Jammu Srinagar

Border farmers back in fields
JAMMU, Dec 17 (IANS) — The rat-a-tat of guns has been replaced by the whirr of tractors in Indian villages on the international border with Pakistan in the Jammu region.

Farooq ignores 4 dists in reshuffle
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 17 — In the recent reshuffle in the Council of Ministers in which seven ministers were dropped four major districts of the state, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Kathua, have remained unrepresented in the Cabinet.

Srinagar district is on the top with five Cabinet ministers, including the Chief Minister and it is followed by Anantnag, Jammu and Budgam districts which have three members in the Cabinet. Anantnag is represented by one Cabinet minister and two ministers of state and Budgam has two Cabinet ministers and one minister of state. Against this Jammu district is represented by two Cabinet ministers and one minister of state with independent charge. Whereas Srinagar district has four Cabinet ministers excluding the Chief Minister.

Pulwama district has again become underrepresented after Ali Mohd Naik was dropped from the Cabinet following his entry into the Lok Sabha. It is represented now by one minister of state. The small district of Budgam has two Cabinet and one minister of state.

The border districts of Baramula and Kupwara have two members each in the Council of Ministers. While Baramula has two Cabinet ministers, Kupwara is represented by one minister of state and one Cabinet minister.

Doda district has one Cabinet minister. The axing of Nissar Khan and M.S. Tariq has left Poonch and Rajouri districts without any representation in the Council of Ministers. Similar has been the case with Kathua district after Minister of State for Health Govind Ram was dropped.

This means that out of the total area of 2.20 lakh sq km and total population of 77 lakh more than 12,000 sq km area and over 20 lakh people in four districts of Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri, Kathua have no representation in the 29-member Council of Ministers. The Chief Minister is said to have toyed with the idea of inducting one Cabinet minister from all 14 districts of the state to remove the impression that the two capital cities were over represented in the Council of Ministers resulting in better development of the towns than the rural areas.

However, the idea had to be dropped on two grounds. First, the Chief Minister could not afford to have a bigger Cabinet to accommodate members from all districts in view of the acute financial crisis. Second, it would have resulted in the dropping of several senior ministers from the two capital cities of the state.

Apart from several complaints against the ministers who have been dropped the Chief Minister was guided by one principle while carrying out the reshuffle. Informed sources said those ministers who had failed to muster voters support for the National Conference candidates in the recent Lok Sabha elections were dropped. However, the Chief Minister did not follow this principle in letter and spirit because those ministers in whose assembly segments polling percentage ranged between 2 and 10 per cent were retained.

The recent Cabinet reshuffle has left many party leaders and workers angry. The Chief Minister does not seem to be perturbed over the possibility of some of the disgruntled party leaders either forming a new regional party or joining the Peoples’ Democratic Party headed by Mufti Mohamed Sayeed. He has a two-thirds majority in the state assembly and the most important factor that could act as a fortress against any attempt to dislodge his government through defections is the support he has received from the Central Government after the National Conference joined the NDA.

Even changing the portfolios of several Cabinet ministers has reportedly left many dismayed. But at the present there is hardly any leader in the National Conference who could pose a threat to the Farooq-led government. What has been appreciated by many is the way the Chief Minister has retained and rewarded some of the ministers whose performance has been good. In this context the names of Abdul Rahim Rather, Mr Mohd Ramzan, Mr Ajay Sadhotra, Mr Mohd Shafi and Mr Abdul Qayoom.

Usually major areas of Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur have been supporters of the National Conference. And if the Chief Minister has decided to punish people of this belt by not taking any elected representative in the Council of Ministers it would be a wrong political move.

2 mercenaries killed, 4 held in valley

SRINAGAR, Dec 17 (PTI) — Two foreign mercenaries associated with Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba were killed and four suspected local militants arrested in two separate operations in the Kashmir valley since yesterday.

Certain militants abducted a villager, Mohiuddin Bhat, from his house in Pulwama district of South Kashmir yesterday, an official spokesman said here today.

The motive behind the abduction was not known, he said, adding that the police had launched a combing operation to nab the militants and rescue the hostage.

