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Tuesday,
November 13, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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14 ultras among 17 killed in J&K NEWS ANALYSIS Lone blames govt for attack on house
Hurriyat wants ceasefire in J&K Central funds should not lapse: minister |
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14 ultras among 17 killed in J&K Srinagar, November 12 Militants fired two rifle grenades at the main telecommunication centre at Srinagar, he said. One of the grenades exploded in a shed and another on the roof of the nearby Red Cross office slighly damaging the structure. However, none was hurt in the incident. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack. A telecom exchange at Soibugh in Budgam district was partially damaged when militants hurled a grenade into it last night, the spokesman said. The guards posted there returned the fire but none was injured. Militants fired at the BSF headquarters at Mader Bandipore in Baramulla district last night, but no damage was caused, he said. Security forces intercepted four Hizbul militants who were on way to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) at Peer Margkot Ghatti in Poonch district this morning. The ultras were killed in the ensuing encounter, he said. Three LeT militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Loren-Mandi area of Poonch this morning, he said, adding another militant who was trying to exfiltrate was gunned down in a brief encounter at Kanda area of the border district. He said 27 militants had been killed by security forces in different operations in Poonch district in the past two days.
PTI
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NEWS ANALYSIS
Jammu, November 12 A senior dissident leader, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, has refused to toe the line of the hardliners who were for forming a parallel party in the state. Mr Sharma is said to have told his supporters, especially the hardliners, that he was not prepared to leave an organisation of which he had been a member for the past over 30 years. The dissidents have another controversy to resolve. A former PCC chief, Mr Ghulam Rasool Kar, recently stated that the Congress should not “gang up” against the National Conference. He had stated that Dr Abdullah was a nationalist and the best bet for India in Kashmir and as such the Congress should not lend support to any move aimed at dislodging him and his government. Mr Amrit Malhotra, an AICC member, whose heartthrobs with the dissidents, ridiculed Mr Kar’s statement. Mr Malhotra said “the views expressed by Mr Kar regarding Dr Abdullah are his personal views and not that of the party.” He explained that the Congress party, being in the Opposition, would “continue to play the role of a constructive and responsible opposition in the state.” A senior Congress leader, Mr Raman Bhalla, said: “The Congress cannot survive in the Jammu region if it plays second fiddle to Dr Abdullah.” This indicates that the dissidents have a divergent view on several political matters connected with the state. However, they are unanimous in blaming Mohsina Kidwai, AICC General Secretary, for influencing Ms Sonia Gandhi, AICC President, in favour of Mr Mohd Shafi Qureshi. Whatever may be the outcome of the dissidents’ campaign against Mr Qureshi the ongoing tussle between the loyalists and the rebels has started casting a dark shadow on the future of the organisation in Jammu and Kashmir. One Congress MLA said: “We will continue to demonstrate our strength by organising party conventions, demonstrations and rallies but if the AICC leadership shuts its eyes on the reality the Congress will be finished sooner than later in the state.” Several Congress MLAs are apprehensive of their victory in the next Assembly elections. “If the current organisational structure remains unchanged many of us will lose our security deposit in the next poll,” one Congress legislator said. He said in the death of the Congress the peoples’ alienation in Kashmir may grow in size and dimension on the plea that those disenchanted with the National Conference wanted a secular platform to join. “When the secular party like the Congress is no more, people will have no other alternative but to join the separatist camps,” he argued.
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Lone
blames govt for attack on house New Delhi, November 12 He also blamed the Pakistani intelligence agencies for creating confusion by plotting charges against him. “A person like me with an independent course of action has to face attacks from all sides — the state government and the covert agencies on either side of LoC,’’ Mr Lone told mediapersons here. Responding to the accusation of a militant outfit about having “misappropriated” its Rs 4.5 crore, Mr Lone said the charges were being made against him. “I have no hard feelings against these young men who send these statements from across the LoC, since they happen to be helpless,’’ Mr Lone said. The senior Hurriyat leader said the militarily redundant militant outfit, ‘Al Barq,’ was being used to create confusion besides causing doubts and terming him as “anti-movement”. “On October 5 this year, the same outfit faxed a threatening and a defamatory statement from
across the LoC, followed by one more statement with similar contents on October 20,’’ Mr Lone said. He claimed that on October 26, the same outfit again faxed a statement, denying the earlier two statements. The Hurriyat leader alleged the state government had not registered a case in the shooting incident that took place at his residence last week. There had been a spate of attacks on his life during past five years, including a powerful RDX car bomb blast near his residence, he said, adding that the security had been “drastically
reduced" at his house a day before the last attack. He admitted that the Hurriyat leadership had been holding informal talks with the Centre for resolving the Kashmir dispute. Mr Lone said the amalgam leadership had told the Centre that they would be forced to decline the offer of talks with Mr Pant if his name was made public before their visit to Pakistan. Mr Lone, however, claimed that the Centre had violated the terms of references agreed between the two sides which included facilitating the Hurriyat leadership to go to Pakistan for holding talks with the militant leadership there.
