1. law, govt and politics
2. law enforcement
3. police

C M Y K
18
KashmiR
Pakistan versus
India: The
ultimate World
Cup jinx
5
24 Rabi-Al-Thani | 1436 Hijri | Vol: 18 | Issue: 36 | Pages : 08 | Price: `3
w w w. k a s h m i r o b s e r v e r. n e t
satuRDaY 14 FebRuaRY 2015
Wisdom
Even if you are on the
right track, you will
get run over if you
just sit there.
...........Will Rogers
(1879-1935) American humorist and actor.
Cop Booked On
Theft Charges
sriNaGar: Police Friday booked a
constable over the charges of theft
in Baramulla district.
Police sources said that a police
Constable Gulshan Sajad Ganai of
12th IRP battalion was arrested earlier after locals recovered his cell
phone and identity card from a place,
where a burglary had taken place in
Kanispora area of the district.
The cop was arrested after locals accused the police of shielding their man, involved in burglaries. Sources said a case under FIR
number 25 under sections 380 and
454 has been registered Page 6
20 Yr Old Crushed
By Train
sriNaGar: A 20 year old youth
was hit by a train on a railway line
at Wanabal, Srinagar Friday resulting in his on the spot death, a police spokesman said.
The deceased was later identified as Basharat Ahmad Guth son
of Abdul Rashid resident of Gool,
Ramban who was working as a domestic help in the same area.
After completion of all mediclegal formalities, the body has
been kept at in hospital mortuary
for handing over to his relatives.
Police have started investigation in
this regard.
/ Srinagar Today: ParTly Cloudy
MaxiMuM: 9oC / MiniMuM: -3oC / HuMidiTy : 75% / SunSeTS Today... 06:04 PM / SunriSeS ToMorrow... 07.26 aM
'Delhi Treating Kashmiris As Aliens'
I was victimized by Chidambaram for talking against NHPC: Taj
Kashmir News Service
JammU: in what could dent the
image of Congress further in the
state, veteran party leader has accused New Delhi of having played
‘dirty politics’ during Congress
rule to safeguard the interests
of National hydro Power Project
(NhPC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
Former Irrigation and Flood Control Minster and senior Congress
leader Taj Mohiuddin cautioned
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed to remain vigilant about
what he said, the ‘ill designs’ of the
NHPC, saying they (NHPC) were
invoking the so called nationalism
chord in New Delhi to suppress the
Kashmir leaders who are seeking
return of power projects.
Talking to KNS, Taj who took
everyone by surprise in 2010 by
taking NHPC head-on, accused the
home ministry, particularly the
then home minster P.Chidmabaram
of victimizing him for digging
the facts regarding the ‘lost’ file
of agreement on Salal Project.
“Though Jammu and Kashmir is
part of India, still it (New Delhi)
was treating the Kashmiris as
aliens when it comes to the peoples’ rights. Any Kashmiri leader
who raises voice is branded as antinational in approach and is being
marginalized,” he said.
“In a way, the stand of separatists is vindicated that New Delhi
has set different rules for Jammu
and Kashmir and the rest of India.
I was not only marginalized but
victimized by the then home minster and his ministry for launching
a tirade against NHPC,” the senior
Congress leader claimed.
Mufti led govt likely
to take oath on Feb 22
“The way I was treated within
my own party after my initiatives
to trace the lost file on Salal power
project is the testimony of the fact
that GoI was never serious in handing over the power projects back
to the state,” asserted Taj, adding
that huge conspiracies were being hatched by NHPC in New Delhi
against the Kashmiri leaders to
thwart any move aiming at the return of power projects.
“None of the agreements between NHPC and state government
give ownership to NHPC and as per
agreements, they have to transfer
the projects back to the state after a
fixed time. But unfortunately they
don’t do that, neither is GoI willing
to make them do so,” Taj said and
claimed his recent loss in elections
was ‘engineered’ by NHPC and New
Delhi to marginalize him further.
He, however, said that he has
finally been able to set the records
straight even if numerous attempts
were made to stop him from reconstructing the agreement file on
various power projects.
