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Kashmir : Migrant labourers leave after Hizb threat

	July 30, 2007

There are reports that non-Kashmiri labourers are leaving the Kashmir Valley after a week’s ultimatum given to them by the Hizbul Mujahiddin terrorist outfit to leave “honourably.” A threat issued by the outfit on July 27 blamed the labourers for immoral activities in the Valley. Bus stands in towns and vil¬lages, reports say, were thronged by labourers hailing from Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Haryana, Punjab and Nepal trying to catch the first available vehicle to leave the valley.



In a statement circulated to media organisations on July 27 evening, Hizbul spokesman Junaid-ul-Islam said, “We endorse and support the statement of Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani regarding outsiders and ask them to leave Kashmir within a week for their own safety.”



Geelani had asked the non-Kashmiri labourers to leave the Valley after the July 20 incident in which a girl was raped and murdered in Kupwara district.



According to rough estimates, nearly one lakh skilled and unskilled labourers from other parts of the country and Nepal are earning their livelihood in Jammu and Kashmir for the past several years.



Ramesh, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, said, “We are fearing a backlash after two non-locals were found involved in the rape and murder of a teenaged girl.”



More than two thousand non-locals reportedly left Srinagar for Jammu on July 28.



Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that the State Government is exploring the possibility of appointing a special judge for the trial of the accused in the rape and murder case of a teenaged girl in the Langate area of Kupwara district.



The announcement comes eight days after the 14 year old girl was raped and murdered allegedly by four persons, including two non-Kashmiri labourers.



The Chief Minister also announced a job for a member of the victim’s family and a monthly financial assistance of Rs. 5,000 for the study of her siblings.



Instead of politicising the issue, the focus should be on awarding an exemplary punishment to the criminals, he said, adding a criminal has to be treated as a criminal and not as a resident of a particular place.



Azad said those who are issuing threats asking non-local workers to leave the valley should consider the fallout as thou¬sands of Kashmiris were working and studying in other parts of the country where they could face similar reaction.



The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has asked the Centre and the State Government to take action to foil the diktat of the Hizbul Muja¬hideen, asking non-local labourers to leave the Valley.





Rape and molestation cases fewer in Kashmir



During a discussion on the human rights situation in Kash¬mir, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the State Assembly recently that rape and molestation cases are much lower in the state than the national average. He said the security forces operating in the Kashmir valley, often charged with such allega¬tions, are responsible for just 4 per cent of these incidents. However, the molestation rate in Kashmir is higher than that in Jammu.





Army withdrawing from schools and orchards



The Army has vacated all schools in the Kashmir Valley it had requisitioned to house soldiers. Northern Command GOC-in-C Lt. Gen. H.S. Panag said in Dras on July 26 that the Army is in the process of leaving other Government buildings and orchards. Speaking on the sidelines of a function on the 8th anniversary of victory in the Kargil war, the officer said the Army would con¬tinue to carry out operations as long as militancy and infiltra¬tion continued.



Lt. Gen. Panag dismissed allegations that lakhs of Army personnel have been deployed in Kashmir causing inconvenience to the local population. “We have no more than 80,000 troops de¬ployed on counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir. The rest of the force was on the border defending it and checking infiltration from across the border.” Of the 80,000 troops, he said, 55 per cent were in the valley and the rest on the other side of the Pir Panjal Range in Jammu division.



Meanwhile, the Committee appointed by the Prime Minister to examine the possibility of relocating troops in Jammu and Kashmir finalised its recommendations on July 24. The Committee was headed by Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt.



There are reports that the Committee is in favour of a phased approach to moving troops out of civilian property and orchards wherever feasible and adequate compensation for property that cannot be spared at the moment.





Situation improving, but no lowering of guard : Defence Minister



Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who paid a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir last week, visited forward posts and the Kaman Aman Setu, the last point on the line of control in Uri sector on July 27. Noting that the border has been generally peaceful over the last three years, Antony expressed the hope that it remains peaceful. He said peace does not mean that there will be any lowering of the guard on the border. Speaking at the end of his visit, Antony told a news conference in Srinagar on July 28 that India wanted ‘real peace’ with its neighbour.



The Defence Minister said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had taken a number of initiatives to normalise the situation, both in the State and with Pakistan. “The peace process has produced some success and we shall have to accept that,” he said. “There have been certain developments in Pakistan which have slowed down the process but I believe it is a temporary phase and I hope the situation will improve.”



