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Mufti to
visit Delhi next week Excelsior Special Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 20: High-level talks on Jammu and Kashmir are expected to take place in the Indian capital next week. The new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, obviously, will be the main attraction, following his proposed visit to Delhi soon after the end of the special session of the Legislative Assembly in the State’s winter capital, Jammu. The Assembly’s session, slated for Thursday (Nov 21), will, on present indications, conclude by Nov 25. This should lead to the Chief Minister’s "crucial" visit to Delhi any time between Nov 26 and 28. Indications are by no means uncertain that Mufti Sayeed will, during his stay in Delhi, hold talks with The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr LK Advani, and other top Central leaders on a variety of J&K-specific issues. The Mufti’s participation in the ensuing high-level talks will assume much significance in the context of the Vajpayee Government’s willingness to help the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led coalition in its socio-economic programmes and equitable development in the State’s three regions, Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. Mr L K Advani, who is considered as the Union Government’s main voice on Kashmir, has already publicly talked about "all necessary assistance" from the Centre to the Mufti Government in its policies against the cross-border infiltration and for the stepped-up economic development schemes. Mufti Sayeed’s visit to Delhi, first since he was installed as the J&K Chief Minister, will also take place at a time when his Government had started preparing an economic package for the State. Since such a package can’t be implemented in the absence of required monetary resources, the Mufti would, naturally, broach the subject of a "special allocation" from the Centre during his talks with the "willing" Prime Minister. If the free and fair election in J&K was Delhi’s triumph, the NDA Government headed by Mr Vajpayee shouldn’t have any reservations on the question of making available moral and material support for the Mufti Government to carry forward the initiatives vis-a-vis restoring peace and normalcy in the troubled State. And on his part, the Mufti, too, shouldn’t experience any hassles as he takes up J&K-specific issues with the Central leaders, considering the fact that he knows the ways and means of Delhi. The Mufti was the Union Home Minister during the VP Singh Government. According to Delhi-watchers, men of consequence in Delhi, such as Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr LK Advani and Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh,and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr KC Pant, seem to be in a mood to please the Mufti at a time like this when his (the Mufti’s) vision has become an open secret. "Kashmir as the greatest destination of the world", is his vision. The Mufti has, in unmistakable terms in recent days, also highlighted other two objectives of his vision: "Kashmir as a miniature India where democracy and federal spirit flourish and Kashmir as a showpiece for the entire world". |
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Separatists form alliance parallel to Hurriyat JAMMU, Nov 20: Some social and over-ground separatist outfits in Jammu and Kashmir have come together to form an umbrella organisation which would also include members of some key militant oufits. Announcing this here today, Mawan Foundation Chairman Nisar Ali Sabazwari said ‘Shujat Alliance’ (alliance of brave people), an amalgam of 20 organisations, would be a parallel to the Hurriyat Conference. Claiming that militant outfits like Hizbul Mujahideen, Al-Jehad, Al-Umar Mujahideen, Hizb-Ullah, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hakul Mubeen and Imamia Students Organisation and Hussani Mission were among those which have joined the alliance, Sabazwari presented some leaders of these organisations before reporters. Those presented included JeM district commander for Rajouri-Poonch Manhas Askari, JKLF district commander for Srinagar Showkat Hussain, Al-Umar Mujahideen leader Khalid Khan, Hakul Mubeen leader Riyaz Hussain Sherazi and Sayeed Muzaffar Ali of Hussani mission. The alliance would work for restoration of peace in the State and resolution of the Kashmir issue, Sabazwari, who has been nominated as the Chief Coordinator of the alliance, said and alleged that the Hurriyat Conference was "misleading the people of the State and diluting the cause for which the people have sacrificed their lives during the last 12 years." Asserting that the taking up of gun by the youth in the State has brought Kashmir issue out of the cold storage, Sabazwari said "now, the time has come to resolve the issue through talks in keeping with the aspirations of the people of the State." However, he said talks should be held only with those militants or their representatives who had undergone imprisonment or remained active during last 12 years. "We have put aside the gun, but not given it up because we want to ensure peace in the troubled-torn State through talks," Sabzwari said. He said 20 organisations have joined the alliance so far and talks with other organisations and militant outfits were going on and they were expected to join the amalgam soon. In reply to a question whether the new coalition Government, headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has made any offer to them to come forward for talks, he said "so far, we have no offer from the coalition Government." However, he said the alliance would like to offer some suggestions to the present Government in the State for making the atmosphere conducive for talks. The Government should take the initiative to have unconditional talks with those militant groups which are active in the field, provide relief to the families of those militants who have sacrificed their lives, provide jobs to those militants who have come into the mainstream and stop excesses by security forces and police on common people, Sabzwari said. (PTI) |
