KPs protest against KC at Purkhoo
Pandits natural ally to Kashmir problem, says Jethmalani

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 24: A section of Kashmiri migrants protested and shouted anti Kashmir Committee (KC) slogans in Purkhoo Camp, Phase Third during the visit of Mr Ram Jethmalani and other members of the Committee to Camp today.

As Mr Jethmalani and his other colleges including, Messrs M J Akbar, Dilip Padgoankar and Ashok Bhan were going to hold the deliberations with the Camp Development Committee members and leaders of All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) at Purkhoo Camp Phase Third, a section of Kashmir migrants took out a demonstration shouting slogans against the Committee and Ram Jethmalani.

They disrupted the meeting for about 20 minutes and did not allow the Development Committee members to speak. The tampers ran high for some time and a virtual clash between the two groups was averted by the intervention of some senior members form the community.

The protestants also criticised the style of functioning of the Kashmir Committee and blamed it for ignoring the displaced Kashmiri Pandits in last meetings.

They said the KPs being the aborigines of the Kashmir valley with over 5000 year old history have been thrown out by Islamic fundamentalists supported by Pakistan and no solution to the Kashmir problem was possible without making them a party to any dialogue for resolving the issue.

Later, with the intervention of Mr Ashok Bhan, a Supreme Court Lawyer who is also the member of KC, H L Chatta and A N Vaishnavi the situation was saved and Mr Jethmalani allowed to speak.

Earlier, addressing a gathering of the Kashmiri migrants at Purkhoo Camp Phase First, Mr Jethmalani turned down the allegations that the Committee has forgotten the Kashmiri Pandits and asserted no decision on Kashmir will be taken without taking the community into confidence, which is natural ally.

He said "we have already met the leaders of the Pandit community in Delhi and other parts and sought their view point on the issue".

Mr Jethmalani said during his first parlays with Hurriyat Conference leadership, the KC made it categorical to them that dignified return of displaced Pandits will be key to parlays which they agreed to.

Expressing concern over the condition of the displaced people languishing in camps at Jammu and different parts of the country, he said the "plight of this hapless community hurts us most". "I understand your pain and anger", he added.

He blamed both Centre and State Governments for their failure in solving the problems of the displaced people from Valley and asked them to struggle unitedly for their cause.

He said being a refugee himself, he can understand the plight of a community much better than any body else and will project their demands and problems till his last breath.

He said Sindhis who were forced to flee from Pakistan during partition faced much worst situation during those days. But we continued struggle for our rights.

"We too had a distinct culture and tradition and after our migration to India, first order was issued by the Government of Jawahar Lal Nehru asking Sindhis to abolish the Sindhi script and adopt the Devnagri one, but I was the person who challenged this", he added.

So you too should get united and fight for your cause, he said, adding "I and my companions will plead for your rights."

Mr Jethmalani said he too had started his life from a refugee camp in 1941 and the conditions at that time were more critical than today. He said "you have a separate room but during our days many families were putting in a single hall".

He maintained that KC does not have the Constitutional powers but it is the body of some persons who independently took initiative to resolve the Kashmir issue as it will grip the entire nation if efforts are not made to resolve it.

Apprising the K C Committee about the plight of Kashmiri migrants, Messrs Mahraj Krishan Dhar and Ramesh Kumar Bhat said the Pandits did not flee from the Valley on their own but were forced to migrate by Pak terrorists when announcements were made in all mosques of the Valley that KPs should flee within 24 hours or face consequences.

They said the situation became so critical that at Jammu some of our brethren have to take refugee in shops and cattle sheds due to shortage of accommodation with the locals.

Expressing concern over the plight of this hapless community they said being the community of intellectuals who have given a great historian like Kalhan to the world, hundreds of years ago our position is like beggars today as our problems compounded in exile during last 13 years.

They alleged that no share was given to the members of community in the employment though 1.60 lakh people were employed during last six years by previous NC Government.

"The cash relief given to us is meager and our demand to enhance it to Rs 5000 has not been considered so far", the alleged.

They wanted to know why the KPs who are patriots by core are not included in the dialogue when parlays were held with those who talk of separation or merger with Pakistan.

Mr Bhat took the successive governments to task for genocide of the community saying that it faced discrimination at every level since 1947.

He alleged that the Assembly constituencies which had seizable number of Pandit voters were delimited under a sinister design and calculated move to make the community leaderless.

The recommendations of Dayal, Kohli and other commissions set up from time to time did not see the light of the day, he said, adding the merit was reversed just to keep Kashmiri Pandits away from Professional institutions.

He appealed Mr Jethmalani to put these problems before the Government of India in an impartial manner failing which the history will not forget him too.

He said what was our blunder and being the law abiding and peace loving citizens we were thrown out from the Valley.

CM asks adm to chalk out schedule election to left out panchayats soon

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 24: The Government is intending to soon hold elections to the panchayats in Kashmir where these had not been held last time. The Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad today directed the divisional administration to chalk out a schedule for this purpose and ensure that the process was completed at the earliest.

