India warns Pakistan against ceasefire violations on international border in Jammu

15 May 2011
JAMMU: India Sunday warned Pakistan against ceasefire violations on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, Border Security Force (BSF) officials said.

The stern message was delivered to Pakistani Rangers by BSF officers at a flag meeting on the border in Ranbirsingh Pora sector in Jammu and Kashmir Sunday after two incidents of ceasefire violations on the international border since Saturday evening, BSF sources said.

Sources said that the Indian side made it amply clear to Pakistani Rangers that their action of heightening tensions on the borders would not be tolerated and the Indian side reserved the right to respond in kind.

(Courtesy : http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com)

AK Antony's statement on revoking J&K armed forces act unfortunate: PDP

Feb 18, 2011
Srinagar : Opposition PDP today termed "unfortunate" the statement of defence minister AK Antony about revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the state, saying Kashmiris cannot be held hostageto "unilateral opinion" of security agencies.

"Security forces have done their job in the civilian domain of the state and it was time to relieve them of this additional burden," party president Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement today.

The union defence minister had yesterday dismissed demands for the withdrawal of AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir, saying infiltration attempts were still continuing and militants could not be given any "opportunity to succeed".

Mehbooba said the AFSPA was enacted at a time when the state was "bristling with armed fighters", whereas all government agencies are now unanimous that only a few hundred militants are operating in the state.

"Nothing could be more unfortunate and antithetical to our democratic system than Antony's rejection of even a public debate on this subject of life and death for residents of the state," she said. The PDP leader said the civil society and democratic institutions must be strengthened to take care of the daily lives of people.

"Forces must take care of borders only," she said. Mehbooba said Chinese incursions in Ladakh were going "unchallenged" even as the defence minister has expressed apprehensions on continued attempts at infiltration.
(Courtesy : http://www.dnaindia.com)

PM asks parties not to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi, Jan 22 With the BJP's youth wing planning to hoist the national flag in Srinagar on Republic Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday asked all political parties to refrain from "promoting divisive agendas" and stressed that peace should not be disturbed in the "sensitive" Jammu and Kashmir.

"It is not an occasion to score political points, to embarrass the state and local administrations, to create situations that could lead to entirely avoidable problems, or to promote divisive agendas," Manmohan Singh said while stressing that Republic Day is "a solemn occasion".

"It is my hope that all our citizens and political parties will heed this call and will do nothing that will disturb peace and harmony, or detract in any way from the dignity of Republic Day," the prime minister said in a statement.
It was "all the more important to observe maximum restraint particularly in a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir," Manmohan Singh said. It was a veiled reference to to 'Ekta Yatra' planned by the BJP's youth wing to proceed to Srinagar to hoist the national tricolour at the historic Lal Chowk. Unfazed by pleas by the Jammu and Kashmir government, which has made it clear that it will not allow hoisting of the national flag by BJP on that day, the party is going ahead with the plan.
Stressing the significance and solemnity of the occasion, the prime minister said: "It is up to the states to ensure that public traditions are honoured and they would be well within their rights to insist upon punctilious adherence.". "It is a day that joins all Indians in a shared celebration of modern nationhood," he said.

(Courtesy : www.prokerala.com)

UN has failed in Kashmir: Farooq

SUMIT HAKHOO

Jammu, Jan 5: A day after Hurriyat Conference (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that United Nations (UN) has failed to address the Kashmir issue, Union Minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah Wednesday said that UN has not only failed in Kashmir but also in Palestine.

Abdullah who was addressing a press conference here said that as a Union Minister he cannot comment on the issue. “However as the president of National Conference I agree with the views of Mirwaiz. The UN despite being useful in so many ways at the global level has failed in resolving many issues around the world,” he said.

Urging Mirwaiz to come forward for talks with centre, he said that dialogue process should again be started to find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue and save the people from suffering any more.

He said dialogue between India and Pakistan was a must in this direction and stressed on building confidence and friendly ties between the two neighbours for the larger interests of peace and development in the state.

