Kashmir can’t be compared to other States: Sonia

Excelsior Correspondent

MANDI (Himachal), Oct. 28: Strongly justifying her party’s decision culminating in setting the stage for Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to put on the mantle of Chief Ministership of Jammu and Kashmir, Ms Sonia Gandhi has set the record straight by her statement: "Everything would have been undone if the Congress had adopted a stiff attitude".

The statement found a forceful expression as she addressed a massive public rally at the Padal ground in picturesque Mandi on Monday. Her stout argument in support of her party’s pro-Mufti line: As the Congress wanted to end the political stalemate in J&K in the larger interest of the country, it was finally agreed to make Mufti Sayeed the Chief Minister in the first turn of rotational Chief Ministership in the State.

While briefly discussing Kashmir’s importance, Ms Sonia Gandhi said: "Kashmir cannot be compared to other States because of its peculiar political problem".

Voicing deep satisfaction over the "victory of ballot over the bullet" in the just-concluded Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Ms Sonia Gandhi said that the State people created history of sorts as they came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise at the risk of their lives.

Equally deep was her admiration for the Congress workers’ performance in the State during the battle of the ballot. They faced bullets for the restoration of confidence among Kashmiris in democratic set-up, she said.

She used the opportunity (her visit to Mandi) to send out a clear message to her party’s adversaries. The Congress, she predicted with confidence, was poised to capture political power in Himachal Pradesh in the ensuing Assembly elections. The Congress Government, she assured, would bring the ailing economy of the State back on rails.

Ms Sonia Gandhi also assured people of all sections, particularly farmers, women and workers, that the Congress would bring about development and prosperity in Himachal Pradesh once it formed next Government.

The AICC president came down heavily on the BJP Government. She openly lambasted it for being involved in a series of scams. All this, despite the party (BJP) having boasted to high values, she lamented. She said that the scams and "misdeeds" of the BJP Government had exposed "their real face". Her sarcastic remark: "The mask of idealism from the faces of BJP leaders has been removed".

In an apparent bid to keep alive in public mind the "great" contribution from the Nehru-Gandhi family, Ms Sonia Gandhi told her audience that former Prime Ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, had evinced "keen interest" in the development of the beautiful hill State of Himachal Pradesh. She, in fact, went to the extent of proclaiming that Himachal’s very existence owed to them.

Her listners lustily cheered her when she assured them that due attention would be paid to the development of Himachal Pradesh after the Congress forms next Government at the end of the ensuing elections. She openly admitted: "We want power for development, happiness and fulfilling the aspiration of the people and not to demolish values and promote politics of violence and hatred between different sections as the BJP has done".

That the negative aspects of factionalism were in her mind became amply clear when she cautioned leaders of Himachal against creating factions within the Congress party. Her emphasis was on complete unity in the rank and file of the party. The ruling BJP can be thrown out of power if the State Congressmen stood as one man, she counselled.

Rs 24 lakh meant for funding militancy seized; 3 held

SRINAGAR, Oct 28: Troops achieved a major success when they arrested three persons and seized Rs 24 lakh, to be used for funding militancy in the Kashmir valley last evening.

Elsewhere in the Valley, three persons including two militants were killed during the past 24 hours.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said that troops on a specific information laid a trap at Habda Mohalla in the city early yesterday to nab those involved in financing militant organizations operating in the Valley.

He said as soon as the militants approached the area, they were challenged and asked to surrender.

Later both of them—Haji Mohammed Amin Qureshi and his son Showkat Ahmad Qureshi—were arrested along with Rs 22 lakh.

Meanwhile, in yet another successful operation, troops raided a militant hide-out at Goshbugh in Baramulla district of south Kashmir last evening and arrested one more militant and seized Rs two lakh, the spokesman said.

He said Pakistan is making a desperate bid, by pumping in money, to boost the morale of the militants who are depressed after the successful completion of Assembly elections in the State.

The militants admitted their involvement in financing militants operating in the Valley, he said.

They further admitted during the questioning that the money was also being used as an inducement for recruiting youths who are now fed-up with militancy.

