Ladakhi
students discuss problems
with MP, Chief Executive
Councilor
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: The college and
university students from Ladakh
region held a meeting with Member
Parliament from Ladakh Thupstan
Chhewang here at Geeta Bhawan
today and discussed the problems
being faced by them with him and
other leaders of Ladakh Union
Territory Front, Ladakh Kalyan
Sangh and Himalayan Parivar.
The
students alleged that they lack
hostel and other facilities in
Jammu and expressed concern over
growing unemployment of Ladakhi
youth.
They
urged the leaders to impress upon
the Government to redress the
problems of Ladakhi students and
youth.
The
students also expressed concern
over prevailing situation in
Ladakh. They demanded that the
Ladakhi students be given
scholarships and other benefits.
Addressing
the meeting Mr Chhewang assured
the students that their problems
will be discussed with the
authorities. He made it clear
that until and unless the Ladakh
is not given the UT status the
problems will continue.
The
meeting was also attended by
Chering Dorjay, Chief Executive
Councilor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill
Development Council and its
councilors, president Ladakh
Kalyan Sangh and president
Himalayan Parivar J&K, Ramesh
Hangloo.
Arrangements
finalized to celebrate
Swami Ram Ji birth anniversary
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: The arrangements
for the celebration of 153th
birth anniversary of one of the
outstanding saints and a great
Shevite of Kashmir, Swami Ramji
Maharaj which falls on January 5
were finalized in a meeting of
the office bearers of Shri Ram
Shaiv (Trika) Ashram, Swaran
Colony Trilokpur road, Gole
Gujral here, today.
As
per a release, the function will
start with pooja- archana at 10
am which will be followed by
prashad distribution.
It
may be recalled that Swami Ramji
Maharaj is immensely remembered
for his contribution in the
propagation and revival of
Kashmiri Shaivism and the Shaiv
(Trika ) Ashram established by
him in 1884 at Fatehkadal,
Srinagar is one of the oldest
Shaivite teaching centres of
Kashmir.
Swami
Ji was a fully enlightened soul
and his life and teachings were
an endless stream of spiritual
experiences,which even today
serve as beacon of light for the
devotees and the public in
general.
Thanamandi
people's plea to BSNL
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: People of Saj and
Thanamandi have expressed concern
over the non functioning of over
50 percent telephones connected
with the local exchange.
According
to Sarpanch Mohammed Sheikh,
Master Asadullah and Abdul Hamid
despite repeated requests to the
authorities no steps were taken
to restore the telephones in the
area which are defunct since July
22 last year.
They
said the height is that the
Department is collecting the rent
every month but it has failed to
redress the problem.
In
an appeal to GM BSNL the people
have sought his immediate
intervention in the matter.
PDF alleges
discrimination with Paddar,
demands development
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: The Paddar
Development Forum (PDF) has
alleged that successive State
Governments have meted out
discrimination with remote tehsil
of Paddar in Kishtwar District
and its inhabitants, as the area
was lacking development on all
the spheres of life, and demanded
adequate attention for it.
The
members of the Paddar Development
Forum and Paddar Youth
Development Forum (PYDF) raised
these demands while addressing a
press conference at Press Club
here today.
Making
a scathing attack on present
coalition Government in the
State, Ram Singh Chauhan,
chairman PDF said no heed has
been paid to the sufferings of
Paddar inhabitants despite of the
fact that it was one of the
remotest area and required
special attention. He added that
entire Paddar Tehsil was declared
as Reserved Backward Area (RBA)
but due to the discriminatory
attitude of Government, the area
lacks development on all fronts,
as no college and ITI have been
opened so far in this area to
cater the poor students.
Chauhan
alleged that all other nearby
tehsils and areas have been
benefitted in one or other way by
the successive governments but
the Paddar remained neglected
either on religious or region
basis, as it has been deprived of
adequate schools, college,
scholarships to students, roads
and infrastructure, Munsiff
court, development authority and
electrification etc.
Members
of both the forums also lambasted
the government for delaying the
work on Kirthai Hydro-Electric
Project, which was proposed 25
years ago. They also took to the
task State Forest Corporation
(SFC), which they alleged has
effected the ruthless cutting of
green gold in compartments 29 and
40 in violation of Supreme Court
directions and demanded immediate
ban on it.
PDF
and PYDF also demanded Schedule
Tribe status to people of the
area or otherwise constitute hill
development council for the
overall development of tehsil.
Meanwhile,
they threatened either to boycott
the forthcoming assembly
elections or field their own
candidate to give vent to their
long pending grievances. Others
who also spoke included Mahinder
Singh Rana, Hari Krishan Tikku
and Bhim Sen.