“It is a complete build up case
now. Cabinet has given its approval to seek back the Salal and
Uri-1 project from NHPC. It has
even agreed to approach Supreme
Court if NHPC shows reluctance in
handing over the projects on depreciation cost,” claimed Taj, who
was removed as I&FC minster in
2012 amid reports of infighting in
the state Congress.
The former minster claimed that
he was removed to safeguard the
interests of NHPC in state and the
then home minster P Chidambarm
was behind the move.
“Then Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah told me several times
that he was removed on the directions of the home ministry and he
had no option but to concede to
the Congress demand,” Taj claimed
and said that as per the agreement,
NHPC has to handover the Salal and
Uri 1 project on depreciation cost
and the money was available with
the state government.
“I raised Rs 2,400 crore by levying water tax on NHPC and the
same amount is deposited in a
separate bank account by enactment of law after seeking cabinet
approval. They can use it to buy
back power projects and start new
projects of their own,” he claimed,
saying that he knew, state was
running through financial crises
and the money could be diverted
to some other head, so he brought
an enactment with the approval of
cabinet to keep money in a separate account that could be used
only for the power projects.
Taj said that the all Mufti Mohammad Syed after assuming
charge would have to do is to curtail the interference of the NHPC at
home ministry level.
“Mufti sahib has the Page 6
Day 3: Restrictions, Clashes in Kupwara
Police registers case against officer, three cops
sriNaGar: Clashes between gov- has been registered against four post, Aawura and three other poernment forces and protesters cops including a senior officer over licemen including a Munshi and
continued for the third consecu- death of Nazir.
two constables. “The case has been
tive day in Kupwara district even
Despite restrictions protesters registered over two things: one
as authorities clamped restrictions took to streets and held anti-gov- why the prisoner escaped from poin the frontier town.
ernment protests at Bohipura, Zir- lice custody and second over alleAuthorities imposed strict hama and Aawura. The protesters gations of death in police custody
restrictions in the town and its clashed with government forces due to torture,” they said.
adjoining areas to contain the for several hours. The police fired
Sources identified the policeprotests and clashes. Witnesses dozens of teargas shells to disperse men as Sub-Inspector Ghulam
said hundreds of poMuhammad, Munshi
lice and paramilitary
Muhammad Hussain,
CRPF personal were
Selection Grade Condeployed who strictly PATTAN: At least four persons were injured during clashes stable Fayaz Ahmad
enforced curfew-like between youth and government forces in Palhallan hamlet of and Constable Fayaz
north Kashmir even as shutdown for the fifth day continued in Ahmad. Sources said
restrictions.
The
mysterious the area against killing of a 23 year old local youth by police. the policemen could
death of ‘murder ac- Eyewitnesses said that violent clashes erupted in the area after face arrest if probe is
cused’ Nazir Ahmad Friday prayers between protesters and forces. Shouting pro- initiatated by Deputy
Mughal, son of Abdul freedom and anti-India slogans, the protesters resorted to heavy Commissioner.
Rehman, an adopted stone-pelting on contingents of forces deployed in the area.
The Superintendent
The forces fired dozens of teargas shells to Page 6
son of Bahadur Khan
of Police Rahul Malik
aged 32 years of Gujjar
confirmed that a case
Pati, Zirhama, Kupwara sparked vi- the agitating people. The clashes has been registered against cops.
olent protests in Kupwara town and were intense in Aawura.
He assured thorough probe and
its adjoining areas on Wednesday.
People of Jamaldar Mohalla al- asked people to maintain calm.
People alleged that he died in leged that cops went berserk and
The Deputy Commissioner of
police custody and are demanding thrashed people and ransacked Kupwara, Rajiv Ranjan said that
property.
impartial probe.
they are waiting for the post-morPolice sources said that a case tem report and a fair probe is being
On Thursday, dozens of people
including senior police officers under FIR number 41/2015 under conducted. “Anyone found guilty
were injured in violent clashes.
sections 223 and 224 has been would be punished,” he said. On
Police, meanwhile, said a case registered against In charge police being asked about the Page 6
4 injured in Palhallan clashes
JammU: After hectic ‘informal’
deliberations, Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janta
Party (BJP) have finally agreed to
enter into the structured dialogue
from Monday.