Meanwhile, militants shot dead one Abdul Majeed Lone at Haral in the frontier district of Kupwara late last night.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said an encounter took place between militants and security forces during a search operation at village Batnar in Pulwama district yesterday. One militant was killed in the shoot-out, he said adding one AK rifle, one magazine and few rounds were recovered from the slain militant.

Another militant belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen was killed by the security forces at Shalgul in Anantnag district last night. One AK rifle, three magazines and 35 rounds were recovered from the slain militant. (AGENCIES)

Hurriyat cautiously hails Mufti's stand on political prisoners

NEW DELHI, Oct 28: Hurriyat Conference today cautiously welcomed the announcement by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who will head the next Government in Jammu and Kashmir, to release political prisoners but maintained that the Kashmir problem could be resolved only through a trilateral dialogue involving India, Pakistan and the separatist conglomerate.

"Talk of giving a healing touch to people of the State and release of all political prisoners are good steps if implemented. We have to see whether Mufti Sayeed fulfils the promise," Hurriyat spokesman Shabir Ahmed Dar told PTI here.

"But the Government formation and its programme are short-cuts which will not take us anywhere as far as lasting solution to the Kashmir issue is concerned," he said.

Maintaining that the issue can be resolved only through a trilateral dialogue involving India, Pakistan and Hurriyat Conference, Dar said "we ask both the countries to shed their rigid stance and hold negotiations.

"We want a resolution of the Kashmir issue and are not interested in Government formation in the State," he said.

On Sayeed’s contention that he would ask the Central Government to hold talks with Pakistan, Dar expressed doubts on whether New Delhi would accept that.

Dar also expressed displeasure over the reported statement of Kashmir Committee Chairman Ram Jethmalani that autonomy was the only viable solution to the vexed issue, saying "it does not coincide anywhere with Hurriyat stand".

"Jethamalani’s talk regarding autonomy is his own agenda and Hurriyat does not accept his line on this," he said, adding in the six-point agreement between the Hurriyat and Kashmir Committee "this issue does not figure anywhere".

"We believe Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed State and a resolution to the problem can come only through a tripartite dialogue," he said. (PTI)

Inquiry on cards against 'those who sucked blood of Kashmiris'
Mufti gets rousing reception in Srinagar

From Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Oct 28: President of the Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the prospective Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was accorded a warm reception when he reached home from New Delhi today. He was received at the airport by scores of his party colleagues and MLAs besides senior officials, who included Divisional Commissioner Pervez Dewan and IGP Kashmir K Rajendra Kumar.

Shouting pro-Mufti and pro-PDP slogans, thousands of people reached Srinagar Airport road in over 300 buses and light motor vehicles from different areas of Kashmir valley. Some of them were heard yelling against the "POTA sarkar" and the defeated National Conference (NC). As Mufti and his colleagues—Mehbooba Mufti, Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Ghulam Hassan Mir and the CPI(M) State secretary Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami—emerged out of the airport terminal, they were hugged and garlanded by waiting supporters and political activists.

On the 8-Km road from Srinagar Airport to his Nowgam Bypass residence, men and women on every corner received Mufti with their smiles. Small bands of folk artists were also on the job. Celebrating Mufti’s triumphant return, groups of his followers danced on rooftops of their carriages upto Nowgam.

There was a multitude of people when Mufti reached home and all security barriers failed to work. Hundreds of men swarmed into the premises without any physical frisking, though the Special Security Group (SSG)—a J&K Police outfit responsible for Chief Minister’s security—had taken over Mufti’s house overnight. Some perched themselves on trees and others occupied the compound walls and the National Highway Bypass to get Mufti’s glimpse when he appeared at the verandah to make a brief speech.

One side of the compound wall was demolished as a large number of men occupied the adjacent orchard, creating a security problem. People kept pouring in as the Chadoura MLA Javed Mustafa’s caravan was followed by the 112-vehicle fleet arranged by the former NC Minister Aga Mehmood, who has joined the PDP recently. Scores of buses also carried the supporters of the Ganderbal MLA, Qazi Mohammad Afzal, who has defeated the NC’s Chief Ministerial candidate, Omar Abdullah, in the Assembly elections.