The Chief Minister was addressing a meeting of divisional and district officers convened by him to review the drought situation in the valley and the follow up on decisions taken in the recently held district development board meetings. The Minister for rural development, Pirzada Muhammad Syed, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Parvez Dewan, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Muhammad Iqbal Khandey, Principal Secretay, Rural Development, Amit Kushari, deputy commissioners of various districts and senior officers of the rural development department were present.

Laying stress on the role of panchayats, Sayeed said empowerment of people at the grassroots level was imperative for the success of democracy. He said all the development works in rural areas would be taken up in consultation with the concerned panchayats. It was necessary, he added, that the elections were held for the panchayats where these could not be held due to some reasons last time.

The Chief Minister impressed upon the deputy commissioners to speed up implementation on the decisions taken in the development board meetings. He asked them to identify the works and the beneficiaries under the drought programme so that the work could be started without loss of time when the Centre made the money available. He also directed them to undertake a fresh survey for identification of people living below the poverty line. This, he said, was necessary to ensure that only the deserved were benefited under the centrally sponsored schemes of relief.

The Chief Minister took a serious view of encroachments defacing the Srinagar city and asked the concerned officers to take steps for making the capital city more beautiful. He asked the Divisional Commissioner to identify land in the downtown city for laying out a beautiful park saying all the parks and gardens in the city were in the uptown area only. He said the J&K Bank would be approached to develop a beautiful park on the identified land to provide recreational facility to the people in the old city.

The Chief Minister asked the divisional administration to mobilize the concerned agencies for monitoring and controlling prices and directed to extend the market checking to eradicate sale of spurious medicines and duplicate items in the market.

Earlier, the Minister for Rural Development directed the officers of his department to gear up their field staff for implementation of the rural works in the light of the decisions taken in the district development board meetings earlier this month. He briefed the Chief Minister about the meeting he took earlier today with his officers.

KC meets Saxena, discusses situation

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 24: The Kashmir Committee headed by Mr. Ram Jethmalani, MP and former Union Law Minister called on the Governor, Mr. Girish Chandra Saxena here today and exchanged views on the present situation.

The 6-member committee, which is pursuing an agenda of dialogue to solve Kashmir problem, has been meeting different groups and important personalities for a meaningful interaction.

During their more than 70-minute meeting, the committee shared their perception with the Governor on the latest situation in the valley and the headway they have made in bringing different groups of public opinion on the path of dialogue at non-government level.

The Governor appreciated their effort for dialogue with different groups and hoped that such efforts would lead to end of violence and help in early return of peace in the State.

Earlier, the members of the committee visited Purkhoo camp and interacted with Kashmiri migrants.

Plus 2 lecturers allege stagnation in cadre

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 24: All J&K Plus 2 Lecturer’s Forum comprising the members of Central Executive, district presidents and staff secretaries in a crucial meeting held here today reviewed the over all scenario in the School Education department.

According to a release, the day long deliberations focused various issues confronting the community which include the worst type of stagnation , delay in finalisation of seniority of the cadre, deliberate delay in affecting the promotion of lectures, delay in regularisation of incharge officers in terms of cabinet decision of 1998, creation of Vice Principal’s post , filling up of vacant posts of Principals, Lecturers, implementation of reservation rules and fixed tenure transfer policy.

Mr H D Qureshi , the state chief of the Forum while presiding over the meet expressed serious concern over the delaying tactics of the Government in the redressal of genuine demands. The delay is being caused deliberately for the exploitation of the post-graduate teachers.

Mr Nirmal Choudhary, Ms Shakuntla Rani, Mr Didar Singh and Mr Yash Paul Sharma while speaking on the occasion, expressed serious concern over the attitude of neglect on the part of concerned authorities.

9 murder cases solved in Srinagar, 3 in Budgam

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 24: A meeting of the District SSPs and SDPOs of Central Kashmir Range was held here, which was addressed by Director General of Police (DGP), Mr AK Suri.

The DGP was told about the performance of the local police on the front of crime prevention and detection. The meeting was informed that in the recent drive to unearth the stolen vehicles, 96 vehicles have been recovered from five areas of Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Leh and Kargil in Central Kashmir Range and efforts were on to recover more stolen vehicles.

District Srinagar had also solved nine murder cases including one recently in the area of Police Station Shaheed Gunj which the murders had faked as a militancy related murder. It was informed that the accused stand arrested and shall be produced in the court of law soon. Similarly, three murder cases have been solved in Budgam that included molestation-cum-murder of two minors of village Atina in tehsil Beerwah.

It was informed that large number of theft and burglary cases had also been solved by various districts of the range which include cement from Government stores and timber as well. Police Station Shaheed Gunj had also recovered stolen shoes worth lakhs of rupees and arrested the accused in a swift example of investigation.