NPP moves
Bill on women reservation
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: MLA Ramnagar and
leader of the Panthers
Legislature Party, Harshdev Singh
has moved a bill for seeking due
representation to women and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the
Legislative Assembly.
The
Bill which has been enlisted for
discussion in the Legislative
Assembly as "Bill No. 22 of
2008" seeks the provision of
reservation for STs including
Gujjars, Bakerwals and Gandis as
per their population. It also
seeks reservation of 33 % seats
for women in Assembly in
consonance with the spirit of
Panchayati Raj and as also the
Municipal laws.
Mr
Singh said matter regarding
reservation to women was also
under active consideration of the
Parliament as well in view of the
pendancy of an identical Bill in
the Parliament seeking 33 %
reservation for women. He said
debates have been organised in
various parts of the country as
well as in the state recognising
the rights of women for due
representation in the
Legislature. He pointed out that
STs in all the state have been
given representation in the
Assembly except J&K.
NPP
MLA said that by virtue of Bill
No. 22 of 2008, he had sought an
amendment in Section 49 of
J&K Constitution so as to
make a specific provision for
political reservation in favour
of STs as well as for women.
Explicitness of
intimate man-woman relationship
By Ravinder Kaul
There
are repeat performances galore in
the ongoing Festival of Plays
being organised by the J&K
Academy of Art, Culture and
Languages at Abhinav Theatre.
Only a few performances in the
entire Festival are such that are
being presented for the first
time before the Jammu audience.
All the remaining plays are being
repeated, some of them for the
umpteenth time. This
evening’s play Jaadugar,
presented by Anamika Arts, was no
exception.
The
play was first presented in the
Drama Festival in the year 1995
(Cursory look at relationships -
Daily Excelsior March 1, 1995).
However, the author has changed
certain portions of the play,
particularly the ending. In its
previous avatar, the
leading lady commits suicide,
whereas in its present version
she walks out on her husband to
start life afresh on her own
terms. She was the mother of a
daughter in the earlier
performance, whereas it was a son
this time around. That play was
in Punjabi language and the name
of the main character was
Surinder Singh, played by Dr.
Baljeet Singh Raina, the author
and director of the play,
himself, whereas this time the
play was in Hindi and the name of
the lead character had changed to
Surinder Pratap, played by Manoj
Bhat.
The
dissimilarities end there. The
play is about an author who is
the personification of one known
in common parlance as ‘the
Male Chauvinist Pig’. He
claims to have had intimate
relations with 150 women (Wow!
How does he keep the count?) and
is still on the lookout for more.
He writes stories about man-women
relations at a time when his
surroundings are threatened by
worst kind of terrorist violence
(It was terrorism in Punjab in
the previous version whereas it
is Kashmir terrorism now).
While
enjoying the freedom to resort to
his perversions, he has kept his
wife on a tight leash. He
suspects that Navraj, the friend
of her wife, with whom she enjoys
a purely platonic relationship,
is the actual father of their
son. Navraj is a reformed
terrorist and he devises a plan
in consultation with Pratibha,
whose husband and child have died
in terrorist violence and who has
been responsible for reforming
Navraj. They succeed in
convincing Surinder that Navraj
is incapable of fathering a
child. Surinder is a happy man
and as he goes back to his wife,
she has already made up her mind
to leave her cruel husband and
start life afresh, alongwith her
child.
Well,
the storyline is quite plausible
in our male dominated social
structure and one would not have
to go far to find characters of
this kind in our neighborhood.
The storyline has a potential of
portraying the delicate man-woman
relations in a sensitively
sensible manner. But what
dominated the performance was
crude sensationalism, instead of
subtlety.
Manoj
Bhat, as the debauch writer, was
quite convincing. His lecherous
ways looked authentic and he
succeeded in evoking a sense of
revulsion in the audience for his
decadent ways. This is his
success as an actor. Poonam as
Pratibha also enacted her role
with effortless ease. She was
quite competent in her affected
role of a journalist. Hardeep
Singh as the reformed terrorist
Navraj was also good. One wishes
one could say the same about
veteran actress Santosh Sangra.
She, in her role as Meenakshi,
was quite stiff. Of late she has
developed a mannerism of
delivering her dialogues as if
she is making a speech. She
speaks not to the character that
she is addressing but to the
audience at large. One wonders
why?
The
set design was quite appropriate
and the lights too were good.
Music composed by Guntas Kour was
well conceived and deftly
executed. Guntas played the role
of the child in the earlier
version of the play, and now she
is the music composer. How time
flies?