Mufti, who has had a villain’s image in the Valley— from his anti-Sheikh Abdullah and anti-Plebiscite days to his becoming India’s Home Minister—received this kind of welcome first time in his 43-year-long political career. He is the same man who risked social ostracism in Kashmir on account of opposing the political icon, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. It was he for whom the Sheikh’s NC had coined then popular slogan "Mufti sinz qabar, Kasheeri nebar" (Mufti should be buried outside Kashmir). And, for the same man, Dr Farooq Abdullah taunted repeatedly that he had sewn the Chief Minister’s achkan (cloak) at a tailor’s shop on Residency Road Jammu. Farooq would mean that Mufti’s dream of becoming the state’s Chief Minister would never come true.

In his 30-minute thanks-giving address, Mufti assured his audiences that every point of his party manifesto—suspension of POTA, winding up the Special Operations Group (SOG), releasing all detainees against whom no charges had been established, talking to separatists and extending the ex gratia relief to the slain militants’ families—would be implemented by the PDP-led coalition Government in letter and spirit.

He said that he put his foot down on every point of the PDP manifesto and made his allies realise that a healing touch was the real treatment to Kashmir. Mufti said that the Congress party showed its magnanimity in accepting all the vital PDP manifesto points in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP). He said that the Prime Minister too had recognised Kashmir as a national crisis and assured full support from the NDA Government. He said that as the head of the Government, he would pursue the CMP and keep in his mind the aspirations of all PDP-allies. He said that all parts of the State would get equitable treatment in everything from development to decision making

Mufti asserted that bringing about accountability in the Government functionaries would be his topmost priority. He declared that the Lok Pal Bill would be introduced in the Assembly, making all MLAs, MLCs and even the CM accountable before the people. He said that the same would be done in consultation with the leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of J&K High Court.

Mufti said that, as a part of his political package, he would make the Government of India start unconditional talks with the elected MLAs and "other sections". He said that the PDP-led Government was an opportunity for the people of Jammu & Kashmir to reshape their destiny.

Earlier, the PDP vice president, Muzaffar Hussain Beig, said that the new Government would investigate charges of corruption and irregularities against "those who have sucked the blood of Kashmiris." He said that commissions of inquiry would also be set up against the "officers who killed the innocent boys in custody."

Mufti Sayeed is being formally elected as leader of the PDP Legislature Party here tomorrow. Thereafter, anytime, he will be going to Governor Girish Chander Saxena to stake his claim for the Government formation. The swearing in ceremony is likely to take place on Saturday next.

No compromise with terrorists: Putin

MOSCOW, Oct 28: As Russia mourned the victims of last week’s hostage drama, President Vladimir Putin today vowed not to compromise with terrorists and deal with them "wherever they may be", saying he has issued instructions to the armed forces to draw up plans to meet this goal.

"International terrorism is getting more and more brazen, more cruel, and across the world it threatens to use methods comparable to weapons of mass-destruction," Putin said in a televised statement, two days after the bloody end of the hostage drama at a Moscow theatre that left 118 captives dead.

"I want to declare with full responsibility that if anyone tries to use such means against our country, Russia will adequately respond against terrorists, their organisers and their ideological and financial perpetrators, wherever they may be," Putin said.

He said he was issuing instructions to his generals to make necessary changes in the operational plans of the armed forces to enable them to take action wherever necessary to meet this goal.

Speaking at a meeting of key cabinet members, first after the hostage crisis, Putin declared that Russia will not compromise with terrorists and not succumb to their blackmail.

"The tragic events are over, but a multitude of problems remains to be solved, we are paying a high price for the weakness of the state and inconsistent action," he said in an apparent reference to the policies of his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, who virtually destroyed the security mechanisms in the name of fight against the communist-era KGB.

Putin’s statement came as shocked and anguished Russians observed a day of mourning today in memory of those who died in the operations to end the Moscow theatre siege, even as the authorities came under pressure to provide details of the gas used by troops to rescue hostages held by the Chechen rebels.

Russia denied use of sarin or other poisonus gases to neutralise the Chechen rebels but refused to give the precise details.

Russian presidency’s top medical official Viktor Fominykh told reporters that the purpose of the raid on the theatre "was not to kill everyone and so the use of sarin or any other poison gas can be ruled out".

"Consequently, it is not essential to know its composition exactly in order to provide treatment," Fominykh said.