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Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Nov 20: An MLA’s brother and an Assistant Sub-Inspector were killed while two other policemen were injured in a militant attack in Bandipora area of Baramulla district in north Kashmir today, official sources said. They said Ghulam Nabi Ganai, elder brother of lone Awami League MLA and a former counter-insurgent leader Usman Majid, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Garoora on Srinagar-Bandipora road around 9 AM. Assistant Sub-Inspector Ghulam Rasool, who was among the three policemen wounded in the shootout, succumbed to injuries while being taken to the hospital, the sources added. The policemen had reached the spot as there were reports that villagers had blocked the road following a scuffle with a contractor on the re-construction of the road, the sources said adding that Ganai, who was shot at from point-blank range, was among the crowd. Although no other civilian was injured in the shootout, two persons, identified as Javid Ahmad and Zaffar Mohiuddin, who were slightly injured, apparently in the stampede which followed the sudden attack, have been admitted to the Bandipora hospital, the sources added. In another incident, the sources said militants shot at and injured one, Shahnawaz Ahmad Ganai outside his residence at Bongam in Shopian area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir this afternoon. Ganai, a shopkeeper, was shifted to hospital where his condition was stated to be serious, they said. Meanwhile, two persons posing as militants were caught by people while extorting money from one, Ali Mohammad Rather at his residence at Dangerpora in Sopore area of Baramulla district last night and handed over to police, the sources said. Two militants of Islamic Front, Aziz Ahmad Khan and Riyaz Ahmad Wani, were arrested by the BSF during a raid on their hideout at Lal Bazar on the outskirts of Srinagar, he said, adding two hand grenades were recovered from them. Another militant hideout was raided by the BSF at Wanpora near Nowgam, also on the city outskirts, and a Pak-trained Lashker-e-Toiba militant was apprehended, the spokesman said. He identified the captured LeT militant as Shoukat Ahmad Malik and said a Chinese pistol, one magazine and seven rounds of ammunition were recovered from him. The residents of Pattan blocked traffic on Srinagar-Baramulla road for nearly three hours this morning in protest against the arrest of a local youth by army three days ago, official sources said. Meanwhile, CPM MLA Mohd Yusuf Tarigami has condemned the killing of MLA Usmaan Majid's brother by the militants. |
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Malik isolated, Hurriyat to meet KC Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Nov 20: Fire-brand Hurriyat leader and JKLF chairman Yaseen Malik today stood isolated as the 23-party amalgam decided to continue talks with Kashmir Committee led by former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani on the Kashmir issue tomorrow despite strong opposition from Malik recently released from jail. Malik, who is a member of Hurriyat’s executive body, walked out of its meeting in a huff midway after his disagreement with other members of the separatist conglomerate, amalgam sources said. The meeting, which lasted for more than three hours, was called to discuss the future strategy of talks with the Kashmir Committee in wake of Malik’s recent outburst against Jethmalani after his release on November 11, they said. The sources said the seven-member Hurriyat executive held extensive deliberations on whether to continue dialogue with the Kashmir Committee in the wake of Malik’s charges that Jethmalani was adopting double standards. The Hurriyat executive council, barring Malik, favoured continuing talks with Kashmir Committee leading to a walk out by the JKLF chairman, the sources said. They said JKLF chairman tried in vain to impress upon his colleagues to realise the "ulterior motives" of Kashmir Committee. However, the executive members remained tightlipped about the agenda of today’s meeting which also discussed the changing political scenario in the State following the change of Government. They said JKLF chairman tried in vain to impress upon his colleagues to realise the "ulterior motives" of Kashmir Committee. Meanwhile, in a statement issued by Hurriyat after the meeting, the amalgam said its stand was vindicated following the revelations by counter-insurgent-turned-National Conference Legislative Council member Javid Hussain Shah about the functioning of local police. "We have been saying all along that if there is any terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir it is the security agencies who are the culprits," the statement said. Shah’s admission that police carried out custodial killings has proved that all the massacres from Wandhama to Kaluchak were orchestrated by security agencies to defame the Mujahideen, it added. |
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Police raids cement depots Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 20: Police this evening raided some cement depots in Nanak Nagar and arrested three depot owners for tampering with the cement bags to cheat the customers. A total of 900 cement bags have been seized so far. Police said the raids were carried out in the cement depots at Shivaji Chowk, Nanak Nagar simultaneously at 1800 hours today following a series of complaints received from the local people that the cement bags sold by these depots carried less weight than what they were supposed to have. From three cement depots—Narayan Cement Store, Samyal Cement Store and Subash Cement Store—police seized 900 bags. Majority of the bags were found carrying four to nine kg less cement. Police arrested owners of both the depots, who have been identified as Narayan Gupta son of Krishan Lal