Antony said that even with China the relations had taken a leap and “we will be holding joint exercises with them in China. Who could have imagined this a year back?”



Though the Minister refused to comment on the fate of Peo¬ple’s Democratic Party’s demand for reduction in troops, he said the situation was fast improving in the State and violence had come down. “There is a wrong perception that the entire State is in trouble. The violence is confined to certain pockets but it is a fact that we must take forward our efforts till complete nor¬mality is restored,” he said.



Antony said the three committees set up by the Prime Min¬ister to look into the issue of reduction in troops were on the job. “I think the report of one committee is in the final stage,” he said.



“Since these committees are there, it will be premature on my part to say anything,” said the Minister who met Governor S.K. Sinha, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and a delegation of PDP leaders headed by its president Mehbooba Mufti.



Responding to a question, Antony said that the Army was there to protect the people and any violation of human rights was being viewed seriously. “We will not tolerate violations and we take appropriate action.”





Pugwash conference on Kashmir : Call for reduction of troops



Kashmiri leaders who took part in the two-day conference of Pugwash on Kashmir in Colombo, have called for hassle-free travel of people across the Line of Control and reopening of all tradi¬tional routes between the two parts of Kashmir. PDP chief Meh¬booba Mufti and CPI(M) leader Mohd. Yusuf Tarigami asked for reducing the presence of armed forces on both sides of the Line of Control.



Mehbooba Mufti said the implementation of the recommenda¬tions of the working groups on Kashmir could mark the beginning of the confidence-building process with far reaching positive impact on the overall situation in the state. She urged the Centre to provide safe passage to Kashmiri youth who had gone to Pakistan for terrorist training, but now wanted to give up arms and live in peace with their families. She urged militant and separatist groups to get involved in the peace process. Tariga¬mi demanded unconditional release of political prisoners on both sides of the Line of Control.



This was the fourth Kashmir-specific conference organised by Pugwash. The earlier meetings were held in Kathmandu, Islamabad and Cairo.





Suicide attack on CRPF camp foiled



The CRPF foiled an attempt by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants to storm a battalion headquarters near a research centre of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre in Srinagar on July 26. Two mili¬tants were killed in the incident while seven CRPF men were injured.



Two heavily armed militants tried to enter the 42 Battalion HQ at Zakura, but were killed in the encounter. They came close to the boundary wall of the camp, hurled grenades and fired at the pickets. The BARC facility did not suffer any damage in the attack.



A Lashkar-e-Taiba militant was apprehended by Delhi Police in Chandni Chowk area on July 27. A day earlier on July 26, detectives of the special cell had arrested two Manipuri mili¬tants. A huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from the Lashkar militant.



There are reports that the Lashkar man was waiting for directions from his handlers to carry out a terrorist attack in the capital.









Mughal Road project cleared



The Supreme Court has given a go ahead to the Jammu and Kashmir Government’s Mughal Road project. The all weather road will be an alternative to the existing Srinagar-Jammu national highway which is often disrupted during extreme weather condi¬tions.



A special three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan vacated the stay on the project. The State Govern¬ment was required to meet environmental guidelines laid down by the Empowered Committee set up by the apex court.



Jammu & Kashmir has been asked to hand over 149 sq km of forest land to the Wildlife Department and set aside five per cent of the project cost for the preservation of wildlife.



“We never had any objections. These are the conditions we had already agreed to abide by,” said J-K Minister for Roads & Buildings Gulchain Singh Charak.



“We will now concentrate on building the road in the short¬est possible time. There are no more hurdles,” said Charak. The road is being built by Hindustan Construction Company.



Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has also directed the Govern¬ment to issue a notification to declare Lachipora, Naganari and Limber areas along the LoC in Uri as a national park.



Mughal Road, planned to be an 83.9-km stretch, is to link Kashmir with Poonch in Jammu. Although the project was conceived way back in 1979, it was abandoned after some time. In the 90s, the outbreak of militancy gave the project a whole new dimension. The security forces had contended then that the link would be used by militants as a part of the stretch was very close to the Line of Control in Jammu.



“We hope to meet the March 2009 deadline set for (roads) its completion,” said project chief engineer Sheikh Muhammad Hussain.

The road has a long history and was first laid out by the Mughals after they conquered Kashmir in 1586 AD. It was the most feasible all-weather link to Kashmir which cut across the Pir Panjal range dividing Jammu from Kashmir province.