NC to announce nominees soon
SRINAGAR, Aug 6 — Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah here today said the National Conference would soon come out with the list of the candidates for the six Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls next month.


J&K voter apathetic
JAMMU, Aug 6 — People appeared indifferent towards the ensuing Lok Sabha poll in the Kashmir valley, which has three constituencies as well as in the Jammu region having two constituencies.

Mufti's demand ridiculed
JAMMU, Aug 6 — The All-Kashmiri Pandit Solidarity Conference has ridiculed the demand of PDP chief, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, that greater autonomy should be restored to Jammu and Kashmir.

NC to announce nominees soon
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Aug 6 — Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah here today said the National Conference (NC) would soon come out with the list of the candidates for the six Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls next month.

"There has been no delay in finalising the list of the candidates. We have waited ourselves and party leaders have been consulted to discuss the issues related to the ensuing elections", Dr Abdullah said while talking to newspersons here today, on the occasion of the passing-out parade of 122 recruits at the JAK LI Regimental Centre.

The list of the NC candidates is expected to be announced early next week after the return of Dr Abdullah from New Delhi. He did not disclose the probables to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

The passing-out cum-attestation parade was earlier reviewed by the Chief Minister and Col R K Singh, Commandant, JAK LI Regimental Centre. Prizes were given away to three best recruits after completion of the 32-week training. These included the Bana Singh Medal for best in drill to recruit Zaheer Abbas, who also got Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah Sword of Honour. Recruit Kirpal Singh got the Maqbool Sherwani Award for best performance in physical training, while recruit Naresh Kumar received the Chewang Rinchan medal for best in firing. All recruits belonged to the state.

Replying to questions, the Chief Minister said the launch of the "Peoples Democratic Party" by former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was not a matter of concern for the National Conference.

Referring to the security scenario in the valley in particular, the Chief Minister said that it was congenial for holding of Parliament elections. The state government had already approached the Centre for the replacement of troops following withdrawal of the Army from many areas for reinforcements in Kargil. The Chief Minister said that the Centre was yet to respond to the state's requisition for more troops in the wake of the coming general elections. He held that designs of the separatists to create trouble in view of the elections would not be allowed to succeed.

Earlier, addressing the recruits and senior Army officers, the Chief Minister warned Pakistan to stop infiltration and attempts to create trouble in the state. He said that India always wanted peace and friendly relations with the neighbouring country. The Chief Minister held that the militants at the behest of Pakistan killed innocent people. "Unless this is stopped India cannot talk to Pakistan", he stated.

Without directly referring to leaders of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, the Chief Minister blamed them for creating communal hatred in a secular country like India. He said that these leaders, now talking of Pakistan, even contested elections and had taken oath for India, but now they had adopted a different path. The Chief Minister asked the jawans to treat them like all other citizens while fighting the bad elements.

The Chief Minister also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh to the JAK LI as an assistance for a school being constructed for the children of martyrs of JAK LI and a hostel for the physically handicapped.

J&K voter apathetic
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Aug 6 — People appeared indifferent towards the ensuing Lok Sabha poll in the Kashmir valley, which has three constituencies as well as in the Jammu region having two constituencies.

In many areas in the valley, people are yet to be made aware of the fact that the Lok Sabha poll is round the corner. The credit for making efforts in this direction goes to All-Party Hurriyat Conference leaders who have started a campaign for boycott of the elections.

The main contenders, including the National Conference, the Congress and the People's Democratic Party (PDP), have yet to start electioneering. Some prospective candidates, including Prof Saifuddin Soz, who is contesting as an Independent from Baramulla, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beg of the PDP and Mr Rashid Shaheed of the National Conference have launched a low-key campaign. Neither the National Conference nor the Congress have formally announced the names of party candidates for the three constituencies in the valley.

Two factors seem to be the cause for the indifference towards the Lok Sabha elections. First, there is fear that militants may strike in a big way. No doubt the security situation in the valley has improved considerably but not many are prepared to take the risk of being identified by militants while campaigning for candidates of their choice.

Second, a majority of people in the valley feel that they have nothing at stake if they do not participate in the campaign. They seem more interested in finding a solution to their economic difficulties because acute cash crunch has affected development works, resulting in a financial squeeze as far as labourers, technicians and contractors are concerned. Since there has been an erosion in the base of the National Conference, the usual enthusiasm among its supporters is missing.

