Ansari on his way out?
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 2 — People in the winter capital today tried to contact all those who matter in the government to know whether the Chief Minister had sought the resignation of the Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari.

Besides a report carried by a leading vernacular this morning the Molvi had called on the Chief Minister here yesterday.

When contacted, the Molvi said neither had he offered to resign, nor the Chief Minister had sought his resignation. " I was out of the state in connection with Umrah and it is customary to call on the Chief Minister after a month, "he explained.

"When I have to resign, I shall do it with grace. I have not been asked to resign and there is no reason for doing so," he added.

Mr Omar Abdullah, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries and the son of Dr Farooq and the National Conference General Secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed had hinted recently that the Chief Minister had the right to reshuffle his Cabinet.

During the past one month, 29 ministerial colleages of Dr Farooq have been on the tenter hooks. They do not know when the axe will fall on them as it is being send the Chief Minister plans to reduce the size of his ministry.

He may have a 20-member two-tier Council of Ministers with one Cabinet Minister from all 14 districts. Another speculation is that he may carry out "cosmetic" changes and reshuffle portfolios of several ministers.

Inside reports say the Chief Minister is under pressure to drop a couple of ministers against whom he has received complaints.

Ultras target cable operators
From Ehsan Fazili
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Dec 2 — In an attempt to re-impose a ban on cable operations, militants attacked a cable operator's shop at Jawahar Nagar here today, the fourth such incident in the past two weeks.

Eyewitnesses said unidentified militants hurled a grenade at the shop of Ravinder Singh, at Jawahar Nagar, a plush colony, around noon here today. No one was injured. However, the explosion caused extensive damage to the shop. The police rushed to the site and registered a case.

Three similar attacks have been made by the militants here in the past two weeks, injuring at least four persons. The first attack was on the shop of Javed Ahmed Beigh at Bemina here on November 20. The owner of the shop was injured.

Another attack was made on the cable network unit of Abdul Rehman in Karan Nagar on November 21. The third attack was made in Sarai Bala in which Amjad Khan, owner of the unit, and two more were injured. These operators have closed down their units following these attacks.

Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen and Harkatul Mujahideen had imposed a "ban" on cable operations here in September. In order to enforce the ban, the militants made at least three attacks on cable operators and beauty parlours in September and October. One person was killed and 18 were injured in an explosion at Regal Cinema here on September 24. The explosion took place at the end of the second show, nine years after the cinema house was re-opened.

Two other cinema halls, Broadway and Neelam, have been functioning here since last year. Broadway was reopened on August 8. The cinema hall falls int he Badami Bagh cantonment area. Neelam was re-opened later. It falls in the high security area in the vicinity of the Jammu and Kashmir Police headquarters and the Civil Secretariat.

Some cable network units and beauty and video parlours were re-opened on the intervention of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in October. While, the APHC favoured lifting of the "ban" on cable operations, there was no response from militant organisation. The APHC had asked the cable operators not to show "obscene channels" but provide programmes only.

All cinema halls, wine shops, bars and beauty and video parlours were closed down in the valley in late 1989 with the eruption of militancy as these were regarded "anti-Islam". But after 1998, some wine shops and cinema halls were reopened in the capital city.

Before cable networks started functioning here, the militants had imposed a "ban" on the installation of dish antennae.

Militants attack police post, kill 2
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Dec 2 — Three police personnel and two militants have been killed in separate incidents of militancy in the Kashmir valley since yesterday, while the security forces recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunition during search opertions.

Two militants were killed in an encounter with the seurity forces at Kudara, Bandipore in Baramula districts today, the police said. One of the other is believed to be a foreign mercenary. Two AK rifles were recovered from the site of the encounter.

Two police personnel were killed when a group of militants attacked a police post at Khurhama in the Ganderbal area of Srinagar district last night. They have been indentified as constable Abdul Rashid and an SPO, Abdul Rashid Reshi. The police here said the militants fired at the post at Khurhama that was returned. The two police personnel were killed in the exchange of fire. The security forces had cordoned off the area and launched search operations to nab the hiding militants.

Militants shot dead constable Nazir Ahmad of the Soura police station here today. Police sources said that the driver had gone to a workshop to get his vehicle. He was shot dead by some unidentified militants.

Mohammad Ismail Tash of Uri, who had gone to the occupied Kashmir about two years ago surrendered before the authorities after his return on Thursday. He had been in the occupied Kashmir and has returned along with his family. He surrendered three AK rifles, 13 magazines, 380 rounds of ammunition, two pistols and 12 hand grenades before the authorities.