Reciting the maxim ‘Dair Aayad Durust Aayad’ (better late than never), Abdullah welcomed the statement of Hurriyat leader Prof Abdul Gani Bhat regarding killing of Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq in 1990 and said that Prof Bhat has spoken truth, though lately. “Though he had made many enemies for himself, at least Abdul Gani Bhat spoke the truth after so many years”, Abdullah said.

He said that the issues pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir have to be resolved by the people of all the three regions of the state through a dialogue process in which participation of people living across LoC is also required.

The Union Minister spelt out his Ministry’s action plan for harnessing solar, wind, geo-thermal, water and biomass potential of the State for generating energy. He said his Ministry is keen to help the State to generate more and more energy from non-conventional energy sources abundantly available in the State.

Farooq Abdullah said that Union Ministry has provided Rs. 130 crores to the State this year for generation of solar energy and electrifying uncovered villages in remote areas. “My Ministry has asked the State Government to give proposal for energizing all the Government hospitals, Civil Secretariat and other office complexes under the solar energy programme so that the electricity saved in these institutions could be diverted to local consumption,” he said.

Farooq said that the Government of India is tying up with the Government of Iceland in harnessing geo-thermal energy in a big way. “My Ministry intends to exploit potential of geo-thermal in Rajouri, Tatapani, Ladakh and other places in the State. We are also working for utilizing bio-mass for generation of electricity in the State,” he added. He said that his ministry has provided over Rs. 474 crores for the development of new and renewable energy projects in Leh and Kargil districts and he is shortly visiting there to inspect the pace of work..

 (Courtesy : www.greaterkashmir.com)

Interlocutors have helped in J&K : Chidambaram

New Delhi : Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said there has been a significant improvement in the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir as the government-appointed interlocutors have been able to "change the discourse" in the troubled valley.

"The three-month period of agitation was an unfortunate and deeply regrettable chapter. However, after the visit of the all-party parliamentary delegation and the appointment of interlocutors, there has been a significant improvement in the law and order situation," Chidambaram said.

"In particular, the interlocutors have been able to change the discourse and have been able to persuade a number of stakeholders to offer suggestions for a political solution," the home minister told reporters, giving the monthly report card of his ministry.

He said a parliamentary panel discussed matters relating to Jammu and Kashmir in December, while the interlocutors - senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, noted academician Radha Kumar and economist MM Ansari - visited the state for the third time last month.

"During the visit, they met Governor (NN Vohra) and Chief Minister (Omar Abdullah), senior leaders of mainstream political parties, and senior administrative and police officials. They also met 130 delegations in the Jammu city, Poonch, Rajouri, Srinagar and Langate."

(Courtesy : http://ibnlive.in.com)

Farooq asks separatists to talk to central government

Wed, Jan 5 2011 12:36 IST | 51 Views | Add your comment

Jammu, Jan 5

Union minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah Wednesday asked the separatists to come forward and engage in a dialogue with the central government to resolve the Kashmir issue. Commenting on the observations of Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq that Kashmiris had lost faith in the UN, Abdullah told mediapersons here: "He's right that the UN has failed on some counts, but the best thing for the Mirwaiz is to open a dialogue with the centre."

Abdullah, who is here in connection with sorting out the reported differences between his party and the Congress - the two ruling coalition partners - maintained that the "coalition is strong". His son Omar Abdullah is the chief minister of the state.

Making it clear that the state government would not be responsible for the security of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) activists visiting the Valley to hoist the Indian flag, Omar said they can do so at their "own risk" as it was a pointless exercise when a minister is going to unfurl the tricolor on Republic Day Jan 26.

The BJP's youth wing has announced it would unfurl the tricolor at Lal Chowk Jan 26. Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik has threatened the BJP with dire consequences if they attempted the flag hoisting.