People, whether in the Jammu region or in the valley, are in agony because of the poor supply of electricity and drinking water. For them uninterrupted power and drinking water supply is more important than preparing for voting which will have no immediate impact on the survival of the Farooq Government, even if his party is not able to win all six seats.

As far as the two constituencies of Jammu and Udhampur are concerned the lack of enthusiasm is attributed to the delay in announcement of candidates by the Congress, the National Conference, the BJP the BSP and others. The BJP alone has announced to field Vaid Vishnu Dutt from Jammu and Prof Chaman Lal Gupta from Udhampur.

According to Prof Gupta, campaigning will hot up only after candidates of other parties are selected. Prof Gupta has been touring his constituency. Whenever he has urged his partymen to start campaigning their stock reply is "let us first know who are our rivals."

As far as the border belts of Poonch, Rajouri, Akhnoor, R.S. Pora and Samba are concerned a majority of people seem to be worried over their safety owing to the continuous Pakistani firing on their villages. Several thousand families who had migrated from the border villages in Akhnoor and R.S. Pora sectors are yet to return to their villages. For them day-to-day living on doles is more important than participating in campaigning.

Though the National Conference is yet to finalise its list for the two seats of Jammu and Udhampur, the Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Ajay Sadhotra, has begun campaign in several areas of Jammu.

Amarnath pilgrims not visiting other places
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Aug 6 — Unlike the last year, Amarnath pilgrims are avoiding visiting the town and other scenic spots in Kashmir valley where the flow of tourist has drastically declined following the skirmishes in Kargil in May last. More than 30,000 pilgrims have already visited the holy cave shrine and have returned directly without visiting other places of tourist importance.

Only some of the Amarnath pilgrims are visiting the capital of the state and other places of tourist attraction, admit senior officers of the Tourism Department here. The officers said that this was because of the election activity which had started picking up. Last year a large number of Amarnath pilgrims toured the Dal Lake and went to Gulmarg and other places. But this time, most of them return directly after performing the "darshan" at the cave shrine of Amarnath in the upper reaches of Pahalgam. A record number of 1.6 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine last year.

Except for an incident of an explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) at Anantnag on July 31, the pilgrimage that started on July 24 has been going on smoothly. One person was killed and eight injured, all members of the security forces, when the vehicle in which they were travelling was hit by the IED. With the overall improvement in the general situation in the valley, the police assisted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is looking after the yatra. The Army is providing a security cover along the yatra route from Anantnag to the holy cave shrine, according to the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir police, Mr Gurbachan Jagat.

A total of 1.65 lakh tourists arrived in the valley between January and July this year, said Mr Sheikh Nissar, Director Tourism. He said more than 69,000 tourists, including 5317 foreign tourists visited in May last. The number of tourists came down to 31, 462, including 950 foreigners, in June this year. July, recorded 17,000 tourists, which usually remains a lean month, as most of the tourists from central and western parts of the country return due to the opening of the educational institutions in these areas. Later, the state expects tourists from West Bengal, who avail the Pooja holidays during September and October every year.

The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave will continue up to August 26.

The holy mace or Chhari Mubarak under the leadership of Mahant. Deepinder Giri is scheduled to leave Srinagar on August 16 for Bijbehara. It will have halts at Mattan, Pahalgam, Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panjtarni before reaching the cave on August 26.

Mufti's demand ridiculed
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Aug 6 — The All-Kashmiri Pandit Solidarity Conference (AKPSC) has ridiculed the demand of PDP chief, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, that greater autonomy should be restored to Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement, AKPSC chief O.N. Trisal said that years ago the Mufti was instrumental in getting several central laws extended to the state. He said the Mufti had piloted bills in the state legislature seeking the extension of central laws, including extension of the jurisdiction of the Chief Election Commission and the Supreme Court to Jammu and Kashmir.

He said even after the National Conference constituted a committee to prepare a report on the ways to restore the pre-1953 the constitutional status to the state, the Mufti had criticised the exercise , saying that the ruling party was diverting the people's attention from corruption, maladministration and mismanagement.

Mr Trisal described the slogan of greater autonomy irrelevant. He wanted Pakistan to end the proxy war and asked people to remain united and not get swayed by extraneous demands.