Gupta, a resident of Sector 4, Nanak Nagar, Ashok Singh son of Balwant Singh R/o Nanak Nagar and Subash Chander S/o Nek Ram R/o Channi Himmat. According to police, four other cement depots couldn’t be searched as they had shut down their premises. Police have deployed their ‘nafri’ outside these depots and would search them tomorrow morning. Police said some more arrests were expected to be made tomorrow. Police have also recovered a number of instruments from the three raided shops, which were being used by the shopkeepers to lessen their weight and fill new bags. In addition, some empty bags were also recovered. Arrested persons were being questioned to get clues, police said, adding a case in this connection has been registered under Profiteering and Hoarding, Adulteration and other relevant Acts. Police didn’t rule out the possibility of the name of some reputed brands of the cement manufacturers being misused by the cement depot owners. Investigations on this aspect were also being carried out by police and samples of the cement have been sent to the laboratory for tests. Police party, which raided the cement depots, was led by SHO Gandhi Nagar Inspector S S Samyal and was supervised by SP City (South) Raghubir Singh and ASP South Anand Jain. |
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Two employees agree to
stand witness in exam scam Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 20: Two senior officers of the State Board of School Education have gone underground following police raids in their houses after ‘sufficient evidence’ were obtained by the investigators linking them with the much-publicised examination scam that was unearthed last month. "A total of four Board employees including two gazetted officers, who were ‘directly involved’ in the scam have been identified by our investigating team. While the gazetted officers have gone into hiding and were reportedly trying to get an anticipatory bail, two other employees were co-operating with us and have agreed to stand as witnesses to expose the scam", police sources told EXCELSIOR today. They identified the officers involved as Deputy Secretary (Examinations) Harish Gupta and Subash Sharma, a Section Officer (SO) in Secrecy section of the Board. Sources, however, declined to reveal the identity of two other Board employees, whose involvement has been confirmed in the scam saying ‘we wouldn’t like to expose them as they were ready to stand as witnesses in the worst ever examination scam, which was unearthed by the City police on October 26'. According to sources, the involvement of Board employees surfaced during sustained interrogation of eight persons including six invigilators, who were arrested few days after the scam. Sequences of the case corroborated that the scam wouldn’t have occurred without the ‘active role’ of Board officials. After this, a City police party raided residences and other suspected hide-outs of both the accused officers but couldn’t get them. Both of them were also not available in their office when police went to search their office, the sources said, adding that ‘raid were on to get them’. In addition to two Board officials, another main accused in the scam identified as Sushil Kumar was also evading arrest. Sources said his house on outskirts of the City was repeatedly being raided by the police but he too remained untraced. Police didn’t rule out the possibility of the investigating team seeking legal help to get the Board officers and Sushil Kumar declared as ‘proclaimed offenders’ if they didn’t surrender immediately and co-operate in the investigations, which were being carried out by a special team headed by DySP City Rupinder Kumar Chalotra and comprised SHO Pacca Danga Vijay Paul Singh. Investigations were being supervised by SP City (North) Parbhat Singh. A First Information Report (FIR) in the scam had already been lodged at Pacca Danga police station. A total of eight arrests had been made so far by police in connection with the scam. They included Master Inderjeet Singh, who used to act as a ‘vital link’ between the Board officers and the private persons, whose job was to attract the gullible students and charge money from them, which was later disbursed among all the accused. It may be recalled that City police had raided a private house in Karan Nagar on October 26 evening, where the accused had set up an unofficial examination centre. Students were taking their exams in the private house with the help of guides and other relevant material. Majority of students and the invigilators had fled away during the raid. Some of them had even taken away the answer sheets with them, which were later recovered by police. Original examination centre of the students, who were appearing in higher secondary Part-II bi-annual examinations, had been set up at St Peter’s School, BC Road. After examination timing was over at 1700 hours, the invigilators used to take the students to the private house, re-open the sealed answer sheets and facilitate them to re-write the sheets with the help of guides and books. Accused used to charge Rs 5000 from each student for each question paper, the sources said. The answer sheets, which had to be deposited in the Board office at 1730 hours, used to be deposited as late as 2100 hours as the Board officers were also involved in the scam. Police said some more clues were expected to be gathered during questioning of the Board officers, once they were arrested. |