All but two of the 118 captives died due to the gas that troops used to neutralise the Chechen gunmen before storming the building on Saturday morning that ended the three-day hostage drama. (PTI)

KC meets Hurriyat leader, US official

NEW DELHI, Oct 28: Kashmir Committee headed by former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani today decided to hold talks with "certain elements" in Pakistan after holding wide-ranging parleys with visiting senior US official Richard Haas and Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Bhat on efforts to find an amicable solution to the decade-old militancy problem in the State.

"We will wait till a person gets sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan and then initiate steps to hold formal talks with certain elements there who are willing to join the process for finding a peaceful solution to the militancy problem," Jethmalani told PTI.

This emerged after the committee, also comprising eminent editors Dileep Padgaonkar and M J Akbar, former diplomat V K Grover and convenor of the committee Ashok Bhan, held talks with Bhat and Haas. "The committee has been in touch with these elements in Pakistan," he said.

Jethmalani said the Pakistan National Human Rights Commission Chairman is expected to visit India soon and added the committee will hold talks with him.

On the talks with Haas, he said "we tried to find out how the US Government could help us in finding a solution to the problem and in turn assured them our help in their task."

He termed the talks with Bhat as "constructive" and said "we impressed upon Bhat that we should take some steps forward after the polls."

Asked about the committee’s visit to Kashmir, he said it was likely to take place in mid-November so as to give time to the Government and the Chief Minister time to settle down. (PTI)

High stakes for both BJP, Cong in Gujarat

GANDHINAGAR, Oct 28: The stakes are high in Gujarat for both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition party, the Congress, in a one-day Assembly poll slated for December 12.

The state has been in the spotlight of national and international media following the communal violence in the wake of the Godhra carnage and its ripples even touched the United Nations General Assembly last month.

Both acting Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his one-time ‘mentor’, the present Gujarat Congress president Shankarsinh Vaghela, cut their political teeth in the erstwhile Jan Sangh, and then the BJP, before parting ways in 1995.

History has come a full circle during the last three decades. For, in the 1970s, Mr Vaghela, as the then Jan Sangh leader, used to take his RSS junior, Mr Modi, on pillion rides on his motor-cycle. Mr Vaghela was instrumental in drafting the young Modi into the BJP.

The two leaders have been riding their respective chariots since September this year, criss-crossing the length and breadth of Gujarat, launching broadsides against each other. They know each other only too well as no other leaders in their respective parties know them.

While Mr Modi enjoys the backing of Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, who represents Gandhinagar in the Lok Sabha, so also some other leaders in the party, Mr Vaghela, ever since he was appointed the GPCC chief in July, has been able to rejuvenate the ‘Moribund’ Congress in the state. Although both the BJP and the Congress claim to be riding a ‘wave’ in their favour—the former believing in a ‘strengthened’ Hindutva vote, the latter depending on its secular ‘credentials’ —the real test between the two parties would take place in the all-important Saurashtra (Kathiawad) region, the underbelly of political power in Gujarat, with Rajkot being the state’s political capital.

It is here that the two leaders may have to reckon with the Keshubhai Patel factor. The former Chief Minister, the oldest war horse in the Sangh Parivar’s Gujarat unit, who was replaced by Mr Modi in October last year following electoral setbacks, has spent his time recovering from illness. And a healthy Keshubhai, the tallest Patel leader after the late Chimanbhai Patel, is one leader who has the capacity to put a spanner in the wheels of fortune of both, Mr Modi as well as Mr Vaghela.

Gujarat was emerging as the second financial capital of India after Mumbai in 1998, when the BJP returned to power. The Reserve Bank of India report put Gujarat ahead of all other states with transaction of cheques worth Rs.1.50 lakh crore that year but the western state has suffered a series of natural disasters in the last five years.

However, the man-made disaster of communal riots triggered by the February 27 Sabarmati Express carnage this year brought the wheel of economic progress to a near standstill in this business-centred state. Both the main contenders for power, the BJP and the Congress, had to face communal riots during their respective regimes, the worst being those of 1969. But, with the September 24 terror attack at Akshardham Temple, the new Government in Gujarat will face the challenges of economic decline and terrorist acts in a state where the last Chief Minister to complete his five-year term (1990-95) was the late Chimanbhai Patel, political instability has taken its toll on economic progress. In the last seven years, Gujarat witnessed five Chief Ministers—Keshubhai Patel, Suresh Mehta, Shankarsinh Vaghela, Dilip Parikh, and Narendra Modi.

