The Tribune...Jammu and Kashmir

J A M M U C& CK A S H M I R

Saturday July 11, 1998

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Pandits seek 'displaced' status
Tribune News Service
JAMMU, July 10 — Panun Kashmir, an organisation of Pandits, has appealed to international agencies to prevail upon the government of India to declare Kashmiri Pandits as an "internally displaced" community so that they could be provided with proper dispensation as "envisaged in the UN charter on internally displaced people"...
7 killed in J & K
SRINAGAR, July 10 — Seven persons, including three security personnel, were killed in militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, an official spokesman said here today...
Panels to humour ministers?
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service
JAMMU, July 10 — By appointing four standing committees — security, infrastructure, economic affairs and social development — the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has been motivated by his desire to lessen the burden...

1,997 leave for Pahalgam
JAMMU, July 10 — Nearly 7,000 pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir, official sources said here today...
Cable-cars reappear in Gulmarg
GULMARG (J&K), July 10 — Gulmarg, known as the Switzerland of India, is regaining its popularity once again after a decade of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir...
J&K top on Centre's agenda: Naidu
JAMMU, July 10 (PTI) — The Centre is ready to go to any extent to wipe out militancy from Jammu and Kashmir and create a conducive atmosphere for the return of displaced Kashmiri Hindus, BJP general secretary Venkaiah Naidu has said...

Pandits seek 'displaced' status
Tribune News Service
JAMMU, July 10 — Panun Kashmir, an organisation of Pandits, has appealed to international agencies to prevail upon the government of India to declare Kashmiri Pandits as an "internally displaced" community so that they could be provided with proper dispensation as "envisaged in the UN charter on internally displaced people."
This demand was made in a memorandum submitted by the convenor of Panun Kashmir, Dr Agnishekhar, to Mr Peronne Boddaert, European Coordinator, International Association for Religious Freedom, who was here on a two-day visit.
In the memorandum, a detailed account has been given of the sufferings of displaced Pandits who have been denied constitutional, institutional and administrative safeguards. The organisation expressed fear over the bleak future of the community which was "on the verge of extinction as an ethno-religious minority" as it had "faced discrimination on the basis of faith".
The three-page memorandum listed several failures on the part of the Government of India as far as protecting the lives and property of Pandits were concerned. It said the Government of India had failed to constitute a commission to inquire into the causes that led to the exodus of Pandits from the valley and accused the Centre of either preparing a clearcut blueprint for "reversing" the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits nor adopting a mechanism for determining the value of movable and immovable property left behind by them in the valley. It had hardly taken any step to remove the policy of discrimination against Pandit employees, traders and students, the memorandum said.
Kashmiri Pandits requested Mr Boddaert to intervene in the matter, so that India, which was a signatory to the UN HRC resolution on internally displaced people, could treat them as internally displaced people. The UN HRC resolution had already recognised the need for states and the international community to explore methods and means for ensuring protection and assistance to the internally displaced people. The resolution had, according to the memorandum, stated that internally displaced people be treated as refugees even though they might not have crossed the international border.
Dr Agnishekhar said refugees from Kashmir had been leading a miserable living for the past eight years. Hundreds of people had died in camps owing to sun or heat stroke, snake bites and stress-related diseases. The majority of the displaced people had to bank on meagre doles from the government, he said.
He said Panun Kashmir had suggested the establishment of a separate homeland for the Pandits within the valley, which could be a centrally administered territory, but so far the government had not accepted it.

7 killed in J & K
SRINAGAR, July 10 (PTI) — Seven persons, including three security personnel, were killed in militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, an official spokesman said here today.
The Security forces arrested five militants even as militants torched a residential house in the valley during the period, he said.
Two security personnel and a foreign mercenary were killed in a fierce encounter in Rajouri in the Jammu region late last night.
The spokesman said the fierce encounter at Gulgam in Kupwara which claimed lives of two Pakistani mercenaries and an Assistant Commandant of the bsf yesterday ended with the arrest of three local militants last evening.
A beheaded body of a youth was recovered in Poonch last night, the spokesman said.
Militants opened fire on seven villages in Thathri area of Doda district last evening. The vdc members returned the fire, but none was hurt.
Elsewhere, the security forces recovered huge hauls of arms and ammunition from various places in the valley, the spokesman added.