(Courtesy : www.prokerala.com)

घाटी की कानून व्यवस्था में सुधार

नई दिल्ली। गृहमंत्री पी चिदंबरम ने मंगलवार को बताया कि जम्मू-कश्मीर में कानून-व्यवस्था की स्थिति में उल्लेखनीय सुधार हुआ है और साथ ही वार्ताकार बातचीत की दिशा बदलने में सफल रहे। 

चिदंबरम ने बताया कि वामपंथी उग्रवाद से प्रभावित प्रदेशों की स्थिति अभी भी चिंता का बड़ा सबब है। हमें आशा है कि टीआरएस तेलंगाना मुद्दे पर छह जनवरी को होने वाली सभी पार्टियों की बैठक में हिस्सा लेगी।

(Courtesy : jagran.com)

No withdrawal of security forces from Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu -  Despite strong pleas by the political groups in Jammu and Kashmir, there is little likelihood of the thinning of security forces in the state, government sources said.

The highly-placed sources told IANS that the state cannot risk withdrawing troops at this stage when the chances of militancy reviving are beaming on the radar.

Also, there are reports that the separatists and their sympathisers were preparing for another bout of street protests in the summer of 2011, they said.

"There is no question of taking any chances at this stage; we will have to go by security considerations and not by the political thinking of the groups," a senior officer who attended a meeting of the union home ministry in New Delhi, told IANS here.

"This year is going to be very crucial. The summer of 2010 and the attacks by militants on the security forces have reinforced our perception that Pakistan and its protégés in Jammu and Kashmir are bent upon continuing with creating trouble across the state," the officer said on condition of anonymity.

He explained that there are more than 500 active militants across the state and fresh batches of militants are coming from across the border, as indicated by the fresh intrusion bids both at the Line of Control and the international border. This has made the security forces wary of thinning their presence.

"We don't want a reversal of the situation," the officer said.

A two-pronged strategy is being adopted. In the first place, the security forces are strengthening their vigil along the borders to check infiltration. This would help in curbing the reinforcement of the militants operating in the state.

Secondly, the state is preparing for a crowd control system. The state police are procuring non-lethal weapons to control the crowds. The summer of 2010 in Kashmir was particularly crucial as more than 110 people, mostly youngsters, died in police firing, the sources pointed out.

"We are going to shift to non-lethal means," Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda  told police officers at a meeting in Jammu last week. "The non-lethal weapons would be an asset."

The police and paramilitary forces will be dealing with possible street protests, while the army will be taking on militants in the hinterland.

According to a senior government official, "In the given situation, security forces are required in substantive numbers and any  reduction will have serious repercussions."

All the Kashmir-centric political groups, including the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, have been asking for reducing the presence of the security forces. They claim that the situation has improved over the years and the strength of the deployed troops needed to be cut down.

There had been a reduction of 30,000 troops in Jammu and Kashmir in 2009, but the  security forces now have warned against any further tampering with their number in the state.

(Courtesy : www.indiavision.com)

Majority for peaceful means for solving Kashmir problem: Team

Jammu/Srinagar:  Centre's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday said majority of the organisations and groups they met during their visits to the state favoured peaceful means for arriving at a political solution to the Kashmir problem.

These organisations were of the opinion that violence should not be allowed to scuttle such an exercise, journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, heading the team of interlocutors, told reporters in Jammu.

Though various delegations gave diverse opinions, they were broadly of the view that a solution to the Kashmir issue should be found through peaceful means, he said.

"The groups are also of the view that the solution should be acceptable to the people and all the three regions of the state," Padgaonkar said.

Flanked by two other interlocutors – academician Radha Kumar and former Central Information Commissioner M M Ansari, he said any settlement should rest on the pillars of democracy and the rule of law.

(Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com)

India asks China for early resolution of stapled visa issue

New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) Days after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit here, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao Tuesday said India wanted an early resolution to the issue of stapled visas for residents of Jammu and Kashmir and stressed that allowing it to 'fester' for long could lead to a negative impact on the overall relations between the two countries.

Making it clear that China knows the importance of the matter, Rao stressed that New Delhi cannot accept the status quo on it.

'They understand the seriousness and the importance that we attach to this issue because we wanted results. We cannot accept the status quo on this,' Rao told Karan Thapar on CNBC TV 18's 'India Tonight' programme.

