Srinagar, November 22
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today blamed the Congress and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for eroding Article 370 and said India and Pakistan should settle the K-issue according to “sentiments and aspirations” of the people.

The Chief Minister criticised the Congress, his alliance partner in the state government for the past six years, for eroding Article 370, which guarantees special status for the state.

“When Article 370 was eroded from 1953 to 1975, it was done by the Congress at the Centre and its pliant, puppet regimes in Srinagar with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as a permanent feature of this operation,” Omar said while addressing rallies at the Sonawari and Kangan Assembly constituencies, which are going to polls on Tuesday.

Mufti, who was formerly associated with the Congress before forming his own Peoples Democratic Party, is a key contender in the race to become the Chief Minister of the state as Omar’s tenure ends in January.

The political alliances of the past years have quickly fractured in the run up to the Assembly election as the NC and Congress, the partners in the state government for past six years, are fighting it alone.

Omar raked up the issue of his grandfather’s 1953 arrest and accused the Congress of illegally deposing and incarcerating Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. “How has protecting Article 370 become a concern for the Congress and Mufti today when it was both the Congress and Mufti Sayeed that left no stone unturned to erode it in the first place?” Omar said.

Omar also criticised Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who had addressed election rallies in the state yesterday, for putting the blame on his party. “The Congress want to pretend that they were in the Opposition all this while and want to play the victim card. And sadly the Congress chairperson’s remarks are in the same line too,” he said.

Omar’s criticism was not limited to the Congress and the PDP, but he said the BJP should first “accept” the state’s flag and its political sentiment and “then talk about winning hearts and minds”. He said BJP’s stand on Article 370 was “ambiguous” as its leaders were speaking in “multiple voices”.

Omar added that “no amount” of economic packages and “dreams about development” could substitute the need for an acceptable and just resolution of our political issue. “We can build a thousand concrete bridges and pave thousands of kilometers of new roads, but until and unless we build a political bridge that connects the people of the state to their political aspirations, the ground reality will remain unchanged,” he said.

He said India and Pakistan would have to settle the K-issue according to the sentiments and aspirations of the people of the state.

“There isn’t a moment in my political career that I have wasted in not demanding the resolution of the K-issue. I have said so as an elected Chief Minister in the office and I have said so in front of the visiting Prime Minister,” he said.

Srinagar, November 22
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today welcomed that after “two decades of boycott calls” hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani had now left it to the people of the state to decide in these elections.

However, this evoked a strong reaction from Geelani, who said Omar had misunderstood his “boycott message”. In his early morning tweet today, Omar Abdullah surprised his followers by welcoming Geelani’s posture on the forthcoming Assembly elections.

“Finally, after almost 2 decades of election boycott calls, Syed Ali Geelani has left it to the people to decide in these elections. This is a welcome step”, Omar wrote on his twitter handle.

With the first phase of elections on November 23, when Bandipora and Ganderbal go to polls, Omar hoped people would exercise their franchise.

“Boycotting elections has never been in the interest of the people and more so this time, so I hope people make the choice to vote freely,” Omar further said in his tweet. However, surprised over the CM’s assertion, Geelani said Omar had completely misunderstood his message and termed his tweet as misleading.

“He seems to have misunderstood my message. I have given the election boycott call against all the parties and people who are contesting this election. This boycott call is not particularly against BJP,” Geelani said.

“My boycott call includes all those people who are participating in these elections,” Geelani said.

Asked for reasons behind the muted election boycott campaign of the separatists this time, the ailing leader, under house-detention, said “Can’t you see the reality on ground that hundreds of freedom loving people have been put behind bars. More than 1,000 people from our Hurriyat are either under detention or in jails in Baramulla, Kupwara and Srinagar. We are not able to reach people freely to put forth our point of view with regard to these elections.”

Jammu, November 22
Balwant Thakur, Regional Director of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Jammu, called on Governor N N Vohra at Raj Bhawan yesterday.

He was accompanied by Rohullah and Mohammad Jafar Tanin from Afghanistan and Tshivolo Tshandyewene Renatte from Namibia. These three foreign scholars, sponsored by the ICCR, are studying at the Sher-e- Kashmir Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu.

The Government of India is supporting their education under the intellectual exchange programme with different countries.

The foreign scholars interacted with the Governor and shared their experiences as students of the university and their perceptions about the culture and traditions of India. — TNS

Srinagar, November 22
As many as 16 candidates are contesting from the Sopore Assembly constituency in north Kashmir — a bastion of separatist and the native place of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Contrary to the expectations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is aiming for Mission 44+ to form a government on its own in the Muslim majority J&K, has not fielded any candidate from the constituency.

There were speculations that the BJP was eyeing the Sopore Assembly seat due to the high count of migrant Kashmiri Pandits voters and expected low voter turnout due the boycott call by separatists.

During the parliamentary election held earlier this year, the Sopore Assembly segment had witnessed dismal 1.02 per cent votes.

A senior BJP leader in Kashmir said the decision not to field candidate from Sopore was taken by the party leadership. There are, however, speculation that the party was supporting a local candidate.