Sources said that the first round
of formal talks was likely to be held
on Monday and Mufti Syed led government would take oath six days
later on February 22. “All the contentious issues have been resolved
and both the parties have even
shared the drafts. The formal announcement of the agreement was
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expected on Monday,” they said.
Sources within both the parties
confirmed that the government
would be formed on February 22 and
all arrangements have been finalized.
“The committees are in place
and the first formal meeting is likely to be held on Monday at Jammu.
I think, the date for oath ceremony
has been fixed on Feb 22,” a senior
PDP leader, who is part of the five
member committee that would
hold negotiations with BJP, said on
the condition of anonymity.
“Mufti Sayed would Page 6
20 Nimazis
Killed In
Pakistan
Attack
PeshaWar:
Grenade-toting
militants attacked a mosque
during Friday prayers in northwest Pakistan killing at least
20 and wounding 100 worshippers.
The attack comes two weeks
after a suicide bombing at
mosque in southern Pakistan
killed 61 Shia Muslims, the deadliest sectarian incident to hit the
country in nearly two years.
Police said five to six gunmen
threw grenades before storming
the Imamia mosque in Peshawar
around the time of the main Friday prayers.
As worshippers, numbering
around one thousand, prostrated in prayer six gunmen in police uniforms sprayed bullets on
them, eyewitnesses said.
Television footage showed
images of people running frantically as the area was covered
with thick smoke in an attack
reminiscent of the December 16
Peshawar school carnage that
killed at least 130 children.
Gunmen had entered the
mosque by scaling the outer
walls, police said adding while
only one suicide bomber was
able to detonate himself among
the worshippers Page 6
Indian foreign
secretary to
visit Pak
NeW DeLhi: India's foreign secretary will travel to Pakistan as part of
a regional tour in coming months, an
official said Friday, the first high-level visit since relations between the
arch rivals soured last year.
S. Jaishankar will travel to Islamabad where "India will push its agenda" during bilateral meetings with
officials, foreign ministry spokesman
Syed Akbaruddin said at a briefing.
"The foreign secretary will visit all
SAARC countries including Pakistan,"
Akbaruddin told reporters without
giving specific dates.
Akbaruddin did not say whether the visit would likely result in
peace talks resuming between the
foreign secretaries of the nucleararmed neighbours, talks which India
abruptly cancelled last year.
Relations have soured between
the neighbours over increased firing
along their borders and Page 6
A great shining lie: Inside the dark Police To File Status
interiors of SMC's 'cleanest city' Report on Feb 14
‘Bogus voting’ in Khanyar Segment
BY AMANJEET SINGH/AM
sriNaGar: Barely few steps from
a government-run hospital in Srinagar Chanapora locality, a mountain of rotting garbage has been set
on fire, sending plumes of obnoxious fumes into the fetid and moist
air. To avoid the gut-churning stink,
people take hurried steps and
cover their mouths, all the time
looking out for dogs who are often
searching for food in a sea of debris.
Muntazir Ahmad, 32, who lives
near the hospital, boards an overcrowded passenger bus from the
main road to Jehangir Chowk. At
a corner of the road beneath the
Jehangir Chowk flyover, one of the
busiest traffic intersections in the
city where mini-buses take people
to old parts of the city, a junction
of underground cable network
of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
doubly serves as a shield for bus
drivers, helpers and even passengers taking a leak. As they relieve
themselves facing the wall of J&K
High Court, the passers-by look the
other way while the fumes of stagnant urine loom in the air.
Adjacent to the high court is
Srinagar civil secretariat behind
which is a tiny congested neigh-
bourhood of Shutra Shahi that is
bordered by Srinagar Municipal
Corporation (SMC), a semi-autonomous corporation that take care of
the city's civic needs. The corporation got reason to cheer up recently
after an India Today survey surprisingly listed Srinagar as one of the
top 10 cleanest cities in India.