'Therefore, what he (Premier Wen Jiabao) told Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) was that we need to sort this out,' Rao added.

'...we need to sit down and discuss this, and let us get our officials to look at this more intensively with a view to resolving it as soon as possible. That is where the matter stands at the moment,' she said.

'I am sure the Chinese see the impact of this on the relationship. It has not had a good impact on the relationship,' she said.

Despite negative perceptions of the visit in sections of the Indian media, Rao stressed that Wen's visit here last week had a 'further stabilising effect' on the relationship.

'When our leaders meet and when they discuss issues that concern the relationship it provides for greater clarity, higher resolution, if one were to use an optic term, in terms of the way forward. And I think it is important always to have a long-term perspective about this relationship,' said Rao.

Rao added that India has been putting across its message on Jammu and Kashmir, particularly on the stapled visa issue 'which directly seems to question our sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir,' very clearly that it would like to see more positive statements of support on it from China.

Asked about the first-ever omission of India's commitment to a One-China policy in the India-China joint statement, Rao clarified the Chinese side understands New Delhi's long-stated position on the issue and no need was felt to reiterate it.

'Because it is assumed that the One-China policy has not changed,' she said.

Asked about China's position on supporting India's candidature for a UN Security Council seat, Rao said: 'China has been looking at the issue with a lot of interest and they are absorbed in the debate that is developing on this issue.

'I think they understand that this particular issue about permanent membership is very important for many of the aspiring members including India,' she said.

She, however, expressed confidence that when it comes to the ultimate decision, China is unlikely to 'stand in the way'. 'They would not want to stand against the groundswell,' she said.

Asked to comment on why the joint statement issued after talks between Wen and Manmohan Singh did not mention 26/11 and bringing the culprits of the terror strike in Mumbai to book, Rao said one has to be realistic about Sino-India ties.

'China and Pakistan have a very close strategic consensus on many issues, and the depth of that relationship is known to all of us. So, we have a very realistic appreciation of where we stand with China on a number of these issues,' she said.

(Courtesy : http://news.in.msn.com)

Kashmir Interlocutors to Begin Third Visit from Dec 17

New Delhi : The three interlocutors, appointed to initiate dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir, will begin their third visit to the state tomorrow after which they are likely to submit the "broad contours" for a political settlement to the decades-old issue.

During its seven-day visit, the group will go to several district headquarters like Jammu, Rajauri, Poonch, Doda and Srinagar and will interact with people cutting across party line and organisations and take their view on a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.

When the interlocutors will submit the "broad contours" for a solution to the Kashmir issue, it will be deliberated by the Cabinet Committee on Security before giving the nod for initiating the process.

The group, comprising eminent journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar and former Central Information Commissioner M M Ansari was appointed on October 13.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has already said that the contours of a political solution to the Kashmir problem were expected to emerge in the next few months.

Chidambaram has said the first and second reports of the group of interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir dealt with confidence-building measures.

Under their suggestions, demilitarisation steps have been taken, 66 youths have been released while 22 cases of Public Safety Act have been withdrawn, sources said.

The Centre has sent "some" of its recommendations to the state for necessary action.

"Action has been initiated on the recommendations. Some recommendations have been sent to the state government for necessary action. Some are under implementation," a source said.

In its reports, the group had recommended expediting cases of undertrials, permitting peaceful protests, releasing militants and protesters against whom there are no serious charges among others.

The group also recommended training of security forces, identifying jobs for young men and women in central and state government offices, announcing scholarships for Kashmiri students, enhancing monetary assistance to widows and orphans, efforts to trace missing persons and increasing monthly allowances to Kashmiri Pandits, the ministry said.

The report submitted to the government by the group of interlocutors was based on their visits to the state from October 23 from 28 and November 9 to 14.

During earlier visits, the interlocutors went to Uri, Baramullah, Anantnag, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Leh and Kargil districts and met political and community leaders, minority representatives including several groups of Kashmiri Pandits as well as refugees from PoK, it said.

(Courtesy : http://news.outlookindia.com, 17 Dec. 2010)