Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Apr 15: Expressing his serious concern over arrogant attitude of the National Conference led coalition regime for not delegating powers to the Panchayats, patron of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayed today ridiculed demand of Congress leaders to extend 73rd and 74th amendments of the Indian Constitution in the State.
“Congress leaders have been demanding extension of these two amendments in Jammu and Kashmir to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions but party (Congress), which is part of the Government, has failed to even convince its coalition partner to conduct elections of Block and District Samities of Panchayati Raj Institutions”, Mr Sayeed said while addressing one day convention of party workers at Kathua under state law.
He said that delay in constituting Block and District Committees was a clear indication that this regime, with “dictatorial mindset,” was not interested in strengthening democratic institutions in the State.
“Almost one year has been passed after completion of the Panchayat elections but Block and District Committees are yet to be constituted because the Government was not interested to empower and strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions in the State”, he said, adding, “I do not know at which capacity the Congress leaders have been demanding extension of 73rd and 74th amendments because they are equally responsible for eroding sanctity of Panchayati Raj Institutions in the State”, the former Chief Minister said.
Coming down heavily on coalition regime for undermining all democratic institutions, Mufti reminded that civic bodies elections, which were due in the month of February 2010, have been delayed with one or other excuse. “The Government, even in the Governor’s Address this year, had promised to complete the process of civic bodies elections by the end of April this year but it has renegade the promise”, he pointed out and added that during the last three years this regime has eroded and undermined all prestigious democratic institutions be it Assembly, local bodies or Panchayati Raj Institutions.
“With its assiduous efforts, the PDP had restored peoples’ faith in the democracy but the present Government headed by NC is brazenly trying to undermine the democratic institutions”, Mr Sayeed said and cautioned that such “authoritarian attitude” adopted by the coalition regime would be proved disastrous for the State. He reminded that infamous 1987 rigged Assembly elections had badly shattered peoples’ faith in the democratic system.
The PDP patron while hailing recent decisions of India and Pakistan to dismantle all trade barriers and ease visa restrictions, Mufti said that Indo-Pak bonhomie at Wagha border was result of the pro-peace policies being initiated by the PDP.
He said that PDP has pioneered a political and economic agenda to establish sustainable peace in the subcontinent. “Establishing lasting peace and to consolidate the reconciliation process is on the top of the agenda of PDP “, Mr Sayeed said, adding, “Our party, through its pro-peace policies, has consolidated reconciliation process and facilitated the efforts of establishing peace in this region.
While reminding party workers about the historic rally on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Srinagar on April 18, 2003 where he (Vajpayee) had extended hands of friendship towards Pakistan despite tension on border, Mr Sayeed said that historic event was the beginning of the era of peace in this region and credit for this goes the PDP.
“Beginning of cross-LoC trade, the opening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote roads are noticeable achievements of PDP”, he said and added that present UPA regime headed by Dr Manmohan Singh has also supported the pro-peace policies of PDP. He further mentioned that prevailing peace all along the borders from Kathua to Kargil was result of the reconciliatory policy pioneered and propagated by the PDP.
He asserted that biggest achievements of PDP was that it has created conducive atmosphere for initiating peace process and taking the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) to normalize relations between India and Pakistan.
Responding to the demands raised by party workers, PDP patron assured that their demands would be effectively taken up by the party.
Trilok Singh Bajwa, Daman Bhasin, Hussain Ali Wafa, Falail Singh, Suresh Sharma, Nizam-ud -din Khatana, Surinder Singh, Abjeet Jasrotia, Narinder Singh Raina, Digvijay Singh, Vinod Gupta, Guru Parshad, Nirmal Kishore, Jodh Singh, Jagdish Singh, Doulat Ram, Mohammed Rafi, Joginder Singh, Manohar Singh, Randeep Jasrotia, Pradeep Sambyal, Rouf, Swarandeep Singh, Neeraj Sharma and others also addressed the meeting.

NEW DELHI, Apr 15:
India has sent a formal request to Morocco for examination and recording of statement of Faiza Outalha, Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley’s estranged wife, to get more evidence against him as well as LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.
The Letters Rogatory was sent recently to Indian Mission in Rabat, the Moroccan capital city, which was passed on to Moroccan Foreign and Cooperation Ministry requesting access to Outalha to record her statement, official sources said.
The sources said Outalha, the estranged wife of Headley, could give crucial evidence in nailing the lies of Saeed, the Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) boss who has been attempting to throw a veil over his terror activities under the garb of being associated with humanitarian activities of Jamaat-ul-Dawa(JuD).
