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Kashmir : President Kalam assures all help to quick hit |
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President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who paid a two day visit to Jammu and Kashmir last week has assured all help and assistance to the quake hit people of the state. He went to the Tangdhar area near the Line of Control (LoC) and interacted with the residents who had gathered there to apprise him of their agony and losses. President Kalam advised the quake hit people to face the challenge with courage and determination, and said that both the Central and state governments would provide all facilities to the quake victims. He urged the people to provide education to their children without any gender discrimination.
Dr. Kalam was accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Governor S.K. Sinha, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and GoC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt. Gen. Deepak Kapoor, among others.
The President also addressed a Sainik Sammelan at Tangdhar and lauded the role of the Army and Air Force personnel in reaching out to the quake victims in remote areas in an exemplary manner.
Govt. warns of tough line on terror
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has warned of a tough line to tackle terrorist activities in the State. His statement comes in the wake of reports that despite confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan, infiltration from across the Line of Control (LoC) has been going up after the October 8 earthquake. Ghulam Nabi Azad who took over as Chief Minister earlier this month, is thinking of major changes in the intelligence and security agencies to ensure that they are able to tackle terrorism in a more effective manner. At the same time, the Government has stepped up efforts to end the alienation of the people from the administration.
Observers say that the alienation is widespread. Most earthquake victims remember how the civil administration was the last to reach them with relief and was the least concerned. Unemployment remains at a dismal level and tales of excesses at the hands of police and armed forces do not stop filtering in.
More than 100 terrorists enter Srinagar city
The Jammu and Kashmir police say that foreign militants infiltrated into the Kashmir valley in large numbers after last month’s devastating earthquake. Around 125 of them are suspected to have entered Srinagar city which has witnessed a sudden spurt of suicide and car bomb attacks.
“I will say more than a hundred militants have entered Srinagar city,” Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, K. Rajendra said. “Infiltration has been taking place even during the CBMs on the LoC. But after the earthquake, they seem to have taken advantage of the situation and are sneaking across.”
Defence spokesman Col. V. K. Batra, said that the Army foiled three to four infiltration bids since the quake. “We killed 21 militants trying to infiltrate. However, some groups might have managed to sneak in taking advantage of the post-earthquake situation,” he said. He too put the number of militants operating inside Srinagar city at “around 100 as per the figures of intelligence agencies.”
In the latest terrorist incident in Srinagar, three CRPF men were killed and six persons, including three policemen injured, in a surprise attack by militants on a cinema hall being used as temporary barracks by security forces on Nov. 23. The attackers wearing traditional Kashmiri robes, mounted a grenade and rifle attack on the building in central Srinagar. Both suicide bombers were later killed.
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