JK Human
Rights Watch blames militants for
rights violation
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: Jammu and Kashmir
Human Rights Watch (JKHRW) today
alleged that militants are mainly
responsible for violating the
human rights of the people in
J&K State.
Strongly
condemning the killing of
innocent people and security
forces men by the
militants’, chairman, JKHRW,
B L Kapoor at a press conference
here, today asked the rights
activists to take strong
cognizance of this.
Expressing
serious concern over the plight
of migrant families from village
Maradhar and Gabar in Rajouri
after 11 people were killed by
terrorists in the twin villages
on October 9, 2005, he demanded
relief for them. These people who
migrated to Budhal have not been
given any relief till date, he
added.
Mr
Kapoor, who along with other
activists of his organizations
including provincial president,
Mohammed Farooq Inkalabi visited
far flung areas of Budhal,
Khawas, Peeri, Sikar, Swari,
Jamole, Thana Mandi, Nowshera,
Kalakote, Gogla and Manjakote has
expressed concern over the
pitable condition of people
living there.
He
said the people in these villages
have been deprived of the basic
amenities and development. The
residents of these villages are
facing the problems of drinking
water, health care and
educational facilities is also
electricity. Moreover, the area
does not have proper road link
and the people there are living
in abject poverty, he added.
The
long pending demand of the people
for grant of tehsil status to
Budhal and Khawas has not been
conceded while Health Centre
Budhal functions without a lady
doctor and sans medicines.
Mr
Kapoor urged the Government to
pay attention to the problems of
these people and take measures
for their upliftment by way of
opening schools at short
distances, equipping health
centres with medical facilities
and redressing the other
grievances of people.
He
also demanded launching of a
special recruitment drive for the
area by giving a job to one
member of each family.
Mankotia
demands additional power
receiving station
Excelsior
Correspondent
UDHAMPUR,
Jan 3: Jammu and
Kashmir National Panthers Party
MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia today
demanded additional power
receiving station here to meet
the electricity demand of the
people.
Addressing
a press conference here this
morning, he said that the 70 MW
receiving station at Jakhani has
failed to meet the electricity
requirement of the people and
keeping in view the lack of space
for existing station’s
expansion, the Government must
sanction additional 50 MW station
at suitable place.
"If
additional receiving station is
not provided the people would
face lots of problems in the
summer", he said and
regretted that the Power
Development Department (PDD) has
failed to upgrade the
infrastructure with the increase
in the electricity consumption in
the district.
Extending
support to daily wagers of the
Public Health Engineering (PHE)
Department in their ongoing
struggle, Mr Mankotia said that
he would vociferously raise the
issue of their regularisation and
removal of disparity in the wages
between daily wagers of Jammu and
Srinagar during the ensuing
Assembly session.
"We
are committed to raise public
importance issues on the floor of
the House", he said, adding
"the issue of Dogra
certificate will also be raised
as despite assurances by the
Government during last budget
session necessary directions have
not been issued to Deputy
Commissioners and Tehsildars to
issue the certificate".
The
JKNPP MLA urged the Government to
start work on 17 kilometre Landar
Panchari to Sawalakote link road
which he said would also provide
employment opportunities to the
local unemployed youth.
While
raising several developmental
issues, Mr Mankotia demanded that
Udhampur be developed as model
town.
Court
acquits then Secy Panchayat as VO
fails to establish case
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: Special Judge
Anticorruption Jammu Kartar Singh
has acquitted Zaman Hussain Shah,
the then Secretary Panchayat
Gursai, who was booked by
Vigilance Organisation on the
alleged ground that an amount of
Rs 1111.47 was allegedly
misappropriated by the accused
during his posting from 1982 to
1985.
While
acquitting the accused Special
Judge Anticorruption observed
"from the statements of
witnesses, it stand proved that
at the relevant time Fazal Illahi
was Sarpanch of the Gursai where
the accused was Secretary of the
Panchayat. The Sarpanch was
removed by passing vote of no
confidence against him and the
whole record including the cash
book maintained by the alleged
accused was in the possession of
Sarpanch".
It
would have been clear from the
entries made in the cash-book as
to whether the amount was due
against the accused or not but it
has not been seized for the
obvious reason. After the
accused, Mohd Razak Shabnam took
the charge of Secretary Gursai
Panchayat to whom the accused
didn’t give the cash book as
the same was forcibly retained by
the deposed Sarpanch.