The request was passed following approval of a plea of National Investigation Agency for seeking cooperation of Moroccan authorities in recording her statement, which was also likely to be annexed with the production warrant for Headley to be sent soon as the special court of H S Sharma has sought his appearance on May 31.
The sources said while it was unlikely that Headley would be brought to India, the statement of Outulha would bring out the role played by Saeed in 26/11 attack in Mumbai that left over 160 people including foreigners dead.
Outalha, during her stay in Pakistan, had met Saeed and complained about Headley to him and besides that she had also gone to the US Embassy in Islamabad to complain against the American-born terrorist and his role with terror groups like LeT and Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, the sources said, adding her statement would be recorded as a witness.
Outalha, who married 50-year-old Headley in February 2007 and divorced a year later, had been able to give security agencies an insight into the personal life of Headley which included connections he had in Mumbai, including with some socialites.
She had flown to Mumbai from Karachi and crossed over through Wagah border into India the second time. She had come for the first time in 2007 and stayed with the terror suspect in Taj Mahal Hotel and later in Oberoi-Trident.
Both the luxury hotels were targeted by the terrorists during the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008. She had again come in May 2008 via Wagah and went straight to Manali where she was on a holiday near a Jewish house and later toured some areas of Shimla including nearby Kufri, a popular tourist destination.
While she claimed that she had since been divorced as Headley was allegedly having relations with several women, the investigators also got information from her about his alleged links with some upcoming Bollywood actors, prominent party-hoppers of Mumbai and socialites. (PTI)

Omar to oppose NCTC provision, bat for removal of CRPF bunkers

By Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, Apr 15: As internal security comes under a major review with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh chairing a conference of the Chief Ministers’ in New Delhi tomorrow, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had recently undertaken a detailed review of the situation here on April 10 will be briefing the meeting about security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will have his separate presentation on the situation.
Official sources said Mr Chidambaram would brief the Chief Minister’s conference about his assessment of situation on Jammu and Kashmir, which he gathered from Governor NN Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, top brass of civil and police administration, Central Police Forces and Intelligence agencies during his one day meeting in winter capital of the State on April 10.
Sources said the conference would deliberate on how India is being affected due to its troubled neighbourhood and its obvious consequences in the country like cross border terrorism, covert support to insurgents, arms smuggling, circulation of fake Indian currency, inflow of refugees and immigration.
“Active terror infrastructure in Pakistan, growing nexus between the Naxals and anti-India forces both within the country as well as abroad, better Intelligence sharing among security forces, Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS), border management, coastal security and other Centre-State issues will also figure prominently at the meeting”, sources said.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in his nearly 15 to 20 minutes presentation in the Chief Ministers’ conference on internal security would toe the line of most of the non-Congress Chief Ministers on setting up of National Centre for Terrorism Control (NCTC) and amendments in Border Security Force (BSF) Act.
Sources said Omar would strongly oppose a provision of NCTC that enable it to carry out suo moto operations in any State.
The Chief Minister wouldn’t oppose other major provisions of NCTC including Intelligence gathering and Intelligence analysis of the State by the Central agencies.
The non-Congress Chief Ministers including some of the UPA-II allies including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was opposing NCTC provisions in entirety. Many other Chief Ministers have also voiced concern over NCTC.
Sources said Omar Abdullah wouldn’t oppose NCTC in toto but voice his strong reservations over one of its provision that gave the NCTC powers to carry out suo moto operations in any State. He would apprise the conference of the Chief Ministers that this clause of the NCTC was not acceptable to Jammu and Kashmir at any cost.
They pointed out that the Chief Minister would tell the conference that Jammu and Kashmir already has Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) under which all security agencies coordinate their efforts for conducting searches and sharing Intelligence inputs on militancy and other activities.
Sources said Omar was likely to bat for partial withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from five districts—Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Srinagar and Badgam giving facts and figures and logic that no major incident has taken place in the five districts for past quite sometime.
The Chief Minister would support three amendments in AFSPA Act proposed by the Union Home Ministry, which were pending discussion before Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
The amendments proposed by the MHA in AFSPA included making it mandatory for armed forces to take arrest warrants in advance before conducting searches for arrests of any person, taking away the power of the armed forces to open firing causing deaths and setting up of a Grievance Redressal Cell. Defence Ministry and Army have strong objections to first two amendments.
