Remembering heroes of the Dograi Battle
SOMEWHERE IN THE WESTERN SECTOR, Sept 22 — A commemorative function was, organised today to honour the martyrs of "The Dograi Battle Maj-Gen Avtar Singh, General Officer Commanding, Panther Division, laid a wreath at the "Dograi War" Memorial in New Amritsar Cantt.

Facilities sought for migrants
JAMMU, Sept 22 — Senior Congress leader and former Member Parliament Janak Raj Gupta has demanded that the people who have migrated from their houses in the border areas of Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri and other villages on the Line of Control and international border due to firing and shelling from across the border, should be provided with all facilities by the state government that are being provided to other migrants of the state.

20 militants killed in J&K

SRINAGAR, Sept 22 (PTI) — Twenty militants, 16 of them foreign mercenaries, were killed and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition was seized in Jammu and Kashmir since last night.

Nine foreign mercenaries of the Lashker-e-Toiba were killed and a soldier was wounded in a gunbattle with troops at Thil in Rajouri district of the Jammu region today, an Army spokesman said.

Giving the details, the spokesman said troops on a tip-off launched a ‘‘seek and destroy’’ operation at Thil, at a height of 13,500 ft, in Rajouri district last night.

During the night-long encounter, nine militants were killed, a soldier was wounded and a huge quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the slain militants, he said.

Besides, six rucksacks full of fresh meat, butter, glucose, chocolates, medicines and dry fruit were recovered from them.

The killed militants were foreign mercenaries and belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, he said, adding efforts were on to apprehend a militant who escaped from the scene of the encounter.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Rifles troops defused an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by militants on the premises of a high school in the Surankote area of Poonch district today.

In another incident, militants threw a grenade at the house of Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State Mirza Safdar Ali Beigh in Anantnag district last night, official sources said today.

However, no one was injured in the attack as the grenade exploded in the compound of the house at Sarnal at 11 p.m. However, some windowpanes and the kitchen were damaged.

Guards posted at Mr Beigh’s house and security personnel camping at a nearby hillock returned the fire, forcing the militants to flee.

It was not immediately known whether Mr Beigh was in the house at the time of the attack, the sources said.

So far no militant outfit had owned responsibility for the attack, they said.

Elsewhere in the district, a militant belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in an Army operation in Satkipora village in the Bijbehara area while a body of an unidentified person was found in the Achabal area.

NC workers disillusioned
From M.L Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Sept 22 — Ghulam Mohd (61) has been a National Conference (NC) worker for the past 35 years. He received injuries while fighting rivals of the party and at no cost listened anything against Sheikh Abdullah and G.M. Shah.

However, today he is a disillusioned man, as are thousands of workers and supporters with the party leadership. He is supported by another staunch NC supporter, Ghulam Hassan, when he blames the party president, Dr Farooq Adbullah, and other top functionaries for the poor turnout in Srinagar, Baramula Poonch, Rajouri and Doda in the recent Lok Sabha poll.

They said the 61-year-old party was being run by Dr Abdullah, the general secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed and some of his ministerial colleagues.

What seems to have angered a majority or the party workers is the lack of rapport between the leaders and the workers. The workers cite several instances where they were ignored and their rivals favoured.

The party workers maintain that they have never been consulted by the NC leadership during elections. When the assembly elections were held in 1996, a majority of the workers were not consulted on the selection of candidates. It was repeated in the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha polls. Staunch workers and leaders were left out and new entrants, including defectors given the ticket.

A number of NC workers said the party was function-ridden.

They said that a majority of the workers did not have direct access to the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues. They had to depend upon some legislators who usually tried to get their work done instead of conveying their genuine problems to the Chief Minister and other ministers.

They demanded convening of the general session of the party to give an opportunity to the rank and file to articulate their problems. The demand was also supported by a few ministers. A minister pointed out that for the past over one decade the party had not convened the general session whereas during the leadership of Sheikh Abdullah, it used to be a regular feature.

The workers feared that the party might face a vertical split in case corrective measures were not taken soon.

Remembering heroes of the
Dograi Battle

SOMEWHERE IN THE WESTERN SECTOR, Sept 22 — A commemorative function was, organised today to honour the martyrs of "The Dograi Battle Maj-Gen Avtar Singh, General Officer Commanding, Panther Division, laid a wreath at the "Dograi War" Memorial in New Amritsar Cantt.

"The Dograi Memorial" has been constructed in memory of the heroes who did honour to the nation by the supreme sacrifice of their lives during the Indo - Pak conflict in 1965. On this the dare devils of Panther fraternity displaying exemplary bravery, grit and determination captured the Pakistan township of Dograi on Sept 22 1965. The famous Dograi battle witnessed a complete rout of Pak army in terms of men and equipment. The gallant soldiers of Panther Division vanquished the Pakistan army and took 108 soldiers as POW, including the Commanding Officer of 16 Punjab (Pak army). The Pakistanis deserted and left behind 15 Sherman tanks which were at one time considered to be invincible.

To commemorate this victory, September 22 is celebrated at "The Dograi Day" every year. On this occasion, a large number of Army officers, JCOs and ex-servicemen, including war veterans, gather to pay homage to their predecessors and colleagues.

After the wreath-laying ceremony, Maj-Gen Avtar Singh, interacted with the soldiers of yesteryears and discussed their problems. He had a spirited talk with the war veterans and shared their experiences of war. This day of victory is an occasion for us in the uniform and civil to remember, these brave soldiers who for our tomorrow sacrificed their today.

Facilities sought for migrants
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 22 — Senior Congress leader and former Member Parliament Janak Raj Gupta has demanded that the people who have migrated from their houses in the border areas of Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri and other villages on the Line of Control and international border due to firing and shelling from across the border, should be provided with all facilities by the state government that are being provided to other migrants of the state.

In a statement issued here yesterday, Mr Gupta said these migrants should be brought on a par with the people living on the Line of actual Control adding that these people were leading miserable lives with no proper facility from government.

Condemning the firing incident in Ram Nagar tehsil on Monday, he expressed his concern over the plight of over 300 persons who had migrated from Pingla area of Ram Nagar on Monday. He also demanded foolproof security for the people living in these areas.