Panels to humour ministers?
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service
JAMMU, July 10 — By appointing four standing committees — security, infrastructure, economic affairs and social development — the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has been motivated by his desire to lessen the burden on his shoulders as well as to give a feeling to some of his cabinet colleagues that they continue to be important as far as running the government is concerned.
Dr Farooq announced the appointment of four standing committees of the cabinet after Governor G.C. Saxena amended Rule 21 of the Jammu and Kashmir Business Rules.
Were there any compelling factors for the constitution of the committees? Possibly there were none. The state administration has functioned for all these years without such committees. Observers attach several factors to the Chief Minister's decision.
One is that Dr Farooq has in recent days twice suggested to his party leaders and workers to select a new leader in his place as he wants to go back to London to be with his wife.
There is also impression among his party colleagues that he is not physically fit to bear the burden of running the government.
There has been criticism in public quarters and in the civil secretariat that many controversial measures were okayed by the Chief Minister. In several cases, Dr Abdullah had signed a draft proposal and okayed the decision taken by senior bureaucrats when he had not read the proposal. In one case of an appointment of a retired government officer on a key post the Chief Minister had informed a Janata Dal MLA, Mr Dilawar Mir, who had protested against the reappointment that he (Farooq Abdullah) had not seen the proposal and he may have signed it without going through it. As such, the Chief Minister will now like to hold the committees responsible for any right or wrong decision.
Another important factor said to have motivated the Chief Minster to set up the committees is that he wants to keep influential NC leaders in good honour. In the light of reports that the ruling party is plagued by dissent and the Awami National Conference led by Mr G.M. Shah, a former Chief Minister, and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, a senior Congress leader, are trying to cash on it, the Chief Minister has demonstrated his faith in his five cabinet colleagues.
The Finance Minister, Mr Mohammad Shafi, has been included in all four committees and Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, who had felt slighted by having lost the key portfolio of Public Works, has been included in three. Others who figure in two to three committees are Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzan, Minister for Forests, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, Minister for Rural Development, and Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Public Health Engineering.
Once again Dr Farooq has not given any preferential treatment to his brother, Dr Mustafa Kamal, who in the recent reshuffle in portfolios lost the Department of Health Services and was given Medical Education. Dr Kamal is on the social development panel only.
Since the Chief Minister has the powers to reduce or raise the number of members of the committees or increase or reduce the number of committees, it is clear that Dr Farooq continues to be in a commanding position. He has simply tried to involve his cabinet colleagues in the decision-making exercise. Hitherto whenever the cabinet met, the Chief Minister would read out the decisions taken by him and his ministerial colleagues would simply give the nod.
Some ministers had conveyed in private their resentment over this practice. The Chief Minister has placed the ball in their court.

1,997 leave for Pahalgam
JAMMU, July 10 — Nearly 7,000 pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir, official sources said here today.
The sources said of these over 3,000 pilgrims had visited the cave shrine via the Baltal route.
As many as 1,997 pilgrims left Jammu for Pahalgam today.
Meanwhile, reports from Srinagar said "bhoomi pujan" and "dhwajarohan" ceremonies were performed by mahant Deependra Giri at Pahalgam yesterday.
The mandatory rituals prior to the formal Amarnath yatra were performed after several years, the reports said, addingat "poojan" was performed at the historic Martand temple at Mattan.
These rituals, which are performed one month before the pilgrimage day, could not be performed for the past several years due to insurgency in the Kashmir valley.

Cable-cars reappear in Gulmarg
GULMARG (J&K), July 10 (ANI) — Gulmarg, known as the Switzerland of India, is regaining its popularity once again after a decade of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
To encash on its popularity, the state's Tourism Department has introduced a cable-car system for tourists visiting this hill resort.
"Gondola cable-car is very nice. We got to see the scenery and the lovely overall view and we could reach the snow point which was a nice feeling", says Sheelu Kumar, a tourist.
But pony owners are upset. They say the cable-cars are ruining their business. Now only those who are fond of horse riding opt for poines to reach the snow point. Otherwise, our business in bad", complains Mohammed Shafi, a pony owner.
The cable-cars were first introduced in Gulmarg in 1989 and had to be withdrawn immediately due to militancy. The Tourism Department, however, resumed its operations this season after normalcy started returning to the valley.
The poines have for long carried the tourists to their destinations before "gondolas" or cable-cars came into being.
Officials of the government-owned Gondola car project defend the decision and say there are still many points of tourist interest which have not yet been touched by gondolas and which the pony owners can easily exploit.
"We have requested them that they can shift their activities to the next point (where there are no cable-cars)", says Mr Riaz Malik, Assistant Manager of the project.
"In fact, one can see several pony owners on these points. They can have good business there as there is a lot of scope for sight-seeing for tourists", he says.
The government has even sanctioned loans to them to start alternative business, a claim denied by the pony owners, he adds.

J&K top on Centre's agenda: Naidu
JAMMU, July 10 (PTI) — The Centre is ready to go to any extent to wipe out militancy from Jammu and Kashmir and create a conducive atmosphere for the return of displaced Kashmiri Hindus, BJP general secretary Venkaiah Naidu has said.
"It is on top of the government’s agenda and the Centre would make all efforts to achieve these objectives," he told reporters here last evening.
Describing the situation in phe state as "serious", Mr Naidu said the state government alone could not contain Pakistan-sponsored proxy war and the Centre had to share the responsibility equally.
"We are also committed to equitable development of all the three regions of the state", Mr Naidu, who had come here to inaugurate the golden jubilee celebrations of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), said.
He said the Centre was aware of the discrimination against Jammu and Ladakh, and hoped that the state government would address the problems of these two regions.
Talking about the political developments at the Centre, Mr Naidu said he did not see any danger to the BJP government. "Problems are bound to come in coalitions but it does not mean any threat to the government", he said and claimed that there was no alternative to the BJP government.
Refuting allegations of "shabby" treatment to Jayalalitha’s men, Mr Naidu supported the AIADMK supremo’s demand of statehood to Pondicherry.
He categorically denied any pressure tactics in her demand. "Everybody has a right to raise demands", he said, but added that all demands were not bound to be conceded.
Launching a scathing attack on Left parties for supporting the newly-constituted Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, Mr Naidu described the morcha as "an unholy alliance of opportunists".
"It is their instinct for survival, rather than their commitment to the poor or the backward", he said and ridiculed Left parties for offering support to them.
"Harkishan Singh Surjeet has found a ‘good boy’ like Mulayam Singh and ‘scam-tainted honest’ leader like Laloo Prashad Yadav as their survivors", he added.
Earlier addressing ABVP workers at the Jammu Club after inaugurating the celebrations, Mr Naidu asked youths to launch a war against the social evils like dowry, poverty, casteism and regionalism.