri militants, which has not found even a single taker from four identified routes, is likely to be revisited shortly by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The previous Congress-led UPA government had discreetly given its informal nod to the Nepal route under the rehabilitation policy for the “misguided youth” of Kashmir, who had crossed over to Pak-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) for arms training but then had a “change of heart”. Such youth wanted to come back and join the “national mainstream”.

The BJP, before storming to power this General Elections, had been stiffly opposed to the rehabilitation policy for Kashmiri militants.

“The proposal to bring the Nepal route under the ambit of the rehabilitation policy is still under the active consideration of the state government and the route enjoyed informal nod of the UPA-II government as well,” said a senior state Home Department official.

"Since the BJP-led NDA regime has taken over, I am not sure whether the new government would stall it or look afresh into it," added the official.

The official, however, said the state Home Department was working on the issue to submit a detailed report to the Centre.

“Though officially the Nepal route was never there and still not there under the rehab policy, the new government is likely to look into this aspect closely. We, of course, want a positive response because those who really want to shun the path of violence should be given an opportunity,” said the official.

Sources in the Army here, however, said entry of militants via the porous Nepal border under the garb of natives of Kashmir could recoil and impinge heavily upon counter-insurgency operations in the state.

“This could be a nefarious game plan of Pakistan to refuel insurgency. With no immigration check, no formalities of passports on the Nepal border and no detailed information of Kashmiri militants (living in PoK) with the state and Central agencies, insurgency may get refuelled if they keep coming via Nepal in disguise,” they added.

The Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba have established their networks in Nepal.

The National Conference-Congress coalition government had officially identified the Wagah border, Salamabad in Baramulla district, Chakan-da-Bagh in Poonch district and Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi for the return of Kashmiri militants, but not even a single militant returned via these identified routes all these years.

Since 2010 and till January 31 this year, 268 former militants have returned via Nepal. Out of these ultras, 113 had also brought their families and children with them. Around 4,132 militants are still living in Pakistan or PoK.

The policy was announced by the state government in consultation with the Centre on November 23, 2010.

The state Home Secretary, Suresh Kumar, on April 12 last year had said, “Kashmiri people are allowed to return under the rehabilitation policy from four identified routes, but Nepal border is not the route.”

Nepal route Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to look into Nepal route, through which ‘misguided’ youth can return Nepal route remains illegal 268 Kashmiri militants have returned since 2010 via Nepal border However, not even a single militant returned via four identified routes Army has strong reservations over the Nepal route

Jammu, May 31
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah today candidly admitted that it was a mistake on his part to leave party affairs in the hands of Omar Abdullah and other leaders that resulted in party's humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

Farooq felt that he should have given adequate time to the party, despite being in New Delhi and shouldn’t have remained under this misconception that "all was well" in the party.

Sources in the NC told The Tribune that Farooq attacked the party leaders for not working for the welfare of the party and asked them to re-energise themselves and meet people to solve their problems. “While being in New Delhi I was of the opinion that everything is going smooth in the party, but the poll debacle has brought the reality to the fore,” Farooq said, while addressing a day-long convention of block, district and provincial-level functionaries of the Jammu region at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan.

The meeting was attended by NC working president Omar Abdullah, provincial president Devender Singh Rana, party MLAs and MLCs of the Jammu region. The NC is in an introspection mode after the worst-ever poll debacle in the Lok Sabha elections when the party lost all three seats contesting from the Kashmir valley.

“At the same time Farooq asked party workers to take this defeat in a positive spirit and work for the upcoming Assembly elections,” the sources said.

The NC workers told the party president that disconnection between party ministers, MLAs, MLCs and grassroot-level workers is the main reason behind the poll debacle.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured NC workers that their grievances would be addressed and directed party ministers and legislators to reach out to the people and work for the betterment of party.

Srinagar, May 31
The outgoing Director General of Police (DGP), Ashok Prasad, on Saturday said militancy was on the decline in the state. ?In comparison to the past, the level of violence had come down,? Prasad told reporters on the sideline of a function organised to bid farewell to him. In 2013, there were 122 incidents of violence in the state,? he added

Now, Prasad will take the charge of the Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau. Prasad has been replaced by K Rajendra Kumar. "As the level of violence has come down, infiltration has also reduced. The efforts of the J&K police, counter insurgency grid and the Border Protection System have checked infiltration. There were less than 100 infiltration bids last year and we will reduce the number further,"? said Prasad.

About the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, the outgoing DGP said the major concern for the security agencies was the ?artificial violence created by a particular group?. This artificial violence created by a particular group is followed by stone throwings and calls for bandh. We will reduce violence during the polls so that people could participate in the electoral process without any fear,"? he said.

The outgoing DGP said that there was an excellent coordination between all security forces in the state.

He, however, admitted that some mistakes were committed in the past. "Yes, there are some gaps to fill. We made some mistakes in the past but we will learn from each other," he said.

Jammu, May 31
Even as the J&K Government has yet to initiate any sincere step to get back its citizens who had mistakenlycrossed over to Pakistan, BJP's Rajya Sabha member from Punjab Avinash Rai Khanna has written to newly appointed Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter with her Pakistani counterpart.Moved by the passionate appeal made by four-year-old Manvi to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to release her "innocent" father, Khanna has sought the intervention of Sushma Swaraj to get Manvi's mentally challenged father released from the Pakistani authorities.