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Hurriyat wants ceasefire in J&K Srinagar, November 12 APHC chairman Abdul Gani Bhat told a crowded press conference at the Rajbagh headquarters of the Hurriyat that the separatist alliance wanted tripartite talks to end the 54-year-old issue. “The Kashmir issue is a volcano and if it is not addressed immediately, it can erupt suddenly and wash away India and Pakistan along with Jammu and Kashmir,’’ the chairman of the 23-party conglomerate said. Prof Bhat said there was a need to start a dialogue between India, Pakistan and the true representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to permanently solve the issue. He said all parties concerned — India, Pakistan and the separatists — should announce a ceasefire and resolve the issue in accordance with the wishes of the people of all three regions in the state — Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir. Asked if the APHC was in touch with ‘jehadi’ groups in Pakistan and if they would accept the ceasefire proposal, Prof Bhat said: “We cannot exist in a vacuum. We have tried our level best to understand the dynamics of the situation which suggests that negotiations should be initiated....We have to generate a favourable political climate and for that, we need to ask people holding guns to stop using them,’’ he said. “I have said a process has to be initiated with a purpose and a target,’’ he said, adding that “when you talk with a purpose, you have to involve everybody — India, Pakistan, and of course, the APHC.’’ Asked about the Hurriyat’s proposal to visit Pakistan for holding talks with the leadership there, Prof Bhat said it was yet to be worked out. Answering questions, Prof Bhat said after the end of war in Afghanistan, the focus of attention would be on Palestine and Kashmir, which need a viable
solution. He hailed the role of Russia, Britain and the USA on the Kashmir issue. He said the Hurriyat Conference did not act on the directives from any government. |
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Central funds should not lapse: minister Jammu, November 12 The Minister for Rural Development, Mr Ajay Sadhotra, told newsmen here today that most of the areas in the state were hilly, inaccessible and remained cut off for more than six months in a year and hence the execution of development works could not be carried out throughout the year resulting in the lapse of central funds. He said there was an urgent need for introducing carry forward system so that whatever amount could not be utilised during a particular financial year could be taken in hand during the subsequent years. Mr Sadhotra said rural development plans suffered from another lacuna. He explained that the central funds for different rural development schemes were not released in one go. “We received second or third instalment of funds towards the fag end of the year preventing the government from utilising them fully,” he said adding that as such the level of lapsed funds increased. Projecting the demands of the state before Mr M. Venkaih Naidu, Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr Sadhotra emphasised the need for releasing all funds in “one go.” He said as a result of reduction in the central allocations on Employees Assurance Scheme liabilities had been created to the tune of Rs 15 crore and requested the Government of India to release additional funds for clearing these liabilities. Mr Sadhotra said a detailed report had been sent to the Central explaining the need for increased allocations under the rural development schemes because as a troubled state for the past 12 years Jammu and Kashmir required a special package for rebuilding the basic infrastructure which included Rs 13.50 crore for the recommencement of panchayat ghars and rural housing schemes. He said under the rules the Government of India’s share in the rural housing schemes was 75 per cent and that of the state 25 per cent. “But since the state is faced with financial constraints we have suggested to the Centre to increase its share to 90 per cent and leave10 per cent gap to be filled by the state government. He expressed dismay over the reduction in the central assistance under the Jawahar Gram Simridhi Yojana (JGSY) from Rs 13.50 crore in 1998-1999 to Rs 10 crore for the current financial year. He hoped that the state government’s plea for the increase in the financial allocation in this and other sectors of rural development was enhanced. Mr Sadhotra said he expected concession in the rural road development scheme on the plea that people lived in scattered villages and most of these villages had a population up to 250 families. But the central funds were to be made available for roads linking villages with a population of 500 and above. He demanded that permission be given for linking small villages with the link roads. |
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