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Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 20: A terrorist of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit and a civilian were killed in two separate encounters in Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district today while security forces destroyed a terrorists’ hideout in Marmat area of Doda. Official sources said an encounter took place between a group of terrorists and a patrol party of the Border Security Force (BSF) at village Sangari Mughlian under jurisdiction of Dharamshal police station in Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri this morning. The encounter lasted one and a half hour in which one terrorist was killed while two other ultras managed to escape, the sources said, adding the BSF personnel didn’t suffer any casualties in the operation. One AK-47 rifle, two magazines, 13 rounds and two grenades were recovered from the scene of encounter. Security forces continued a hunt for the terrorists, who escaped during the encounter. Meanwhile, three terrorists entered into the house of a civilian Gulab Din son of Lal Din at village Keri in Dharamshal area last night and kidnapped him. The terrorists, who were suspected to be the locals, took away the civilian to a surrounding forest area and killed him. The ultras escaped after the killing. Sources said body of Gulab Din was recovered this morning from the forests during searches carried out by police. In another incident, police today destroyed a hideout of the terrorists in Rote forest area of Marmat in Doda district. Recoveries made from the hideout included one .303 rifle, three jackets, five blankets, 50 kg atta and 50 kg rice. However, according to sources, no arrests could be made from the hideout. Police continued searches in Rote forests to apprehend the terrorists, using the hideout. |
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Dy Speaker’s post for
NC Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 20: Mr Tara Chand, MLA from the Chamb constituency of Jammu region and senior leader of the Congress party, will be the new Speaker of the recently-constituted Legislative Assembly. Mr Tara Chand filed his nomination papers for the post of Speaker on Wednesday. His name was proposed by the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, and seconded by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Finance, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig. No other candidate filed nominations for the post. This notwithstanding, the election for the post is, under legislative procedure, slated for Thursday morning, prior to the commencement of special session of the J&K Legislature. In the last Legislative Assembly, Mr Tara Chand functioned as Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). The People’s democratic Party (PDP)-led Government has, meanwhile, taken politically-important decision, favouring the main Opposition party in the Legislative Assembly, namely, National Conference, to have the Deputy Speaker’s post. The man for the job is none other than the NC MLA from Sona-wari constituency of Kashmir, Mr Akbar Lone, who is also a practising lawyer. A formal notification for the post of Deputy Speaker will be issued on Thursday. Election, if necessary, will take place either on November 23 or 25. It may be recalled that during the National Conference regimes between 1977 and 1983, Mr Janak Raj Gupta, who was then associated with Congress (I), functioned as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. |
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New MLCs to be inducted after Mufti-Sonia talks Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 20: Speculations of sorts are galore vis-a-vis the new entrants into the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council. As many as seven seats in the 36-member ‘House of Elders’ became vacant on October 15, with the expiry of the term of nominated members. These retired MLCs are Prof YR Malhotra, former Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University, Maj-Gen (retd) JS Jamwal, Dr Sayed Nasir Shah, Haji Buland Khan, Mr Vir Chand Mahasha, Mr SM Gill and Mr BL Bhat. Of the seven available seats in the House, two were filled with the nomination of Mr Aga Ashraf Ali and Ms Farida Muneer on Tuesday. The Governor, Mr Girish Chandra Saxena, nominated them in terms of sub-section 5 of Section 50 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. The Governor also nominated Ms Shanti Devi and Ms Khem Lata Wakhloo as members of the Legislative Assembly, thereby increasing the strength of the Lower House to 89. Who will finally make it to the ‘House of Elders’? This question is being hotly discussed in various circles here. A precise answer is not available, considering the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s insistence on due consultations with the principal partner in his dispensation, Congress. It is, precisely, in this context that Mufti Sayeed will like to discuss the issue with top Congress leaders, particularly the AICC supremo, Ms Sonia Gandhi, and the J&K PCC chief and Rajya Sabha member, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, before any formal announcement with regard to new faces for the Legislative Council is made. On present indications, the Mufti will visit Delhi after the conclusion of the special session of the State Legislature next week. |
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Poonch ultra was among 3 held in Pushkar Mela AJMER, Nov 20: The three suspected terrorists, who were arrested during the annual Pushkar fair, were planning to do the ground work for an attack at the fair which attracted tens of thousands of people including foreigners. While the documents recovered from Mohammad Abdullah, Mohammad Islam and Mohammad Aslam arrested on Sunday clearly established their "terrorist links", interrogations indicated that the trio had come for preparing ground work for an attack, police sources said. Following interrogations, four more persons, believed to be their accomplices, were detained, they added. Unprecedented security measures were taken for the fair in the wake of intelligence reports of possible terrorist strikes. The fair ended incident-free yesterday. The three suspects arrived here from Jammu & Kashmir and was proceeding to Pushkar fair when police nabbed them. It was found that Abdulla was basically from Bareilly, UP, Islam from Poonch in J & K and Aslam from Bangladesh, they said. Though their documents proved links with terrorist activities, no arms were recovered from them, sources said adding the investigating officials were in touch with Jammu and Kashmir Police regarding the case. (PTI) |