Moreover,
the prosecution witness, the then
BDO Mendhar has deposed that no
objection certificate was issued
in favour of accused after his
retirement and had there been any
Government money outstanding
against him he would not have
been in a position to get the
benefits at the time of
retirement, the Court said.
"This
is also a material circumstance
of the case, which has not been
explained by the
prosecution", the Court said
and took serious note of the
investigating agencies regarding
bifurcation of the FIR.
The
Court further said that the
alleged misappropriation was
stated to had taken place during
the tenure of accused as
Secretary Gursai Panchayat, who
took over the charge from Neelam
Kumar in the year 1978 and was
transferred from the said place
in the year 1981. The said
misappropriation, thus took place
during the period from 1978 to
1981 but the FIR was registered
against the accused in the year
1986 and it was again bifurcated
and this FIR was registered
against the accused in the year
1993".
With
these observations, the Court
acquitted the accused from the
charges against him as VO
miserably failed to prove its
against the accused beyond any
reasonable shadow of doubt.
JKNDF terms
Qarra’s statement dangerous
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: Commenting on the
reported statement of Finance
Minister, Tariq Hamid Qarra that
J&K will have its own
currency under self rule, the
Jammu and Kashmir National
Democratic Front (JKNDF) said the
slogans of greater autonomy by
National Conference (NC) and self
rule by People's Democratic Party
(PDP) should not be seen as an
election stunt only for it speaks
volumes about the inside strategy
of the political set up of the
Valley.
In
a statement issued here today the
working president of JKNDF, A K
Dewani alleged that the the seeds
of separatism were sown in
J&K by the leadership who
projected themselves as stalwarts
of the State becoming part of
Indian Federation.
He
said such leanings can have
volcanic effect during the times
to come. The Kashmiri Hindus are
highly apprehensive that they may
be pushed to a blind corner in
this scenario as their only fault
is that they are the Indians to
the core.
Mr
Dewani, while addressing a
meeting of JKNDF here, today
demanded that KPs be given a
suitable space in the political
arena of the country which may
also call for the constitutional
amendments. The protection of
Hindus in the Valley and giving
them adequate share in the
political set up and decision
taking forums will go a long way
in safeguarding unity of the
country, he added.
CEC
inaugurates diesel generator at
Kargil
Excelsior
Correspondent
KARGIL, Jan
3: Chief Executive
Councillor LAHDC Kargil, Haji
Asgar Ali Karbalie inaugurated
newly purchased diesel generator
set of 320 KVA at Drass today.
While
speaking on the occasion, Haji
said this generator will cater to
the electricity needs of the
people of that area. He said the
people of Drass and adjoining
areas will get uninterrupted
power supply now.
He
further said that present
Government was committed to
provide the basic amenities to
every village of the state. Hill
Council too, was keen to provide
basic facilities to the people of
Kargil.
Earlier,
the CEC visited Smart and Khebar
villages of Drass sub division.
He announced Rs 5 lakh for
construction of school rooms and
Rs 3 lakh for repair of
irrigation Khuls. Prominent among
others present on the occasion
included-Executive Councillors,
Nissar Hussain Munshi, Haji Mohd
Ishaq, Deputy Commissioner Kargil
R K Bhagat, SDM Drass and SE PWD.
Nand Bab
Mahajyanti celebrated as
Sarv-Mangal Divas
Excelsior
Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan
3: The 111th
Mahajyanti of mystic saint Swami
Nand Bab was celebrated as
Sarv-Mangal Divas on Wednesday at
Swami Ji’s Ashram Lale-Bagh
with full religious fervour and
gaiety.
A
grand function was held in the
Ashram premises under the
supervision of Swami Chaman Lal
Bamzi. A Maha Yagya was also
solemnized on the occasion for
world peace and prosperity. A
statue of Swami Nand Bab Sahib
was installed and unveiled in th
Ashram premises during the
function by Swami Pran Nath Bhat
Gareeb.
Swami
Kumar Ji of Geeta Satsangh Ashram
later honoured Swami Pran Nath
Bhat Gareeb. A large number of
devotees thronged the Ashram to
participate in the function and
pay obeisance to Swami Nand Bab.
The
function among others was
attended by Swami Moti Lal
Pandita, Swami Gash Bab, Dr
Susheel Wattal, Pt. P N Tickoo
and A N Vaishnavi. On the
occasion religious discourses
were given by Swami Kumar Ji and
Pran Nath Bhat Gareeb. They urged
the community to launch a crusade
against the social evils.
Mrs
Santosh Nadan a Kashmiri poetess
was felicitated by the Ashram for
her contributions to the
community. The programme was
conducted by H L Bhat.
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