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Kashmir : Troops may soon be pulled out from schools, orchards |
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Reports say that the Government is looking at an early withdrawal of troops from schools and orchards in Jammu and Kashmir. There are indications that the expert panel set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consider the issue will come up with a suggestion to this effect. Where it is not possible to withdraw the troops, the panel is likely to propose compensation for owners of the properties. Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt, who heads the panel, visited Jammu and Kashmir earlier this month to get a feel of the ground situation. He is expected to submit his report to Defence Minister A.K. Antony by July 31 before he retires at the end of the month.
In the meantime, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that the relocation of troops should be hastened so that the security forces could arrange alternate accommodation for them¬selves on a war footing. “Though relocation of security forces from government buildings and orchards has started, there is a need to further push up the process to complete the exercise quickly”, Azad said while addressing a convention of Congress workers at Budgam in central Kashmir on July 12.
Azad said ever since he assumed power, he has been stressing the need for arranging alternate accommodation for the security forces staying in private and government accommodation.
Congress-PDP talks to resume
Permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee M.M. Jacob, who is in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, has assured leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that the two parties would sit down at the negotiating table immediately after the Presiden¬tial election to resolve their differences. In a newspaper interview, he said, “the Congress believes in coalition dharma; We can sacrifice our interests to keep our coalition agreement.”
Jacob recently spoke to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti who clari¬fied that the PDP was not against the Army and all that the party wanted was its withdrawal from educational institutions, orchards, hospitals and farmland.
The Samajwadi Party has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to take advantage of the peaceful situation prevailing in the state and speed up the ongoing peace process to resolve the Kashmir issue. Party general secretary Shahid Siddique told reporters in Srinagar that internal problems being faced by Pakistan for the past few months was one reason for the slow speed of the ongoing peace process.
Omar Abdullah escapes grenade attack
National Conference president and MP Omar Abdullah had a miraculous escape when militants lobbed two grenades towards the house where he was having tea in a north Kashmir village on July 9. The grenades exploded about 300 metres away. Three CRPF personnel and a special police officer were injured in the at¬tack.
The police said Omar Abdullah had stopped at the house of a National Conference worker for tea after addressing a public rally in Qaziabad. The militants targeted the house within five minutes of his entering it.
No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the incid¬ent, which observers say, may hamper intensified political activ¬ity in the state. In the last few months, mainstream parties like the National Conference, PDP and the Congress have held scores of meetings in remote corners of the state.
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