But the claims of the survey fall
flat on its face on many points.
Shutra Shahi, for example, is
symbolic of the filth that Srinagar
has come to be known among its
many fateful residents and disadvantaged localities. In a devastating
flood that hit the region in September last year, affecting more than 4.5
million people, Shutra Shahi was
one of the worst hit in Srinagar with
more than 25 houses here turning
into a mountain of debris while
many others surviving with cracked
walls and an everlasting fear of live
burial among their residents.
Four months have passed since
the flood came but some of the debris from collapsed houses still litters the streets. In a corner, a pack
of dogs is prowling on Page 6
sriNaGar: In compliance with the
Court directions, Police will file a detailed status report before the Chief
Judicial Magistrate about the alleged,
‘bogus voting’ in Khanyar Assembly
segment on Feb 14 (Saturday).
Pertinently, Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, after acting on a complaint filed by PDP losing candidate
Muhammad Khurshid Alam, had directed Station House Officer Khanyar to investigate into alleged bogus
voting in Khanyar constituency during the recently held assembly elections and submit a report before it
by or before February 14.
Station House Officer Nisar
Ahmed said that soon after getting directions from the Honorable
Court, the police started an inquiry
into the matter and prepared a report therafter.
“We have been inquring the allegations and will submit a status report
before the court on Saturday,” he said.
Muhammad Khursheed Aalam,
PDP candidate from Khanyar who
lost recent assembly election to NC
candidate Ali Muhammad Sagar,
has submitted a petition before the
CJM, praying that bogus voters were
used to cast their votes during the
recently held polls.
The petitioner has stated that he
informed Chief Election Observer regarding the inaction of DEO Srinagar
on the registered complaint in writing on 02-12-2014 informing him
that formally a complaint was lodged
with the DEO on 17-11-2014 along
with documentary proof regarding
the grave discrepancies in the voter
lists of Khanyar constituency. “But
despite assurance no action warranted under law was taken by DEO
Srinagar just to pave way for the victory of NC candidate Ali Muhammad
Sagar through Illegal and fraudulent
acts of bogus voters,” he pleaded.
Referring to the documentary
evidence collected in support of
his claim, the petitioner pleads,
“It is abundantly clear that there
has been multiple entry of voters of 261+78 = 339, expired voters 97, non-existing voters 1381
and non-resident voters 2 besides
as per the lists furnished by the
BLOs. The number of such voters
is 30+63+23+6+3+2 = 127. Thus the
total number of such bogus voters is
339+97+1381+2+127=1946.”
The petitioner submitted that
Sagar was declared successful by
1167 votes and the result would
have been quite reverse had bogus
voters been deleted and the requisite correction in Page 6
C M Y K
saturday
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Tender Notice No: 38 of 2014-15
s no
name of work
adv. Cost
(in lacs)
e. money
in lacs
Class .of Cost
contr.
of T/d
H/a
Time for
comp.
Position of
funds
01
Constt of P bund on
Qureshi Mollah Kandi
from daral aloom to
H.O ab Qayoom and
ab Majeed
1.20
0.024
dee
200/
BadP
15 days
dem
02
Contt of F.P work
nallah Qazinag
village Cherry.
1.50
0.03
dee
200/
BadP
15 days
-do
03
Constt of ibkote
Bhaderkote Khul
bwo CC drain. incl
diversion of nallah &
constt of crate bund.
2.50
0.05
dee
200/
BadP
15 days
-do
04
Constt of ibkote
Bhaderkote khul
bwo of contt. of crate
walling
2.50
0.05
dee
200/
BadP
15 days
-do
05
Constt of ibkote
Bhaderkote khul bwo
of diversion of nallah.
1.50
0.03
dee
200/
BadP
15 days
-do
The tenders should be addressed to executive engineer and should reach in his office at Tangdar by or before
25.02.2015 upto 2.00 pm by hand. in case the tender Receiving date being declared as holiday
or hartal, the tenders shall be received on the next working day.