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Two more arrested in fake state subject racket Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 20: Bakshi Nagar police today arrested two more accused involved in fake state subject racket and recovered five fake Permanent Resident Certificates (PRCs) from their possession. Police identified the accused, who were arrested this evening, as Romesh Lal son of Chuni Lal R/o Hiranagar and Mohd Sharif S/o Mohd Ramzan R/o Prem Nagar, Jogi Gate. While two fake PRCs were recovered from Mohd Sharief, three fake PRCs were found in possession of Romesh Lal. As already reported, Bakshi Nagar police had apprehended four persons including the kingpin on Monday and recovered a large number of fake state subjects from them. Some more arrests were expected, police said. A police party that nabbed the two accused today was led by SHO Bakshi Nagar Mohd Rafiq and Probationer Sub Inspector Rajinder Sharma. |
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Former Kashmiri rebel
leader vows more LAHORE, Nov 20: The founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba blamed for a deadly attack on Indian Parliament vowed Wednesday to continue Jihad against India, a day after his release from house arrest. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, former head of the banned Islamic Lashkar-e-Toiba organisation, had been released from five months’ custody into house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore on October 31. The Lahore High Court on Monday declared his house detention unlawful and ordered it lifted, which took effect yesterday. The provincial Punjab Government had unsuccessfully pushed for Saeed’s continued detention, telling the court that Lashkar was still waging militant operations through Jamaat Al-Dawaa, the political wing of the organisation. New Delhi reacted sharply and claimed the release showed Islamabad did not want to stop "cross-border terrorism." "We know that there is no let up in cross-border terrorism. There has hardly been any move to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan," India’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Navtej Sarna said. At a press conference today a defiant Saeed declared Kashmir "will get results" by waging Jihad (holy war). "My organisation will continue its support and cooperation for the liberation of Indian Kashmir," he said. Meanwhile, India today reacted with disdain to reports of release in Pakistan of Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafeez Mohammad Saeed, the prime suspect in last year’s attack on Indian Parliament, saying "this is nothing new". "Sustenance is still being given to the terrorists in Pakistan," an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters here when asked about a Pakistani court directive ordering the release of the LeT chief. "This is nothing new," he said adding "there has been hardly any movement on the dismantling of infrastructure of terrorism, on the launching stations, communication centres and other facilities," he said. The US has also voiced disappointment over the release and asked Pakistan to ensure that terror suspects face justice. State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker said in Washington "Pakistani law enforcement agencies, just like law enforcement agencies around the world, must ensure that those responsible for terrorist crimes are brought to justice." Saeed was placed under house arrest in Lahore on October 31 after five months in custody. But the Lahore High Court declared his detention unlawful and ordered his release forthwith. (Agencies) |
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Sonia supports Vajpayee on rivers issue NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Congress today supported Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s proposal for taking up of interlinking of rivers on a war-footing to fight the recurrent problem of drought. "We welcome the proposal by the Prime Minister to interlink rivers," Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha replying to the adjournment motion moved by her. Asking Government not to waste any more time and accelerate the process of relief to drought affected states to mitigate the sufferings of the millions of people, she said "each day’s delay compounds the people’s misery." On the issue of discrimination of assistance to states, Gandhi said "we objected only to the formula adopted by the Centre for providing assistance to the states." She said Congress’ intention was to point out the inadequacies and weaknesses of the Centre in meeting the situation and "our intention was never to politicise the issue." If it has been mistaken as politicisation of the issue, "I am sorry," she said adding that it was only through constructive discussion that one can help each other. Gandhi suggested a special meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) to enable better coordination between the Centre and the states to accelerate the process of relief to drought affected states. She said there was need to strengthen food for work programme on a large scale in vulnerable areas and expanding Antoyodaya programme as these would be extremely helpful. Gandhi said though revamping and strengthening of the PDS was imperative, but there was need to spell out the drought management code. She dismissed the comparison of two drought situations of 1987 and the present one made by Vajpayee saying that one has to look at the stock of foodgrains at that time as also the rupee value of the relief provided. The Congress president wanted to know how much foodgrains was specifically sent to drought affected states. She sought waiver of interest on loans to farmers in drought affected states while asking the Government to look into the problem of transportation cost of foodgrains in these states. (PTI) |
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