Army troops raided a militant hideout in Potshahi area of Lolab, frontier district of Kupwara, last night which sparked off an armed clash between the hiding militants and the search parties, the spokesman said.

He said the ensuing gunbattle lasted several hours and culminated with the gunning down of two foreign militants owing allegiance to Lashkar-e-Toiba. Some arms and ammunition were also recovered from them.

In another operation, the Rashtriya Rifles troops apprehended four local youths during combing operations at Dangerpora forest in Baramula district yesterday. They were picked up in connection with a pistol which was recovered from them.

The Special Operations Group of the local police with the assistance of the Rashtriya Rifles busted a militant hideout during search operations at Daswani area of Kupwara district yesterday, the spokesman said.

The militants, however, managed to escape under the cover of darkness leaving behind an AK rifle, a pistol and some ammunition.

Meanwhile, two suspected militants, including a Bangladesh national, were arrested and four militants’ hideouts were busted by the security forces during anti-militant drive in the Kashmir valley since yesterday, an official spokesman said here today.

He said the Special Operations Group apprehended a suspect, Hafiz Abdul Haq, of Bangladesh from Magermalbagh area of Srinagar yesterday.

Haq, who was moving under suspicious circumstances, was stopped by policemen and was whisked away for questioning, the spokesman said, adding that Haq’s involvement in militant activities was not ruled out.

Security forces apprehended a suspected militant from Hanjura area of Tailbal on the outskirts of Srinagar, the spokesman said.

Four militant hideouts at Shahkote in Kupwara, Branwar and Kitchahama forests in Baramula and Pantha chowk in Srinagar were smashed by the security forces during search operations today, the spokesman said.

He said an AK assault rifle, a silencer, 22 kg of explosives, nine explosive sticks, six grenades, an anti-tank mine, about 2,500 rounds of assorted ammunition and 200 kg of ration were seized during the search of the hideouts.

Border farmers back in fields

JAMMU, Dec 17 (IANS) — The rat-a-tat of guns has been replaced by the whirr of tractors in Indian villages on the international border with Pakistan in the Jammu region.

Farmers are back on their fields without fear of being hit by bullets from across the border hoping to shake off their dependence on government subsidies and once again earning their own living.

Farming along the border was abandoned two years ago following regular exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops which made it difficult for residents of the area to live in their homes. Most residents were farmers, but they could not till their fields. More than 10 farmers were killed or wounded in the Pakistani firing in the Samba, Hiranagar and Ramgarh sectors.

But things changed following a meeting of senior officers of the Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistani Rangers in Lahore last month. The border guards of the two countries agreed not to fire on each other but to allow farmers to cultivate their land up to the last point on either side.

“This was agreed to by both sides and I hope that there will be no violation of this agreement”, said U.C. Chabbra, Inspector General, BSF, Jammu, who attended the meeting with the Rangers.

Tractors criss-crossing villages at the border, leaving a trail of dust and freshly ploughed soil behind them. The sight brings back promise to farmlands that had remained untended for about two years.

The tractors are pressing almost to the last point of the Indian territory at the border, something never attempted since partition in 1947.

The Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Department has supplied tractors and is also offering other inputs like seed and fertilisers to enable the farmers to stand on their own feet again. To begin with, an area of 15,000 hectares is being brought under cultivation. The rest of the area, which is about three times larger, will be cultivated later. “That requires huge sums of money and we are approaching the Centre for funding the scheme,” said I.S. Malhi, Financial Commissioner (Agriculture). About Rs 70 million will be spent on cultivating the initial 15,000 hectares along the border.

“The idea is to give a sense of self-confidence to farmers and also to increase production so that the state crosses yet another milestone on the path of self-reliance,” said the new state Agriculture Minister, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan.

The farmers are happy to be back at work. “I had given up all hope of returning to my fields. But this scheme of the government and the protection by the BSF has made the impossible possible,” said Yog Raj, a farmer in the Samba sector where tractors have been ploughing the land for the past week. “Peace on border is in the interest of all. I can hope now to feed my children and not depend on the government,” Raj said. Hundreds like Raj are praying that the calm at the borders is not shattered by gunfire again.