The tender documents for the works can be held from the office of the office of executive engineer special
sub division Tangdar against cash payments on any working day during office hour's upto 24.02.2015 The
contractors are advised to paste cello tape over the rates quoted by them on the tender's document without
which the tenders will be rejected.
The contractor shall not in any case quote more than one rate per item of work. in case the tenderer splits the
quantity of any item of work and quotes more than one rate for the same item, his tender will not be accepted.
The contractor is Hable and bound to take photographic evidence at every stage of work and submit the
same in duplicate duly attested by the aee/Je and cost on account of this has to be bare by the contractor.
"Taxes which are admissible for deduction shall be deducted at source at the rates admissible at the time of
payment of the bills of the contractors"
iMPORTANT CONDiTiON:
There can be no iaxity in completion period of the work. For each day delay a penalty of one percent shall
be imposed
subject to a maximum of ten percent of the allotted cost besides other normal penalties. Time is the essence
of the contract.
The work shall have to be started within two days from the date of issue of allotment /letter of intend. The
contractor/firm is advised to see the site before tendering for the work. after completion of work physically, the
defective liability period shall be minimum one year and the contractor shall be responsible for rectifying all
defects, which may be caused till dlP is over.
The tender should be delivered duly sealed with proper cover/envelop with the name of the contractor,
name of the work reference to CdR no & date etc. without which tender can be rejected by the opening authority
without assigning any reasons. also the CdRs must be pledged in favour of the tender opening authority, failing
which the tender will be rejected without assigning any reasons. Position of funds demanded. all other Terms and
conditions shall remain same as per this office niT no: 01 of 2014-15
Sd/- Executive Engineer
DIPK No. 11105
Spl Sub Div Tangdar
fOr all typES
Of COmpUtErS
paraphErnalia
pOlO ViEW Sgr
COntaCt: 2480966
With 95 per cent of its constituents being water,
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For & on behalf of the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir state sealed tenders affixed with Rupee Five Revenue
stamps are hereby invited for the works listed below from the Government approved Contractors.
CONSultANCy
knowledge campus
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Mrs. Riyaz ahmad Bhat
s/o w/o Raj Mohammad
Bhat R/o 225 Barzulla
sanatnagar Owner of
vechile number JK01T
-4950 for cancellation
of
hire
purchase
agreement with M/s
HdFC, Bank lTd B/o H-s-H street sgr.
now, it is therefore it is notified for
general information that objections,
if any to the proposed cancellation if
hire purchase agreement shall be filed
in writing in the office of the Regional
Transport Officer, Kashmir within a period
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dated : 13.2.15
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OFFICER BARAMULLA
TeNDeR NOTiCe NO 01/2015/CeO bla
For & on behalf of the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir state sealed tenders affixed with Rs. 4/= revenue stamp
are invited from registered civil contractors of J & K state for below mentioned work strictly as per the terms and
conditions given here under:-
s.no
name of work
advertising
Cost
CdR
Class of
contract
Time of
completion
Cost of tender
documents
1
Repair/ Renovation of Chief
education Office Baramulla
2.00 lac
Rs 4000/=
Cee&dee
25 days
Rs 200/=
2
Renovation of CeO office
room by way of fixing of
wooden tiles and instillation
of aC
2.50 lac
Rs 5000/=
Cee&dee
25 days
Rs 200/=
Position of funds: - Demanded
Terms and conditions:-
1. Tender documents can be had from CeO Office Baramulia against the cash
payment of T-documents as shown above and the documents shall be issued up
to 14-02-2015 up to 2.00 pm on all working days.
2. Only those contractors can cast their tenders who have been registered under
sales tax (if applicable). The tender documents shall be issued to the intending
tenderer only on production of the valid registration card (Tin/Pan) numbers and
sales tax clearance issued by the competent authority.
3. The tenders should be delivered in person on 16/02/2015 upto 2:00 PM
4. The CdR shall be pledged to Chief education Officer Baramulla .
5. The tender shall be opened in the office of the undersigned on 20th
February,2015 at 2.00pm sharp.