In the 2008 Assembly polls when the valley witnessed a high voter turnout, despite the separatist had called for the poll boycott, except Srinagar and townships of Baramulla and Sopore, every other locality rejected the poll boycott. Sopore had recorded a voter turnout of 19.95 per cent during the polls.

In 1996 and 2002, six candidates had contested each time and in the last Assembly elections in 2008, as many as 24 contestants were in the fray. This time, 23 candidates had filed their nominations and seven forms were rejected during the scrutiny of papers.

Sitting legislator and NC leader Mohammad Ashraf Ganai is seeking relection from the Sopore Assembly.

Katra, November 22
Governor NN Vohra, who is the chairman of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, reviewed various ongoing development works at Katra, along the tracks leading to the holy shrine.

The Governor was chairing a meeting with the chief executive officer, senior officials and engineers of the shrine board at Katra today.

The Governor, while taking a detailed review of the major infrastructure development projects of the shrine board at a presentation made by chief executive officer Dr MK Bhandari, issued instructions for speeding up the pace of the execution of all ongoing works which aimed at improving facilities for the pilgrims.

The CEO briefed the Governor that civil works for the construction of the passenger ropeway from Bhawan to Bhairon Temple would commence shortly and that this mega project would be completed by the end of 2015.

The Governor asked the CEO to get prepared high quality recordings in English and Hindi for making relevant announcements to keep the pilgrims informed about various important matters relating to the pilgrimage.

The Governor was informed aThe Governor issued instructions for an early preparation of a comprehensive detailed project report (DPR) for the management and disposal of solid wastes.

Reviewing progress of construction of the new track between Katra and Adhkuwari, the Governor asked the CEO to complete the remaining work, including creation of way side facilities, fencing.

This entire project involves an expenditure of Rs 45 crore. The CEO informed that fencing work along the tracks was going on speedily and the widening of the narrow portions was also being undertaken. The CEO said the work on pony stand near the shrine would be completed in the next three months.

The Governor directed B Mohan Daas, who is in charge of the forestry wing of the shrine board, to plant more flowering shrubs and creepers to improve the ambience along the entire yatra route and also use more local and hardy species which have high soil binding properties.

He reviewed the progress on poly houses established at the Shrine Board’s Nursery near Panthal and the nature of plants being produced there.

The Governor asked the CEO to ensure an early completion of the landscaping work at the Mahadev Temple in Reasi where all other components of the renovation work, including construction of Langar hall and toilet block, have already been completed.

Regarding multi-purpose sports stadium, being setup by the shrine board at a cost of ~8.5 crore, the CEO informed that turf has been laid and parking facilities and other remaining works were in the final phase of completion.

He said work on Aastha Bhawan, costing Rs 12.5 crore, will be completed by March 2015.

Among those present on the occasion were Additional Chief Executive Officer Dr MK Kumar, Deputy CEOs of SMVDSB B Mohan Dass, Pankaj Sharma and Devinder Singh Bhau, Superintending Engineer Subhash Gupta, Medical Director Dr Vinod Gupta, Officer on Special Duty (Revenue) Rajinder Singh and executive engineer Rajan Gupta. RK Gupta, Principal Secretary to the Governor, participated in the deliberations.

JAMMU, November 22
Mehmood-ur-Rehman, a Padma Shri awardee and former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan yesterday.

Rehman and the Governor discussed issues related to higher education and the measures required to promote excellence in teaching and research in Jammu and Kashmir.

Poonch, November 22
The 66th Poonch Link-Up Day was celebrated by the people and the Poonch Brigade with gaiety and fervour today. The celebrations commemorated the historic link up carried out by Brig Pritam Singh’s forces and the forces from Rajouri at Danna Ka Pir on November 21, 1948.

The celebrations started with the wreath laying ceremony at Naman Sthal, the war memorial.

The celebrations were graced by Army Commander, Northern Command, General Officer Commanding, White Knight Corps, General Officer Commanding, Ace of Spades Division, MH Malik, Deputy Commissioner, Poonch, and JS Johar, SSP Poonch.

On the sidelines of the function, Maj Gen Saranjeet Singh, GOC 25 Division said, “We are ready to deal with any kind of threat during the elections.”— OC

Srinagar, November 22
A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rally was pelted with stones in the heart of Srinagar today, when party candidate from Amirakadal, Altaf Bukhari, was returning after filing his nomination.

Sources said two PDP workers were injured in the incident. The violence took place when the PDP rally passed through the Badshah Chowk.

“A group of youths shouting ‘pro-freedom’ slogans hurled stones at the motorcade,” the sources said.

The police swung into action and chased the youth. They also fired tear gas shells to quell the protesters. Normal life in the area was disrupted for some time due to the clashes, in which four vehicles were also damaged.

A PDP leader accused a local National Conference leader for the incident.

Earlier, Bukhari filed his nomination before the Returning Officer for Amirakadal constituency.

A PDP spokesman said Bukhari, later held a rally at Lal Mandi.

“My primary focus will be on restoration of flood devastated infrastructure, homes and business establishments and work for restoration of the lost glory of Amirakadal,” Bukhari said.