In his letter, number MP(RS)PB/H/2557/5/2014, ated May 31, 2014, Khanna, while quoting a report of The Tribune published on May 28, 2014, mentioned that Sohan Lal, a mentally challenged person, had inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan from the Suchetgarh sector, but no action has been taken so far by the local authorities to get him released from Pakistan.

"A news item was appeared in the leading newspaper, 'The Tribune', in which it is reported that a four-year-old baby, Manvi, has made an appeal to the Prime Minister of Pakistan to release her father Sohan Lal, who is the jail of Pakistan and he is mentally challenged. I am sending the attached news item for your kind attention and to raise the matter with the Pakistan Government to get him released from Pakistani jail. I will be highly obliged if the intimation regarding action taken be sent to me," Khanna mentioned in his letter to Sushma Swaraj.

Udhampur, May 31
The Northern Command today bid adieu to its General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra, who retired today after an illustrious career of 40 years.

He had taken over the Dhruva Command at Udhampur on July 1, 2013. As the Northern Command chief, he consolidated efforts to neutralise militants and to wean away youth from militancy, a Northern Command spokesperson said

The GOC-in-C of the Northern Command helped in channelising the energy of youth for constructive activities such as vocational training and sports. He contributed significantly towards the operational and logistic preparedness of the Army to meet the challenges on the northern and western borders.

"Owing to his sustained synergised efforts with the Air Force, the air maintenance of our far-flung posts and the sustenance capability along the northern borders have greatly improved," the spokesperson said.

He said Lt General Chachra also undertook several projects to upgrade the facilities for the soldiers deployed in inhospitable weather and terrain.

In his farewell address, Lt General Chachra paid tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives in the service of the nation. He exhorted all ranks to continue to work with zeal and motivation to overcome the challenges of terrorism, unabated proxy war, volatile internal security situation and external threats along the Line of Control and the Line of Actual Control, the spokesperson said.

He complimented all ranks for their professionalism, steadfastness, dedication and loyalty and for being the best soldiers in the world. He also complimented and thanked the civil administration, CAPF and the Indian Air Force for their excellent synergy with the Army for establishing peace and tranquility in J&K, said the Northern Command spokesperson.

"As he hangs up his uniform, the future generations of Army officers will strive to emulate him as a military leader, owing to his sterling qualities, his firm resolve to follow the righteous path under all circumstances, his sense of justice, and his statesman like qualities in dealing with the most contentious issues," he said.

All officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and men of the Northern Command and the entire Army will remember him fondly as they say goodbye to the illustrious General Officer, the spokesperson said.

Srinagar, May 31
First Lady Usha Vohra inaugurated an art exhibition at Delhi Public School (DPS) in Srinagar today. She went round the gallery, saw the paintings, interacted with the artists and inquired about the themes, sought to be projected by them.

The First Lady appreciated the ingenuity of the artists in projecting their thoughts through abstract, realistic, impressionistic and spiritual forms.

Usha Vohra also presented certificates and gave gifts to the participants.

The exhibition is part of an ongoing national-level art camp (May 25 to June 2), organised by the DP Dhar Memorial Trust at the DPS in Srinagar.

The camp, in which 28 artists from different parts of India are participating, has been organised with the objective of providing exposure to the budding artists of the school and from all over the Valley.

Usha Vohra also went round the stalls displaying wicker work, carpentary, papier mache and paintings made by the students of the school. Appreciating the talent of the students, she bought a wicker basket, put on sale by the students.

She witnessed a play by the students. The play was based on the problems being faced by the younger generation such as ragging and cyber-bashing.

She was briefed by the students about the community services being undertaken by “Vyath-che-pakaan”, the heritage club of the school.

Vijay Dhar, chairman of the school, Kusam Warkoo, principal of the DPS, Kiran Vijay Dhar, and Shyama Sondhi, organiser of the camp, were present.

Srinagar, May 31
The police investigation has confirmed that the mysterious blast that took place during a rally of former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections was a grenade attack. The investigation revealed that the grenade was thrown by militants to scare the people during Farooq’s rally at Khanyar in Srinagar on April 27.

"The investigation has established that it was a grenade blast," said a senior police officer in Srinagar. "During the investigation, a safety pin was also found from the spot, which confirmed that it was a grenade blast," he said.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a case against some unknown persons for making an attempt to murder. On April 27, twin explosions — one in Khanyar and another in Budgam district — had left six persons injured. Initially, the police had termed both the blasts as mysterious. — TNS

Rajouri, May 31
The right thumb and two of the fingers of an 8-year-old boy were amputated after a detonator exploded in his hand while he was fiddling with it near his house at about 3 pm today. The incident took place near Rajdhani village under the jurisdiction of the Manjakot police station.

DSP Owais said the boy, identified as Rashid, a resident of Rajdhani, while on way to his home found an abandoned detonator on the road and started fiddling with it.

He added that after the road-widening work near the victim's house was over, the detonator was left behind by the workers inadvertently. He was rushed to the district hospital by villagers. — OC

Srinagar, May 31
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demanded suspension of the Station House Officer, Hajin Bandipora district today. The PDP alleged that the SHO in league with the local MLA and National Conference minister Mohammad Akbar Lone had unleashed a reign of terror in the area. A party spokesman said the SHO had been summoning youths to the police station on different pretexts.

“The youths are being thrashed and humiliated in the police station by policemen and some National Conference goons, which has scared the residents of the area,” the spokesman said.

PDP leader Mohammad Yasir Reshi today held a protest at Hajin. — TNS