And, both Mr Vaghela and Mr Modi have each worked for less than a year as Chief Minister, overwhelmed as they were by the fast-changing circumstances, both political and otherwise, having little time to devote to the pressing matters.

Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh, who had rejected the plea of the State Government for early elections after it dissolved the 182-member Assembly on July 19, said in New Delhi that the notification for the elections would be issued on November 18, November 25 will be the last date for filing of nomination papers, scrutiny will be taken up the next day and November 28 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 15 and the entire process should be completed before December 20, Mr Lyngdoh said.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used for all the Assembly segments. (UNI)

Examination scam
Invigilators, students identified by police

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 28: City police, investigating a rarest of the rare examination scam in the State Board of School Education, today said all invigilators including one superintendent and his deputy and assistant besides all 62 students involved in the scam have been identified.

"Most of the accused, whose houses were raided during the day today after obtaining their addresses from the Board authorities, had gone underground and none of them could be arrested", a police spokesman said late this evening.

He identified the three senior invigilators as Rajinder Parsad, Superintendent, Shankar Singh, Deputy Superintendent and Yusaf Khokhar, Assistant Superintendent. Besides, there were three to four row men and 62 students.

As reported in this paper, the invigilators had set up their own examination centre in a rented house at Karan Nagar, where they used to shift the students after completion of the exam timings in the official centre. The students were given sufficient time to write answers with the help of guides in the private centre before their answer sheets were sealed and sent to the Board.

The students were appearing in Physics A and Political Science A exam at St Peter’s School, Residency Road on Saturday. Police had carried out a surprise raid at the private house in Karan Nagar where the students were taking their exams after completion of exam timings. However, police could arrest only three students while all others including the invigilators had escaped alongwith about 35 answer sheets.

Police said the answer sheets would be recovered only after the students and invigilators are arrested. City police have constituted three separate teams to arrest the invigilators and the students. Police was confidant that the arrests would be made within the next two days.

Further investigations in the scam including possible role of the Board officials would be possible only after arrest of the accused, the spokesman said.

CMP liberal towards terrorists: BJP

NEW DELHI, Oct 28: BJP today described the Common Minimum Programme of the PDP-Congress alliance as "soft and liberal" towards terrorists but ruled out any clash between the Centre and the new regime.

"It seems as the if the CMP is less concerned over developmental issues and more liberal towards terrorists," party general secretary and spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters here.

"The softness towards arrested terrorists, the decisions to disband special operations group and not to implement POTA are clear indications as to how sincere this Government would be towards development and fighting terrorism," he said.

Asked whether the CMP would lead to clash of interests between the centre and the new Government, he said, "there is no question of any clash between the Centre and the State. The Central Government would fully back all developmental initiatives of the State Government.’

He, however, said the Centre would expect that "no action of the State Government helps terrorists and separatist forces." (PTI)

US diplomat shot dead

AMMAN, Oct 28: An American diplomat was gunned down in a hail of bullets today as he walked to his car outside his home in the Jordanian capital, US and Jordanian officials said.

The gunman, possibly aided by others, escaped and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. It was the first fatal shooting of a western diplomat in Jordan in memory.

The US Embassy identified the victim as Laurence Foley, an employee of the US agency for international development mission in Jordan, which handles foreign aid and humanitarian programs.

While Jordan is officially allied with the United States, anti-American sentiment has been rising with public opposition to a threatened US attack on Iraq, Jordan’s eastern neighbour. The kingdom’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel has also made it a target for Muslim militants and terrorist groups.

Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Affash Adwan would not speculate on whether terrorists were involved, but called the attack "an aggression on Jordan and its national security."

Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher went to the US Embassy to express condolences and promised swift action to catch the perpetrator.

"The Jordanian Government is going to deal seriously with this horrible crime," he was quoted by the Jordanian news agency Petra as saying.

The US Embassy said in a statement that US authorities "are working closely with Jordanian officials to investigate this horrible crime." the Embassy warned Americans to "remain vigilant." (AP)

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