During the ongoing holy month of Ramzan, the meeting was informed that Police launched a drive against unscrupulous traders and hoarders and took action against 63 such shop-keepers.

The DGP while appreciating the good-work done by local Police, stressed the need to be alert on all fronts that included the militancy as well as the crime front.

Create sound resource base for development authorities: Mir

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 24 : The Housing and Urban Development Minister, Mr. Ghulam Hassan Mir today called upon officers for creating sound resource base to make the development authorities economically self-reliant. He said that this would go a long way in setting up better housing colonies with modern infrastructure and provide employment opportunities to the youth of the State.

The Minister was addressing the officers of Jammu Development Authority during an extensive visit of Jammu city today to review various developmental activities going on in the city.

The Minister alongwith Vice Chairman, Jammu Development Authority, Mr. Mohammad Aslam and a team of senior officer visited Kala Kendra Bhawan at Bikram Chowk. Spread over an area of 240 kanals, the complex is coming up at a cost of over Rs 5 crore and would house Kala Kendra, auditorium, open air theatre, planetarium and future science centre. On completion, the cultural centre would accommodate art galleries, artist workshops and seminar hall under one roof and will be the largest in the State.

The Minister was informed that over Rs 3.25 crore have already been expended on its construction so far. He directed the Vice Chairman to speed up the construction work of the centre so that it is completed within a specified time frame.

The Minister also inspected power grid housing colony under construction through JDA near Railhead complex. The housing colony is being constructed at a cost of Rs 4.78 crore and will comprise office complex and 72 residential flats for the staff of the power grid corporation of India. He also visited Bahu Plaza shopping complex where additional shops are being constructed. He was informed that the additional block of shopping complex would be completed during next year. So far, Rs 12 crore have been spent on the construction of entire complex. He stressed for better use of shops already completed in the plaza.

Later, Mr. Mir also inspected the commerce complex (Vigyan Bhawan) under construction at a cost of Rs 7 crore. The complex would be completed by the end of next financial year. He also visited fruit and sabzi mandi constructed at a cost of Rs 3 crore. He was informed that 300 rooms in the mandi are under construction, out of which 222 rooms have already been completed and allotted to the shopkeepers. He stressed the need for better keep up of the complexes and provision of upgraded civic facilities in the fruit mandi.

Forces trying to weaken APHC: Prof Bhat

SRINAGAR, Nov 24: Reiterating that the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) will continue its efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue, chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat said that attempts were being made by certain quarters to weaken the amalgam.

"Our efforts to find a lasting and peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue will continue despite all odds," he declared while addressing a seminar organised to commemorate the 35th death anniversary of Mirwaiz Moulana Mohammad Yousuf Shah here yesterday.

Prof Bhat said the 23-party amalgam, which represents the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, will not hesitate in talking to anybody on the Kashmir issue.

"Ours is a strong case and we are confident that ultimately we will emerge the winners," he said.

He warned the people that attempts were being made by certain forces to create misunderstanding among the leaders and weaken the conglomerate. "But we will defeat their designs as we did in the past," he said.

Describing Moulana Yousuf Shah as the first architect of Kashmir’s freedom struggle, Prof Bhat said that APHC would succeed in its mission.

Meanwhile serious differences have surfaced in the APHC as the executive council of the amalgam met with members of the Kashmir Committee (KC), despite stiff opposition by its main constituent Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

Barring the JKLF chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik, six executive council members attended the meeting with the KC delegation headed by Ram Jethmalani at the residence of former Hurriyat chairman Moulana Omar Farooq on Friday evening.

A joint statement issued by the APHC and the KC later said that the leaders had agreed to carry forward the dialogue.

Referring to Mr Malik’s absence from the meet, the statement said the issue came up for discussion and both the parties decided to "move ahead with the dialogue process for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue." The JKLF chairman has stated that he would never participate in any talks with the KC, accusing it of harming the Kashmiri cause.

Mr Malik said the KC led by Mr Jethmalani had no clear stand on the Kashmir issue and was being used by New Delhi to ward off international pressure. The motive behind the formation of the KC was to buy time, he added.

Mr Malik said the Government was under tremendous pressure from the international community to resolve the Kashmir issue. To rid itself of the pressure it is using dubious tactics. "Ansal plaza shootout was enacted by the Government to create an excuse for not initiating talks on Kashmir," he alleged.

One of the executive members of the APHC, Mohammad Yasin Malik had opposed the conglomerate’s decision to hold talks with the KC. However, six of the seven executive members had rejected Mr Malik’s suggestion prompting the conglomerate to go ahead with the dialogue process.

Meanwhile, women separatist organisation Dukhtaran-e-Milat chief Aasiya Andrabi in a statement here appreciated JKLF for keeping away from the talks with the KC.

Ms Aasiya, evading arrest under POTA for the past six months, said that the Hurriyat has no agenda on Kashmir. She added that Mr Malik’s decision was "in the interest of the freedom struggle of the people of the State." (UNI)