Backed by strong facts and figures on reduction of militancy in entire State including five districts, the Chief Minister would call for withdrawal of AFSPA from there on the ground that it was no more required there.
He would also stress for removal of more bunkers of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from Srinagar City before onset of summer.
The Chief Minister would apprise the conference that the State Government has taken a major initiative for withdrawal of cases against youth involved in summer unrest of 2010, which would give relief to nearly 5000 youth.
Many other issues pertaining to internal security could be discussed in the meeting.
Sources said Mr Chidambaram, who had paid a visit to Jammu, the winter capital of the State on April 10, was scheduled to present a report on security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and North East in the Chief Minister’s meeting.
Security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, which has witnessed relative peace in recent times, will be discussed intensively in the meeting, which would devise a strategy on hot to meet the challenge of maintaining peace for longer period in the sensitive State.
Mr Chidambaram had held a high level security review meeting with top brass of J&K’s civil administration and police, senior officers of all para-military forces and Intelligence agencies operating in the State during his one day visit here on April 10.
K Skandan, Joint Secretary (Kashmir) in Ministry of Home Affairs, Additional Director, Intelligence Bureau, Rajeev Kapoor and BN Ramesh, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Union Home Minister had also joined the meeting along with top brass of police and civil administration, Central Police Forces and Intelligence agencies.
Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had given a detailed briefing to the Union Home Minister on the situation.
The meeting had discussed measures to ensure a peaceful summer in Kashmir in 2012 like 2011 when the Valley and other parts of the State were abuzz with tourists and pilgrim tourism. It had discussed in detail the steps required to ensure that 2010 like situation didn’t erupt in Kashmir this summer when over 100 people were killed in incidents of firing etc.
Sources said the Home Minister had gathered Intelligence and other inputs with top brass of police, para-military, Intelligence and other agencies on Jammu and Kashmir, which he would share in tomorrow’s meeting.
Mr Chidambaram was reportedly satisfied with security scenario in the State, which had undergone improvement since 2010 summer. He could apprise the meeting that Jammu and Kashmir was far better placed now as compared to 2010 or previous years.
According to sources, the Home Minister was expected to direct all States to vigorously pursue the cases of terror funding and go all out for the hawala operators, who were fast becoming a potential threat in the country for all form of terrorism. The Home Minister has already directed all agencies and Department including Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate, Central Police Forces, Intelligence, NIA and Jammu and Kashmir Police to block hawala channels through businessmen and banking transactions.
The Home Minister had stressed that cross border terrorism remained an issue of concern as there was still presence of a number of militants across the border and infrastructure of terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen was also intact. However, he expressed satisfaction over zero infiltration on the IB and improved security scenario including graph of militancy, which had gone to an all time low in both Jammu and Kashmir regions during past couple of years. He stressed for keeping up the momentum against the militancy.
PTI adds from New Delhi: All non-Congress chief ministers, barring Mamata Banerjee, who had come together to oppose the Centre on the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and other issues, will be attending tomorrow’s CMs’ conference on internal security called by the Government.
Strengthening of counter terror capabilities and intelligence apparatus, Maoist violence, police reforms and capacity building will be high on agenda at the meeting to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Central Government has already conceded the demand of several non-Congress chief ministers, including ally Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, to hold a special meeting of CMs to exclusively discuss on the controversial issue of NCTC on May 5 and so the matter is unlikely to figure prominently at the day-long meet.
Sources in Kolkata today said Banerjee will not attend tomorrow’s chief ministers’ meeting and Finance Minister Amit Mitra will represent West Bengal Government. However, she will take part in the CMs’ meeting on NCTC.
No reason has been assigned for the West Bengal Chief Minister’s decision.
The conference will also be attended by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and their Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi who have been vocal in their opposition to the NCTC.
The conference, originally scheduled for February 15, had to be postponed for two months due to the recent Assembly elections in five states and Budget Session of Parliament.
A separate session on Maoist violence will be held later in the day and will be attended by Chief Ministers of nine Maoist violence affected states.
Though the internal security situation has vastly improved during the last three years largely because of cooperation between the Centre and the state governments, Naxalism continues to remains a grave challenge which claimed nearly 600 lives in 2011, the sources said.
The country’s top leadership will review the two-pronged approach of development and police action to contain the Maoist problem and the future strategy to deal with it.
With communal violence becoming a major cause of concern for the government as 2,420 such incidents have reported from across the country in last three years where at least 427 people lost their lives, the issue is likely to be flagged by the Home Minister in the meeting since the sensitive matter needs urgent attention from all quarters.