DIPK No.: 11174
Sd/- Chief Education
Officer Baramulla
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saturday
13 02 2015 Kashmir Observer

NEWS

Agencies, police abet criminals like Gulzar Peer: Mirwaiz
Mirwaiz said, “It becomes clear
that investigating agencies and
police abet such criminals and are
hand in glove with them at many
levels.”
He said that Gulzar was caught
red handed and ample evidence
lies in the public which incriminates him in the sexual exploitation case. “The girls, who were
exploited, have come on record
and Kashmir’s social and religious
bodies too have denounced his
acts. Despite such grisly crimes,
Gulzar got released since the in-
Palhalan killing: ‘Guilty
bound to face music’
Will set an expamle for others: Police
Baramulla: Reacting over the
recent killing of a youth in
Palhalan, Deputy Inspector
General of Police North Kashmir Range, Gareeb Das Friday
said that Jammu and Kashmir
Police will set an example by
awarding exemplary punishment to the guilty cop.
“We have directly registered an FIR against the security forces and will provide
every detail to Inquiry Officer
to bring the killer to justice,”
Das told CNS adding that his
symapthies are with the bereaved family.
He said that police is well
aware of this fact that the slain
youth Farooq Ahmed Bhat
was a good cricketer who had
participated in several cricket
tournaments organized by
Army and other groups. “The
family of slain youth is very
poor and if they show willingness, we will provide a job for
one their members in police
department,” he said.
DiG North Kashmir said that
police is waiting for the inquiry
report that will be submitted
by Sub-Divisional Magistrate
Pattan. “Inquiry is going on and
we are fully cooperating with
the siad officer. For a transparent probe, police is ready to
forward any detail needed by
Inquiry Officer,” he said.
Pertinently, a youth namely
Farooq Ahmed Bhat was killed
in government forces firing on
February 9, when people were
protesting against the thrashing of family members during
a nocturnal raid.(CNS)
Kashmir hospitals ill
prepared to combat
swine flu: daK
Srinagar: The primer doctors body of Kashmir Friday said the
recent sudden spurt of swine flu (H1N1) cases across the country
and with ‘more than 30 suspected cases in Kashmir is alarming’.
In a statement Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) while
quoting its president, said: “Some throat samples have shown
genetic mutations and possibly because of this change in the
virus death rate has increased.”
The two designated hospitals for H1N1 do not have the
facility of mandatory negative pressure isolation wards and
logistics, the DAK spokesman quoted the president Dr Nisarul-Hassan as having said. “H1N1 patients in SMHS and SKIMS
are kept with other patients who come for cure to these
hospitals but contract the deadly virus instead. Doctors and
other hospital staff are not provided with personal protection
equipments while dealing with H1N1 patients thus putting
them at risk of contracting the virus,” he said.
“Tamiflu ( Oseltamivir) the only life saving drug for treatment and prophylaxis of H1N1 is not available in our hospitals
which is criminal.There are no H1N1 vaccines which are to
be given to high risk persons with diabetes, elderly, children
below 5 years, pregnant, chronic diseases, immune compromised and healthcare workers as the virus can be fatal in
them,” Nisar, according to spokesman, said.
He said: “The designated laboratory for testing at SKIMS
does not have the desired Biosafety-3 level for handling and
processing H1N1 samples which is dangerous to staff and
community. No sensitization and awareness programmes
are conducted in hospitals with the result majority of H1N1
patients are overlooked.”
Quoting Nisar, the spokesman added: “Public is deceived
by statements made by some health officials while the fact of
the matter is that hospitals in the valley are not prepared to
combat any H1N1 outbreak.”
vestigating agencies did not produce the evidence on time in the
court so that he could have got exemplary punishment,” he added.
Mirwaiz alleged the government and non government agencies in such cases have always
played a dirty role, adding, the
infamous sex scandal is one such
case where all the accused were
acquitted by the courts for lack of
evidence. “It happened since the
investigating agencies shielded
the guilty, hide the evidence, and
abetted the bureaucrats and elites.
Tap meant
for hospital
attendants
being
misused
Pulwama: The drinking water tap meant for hospital attendants and public in south
Kashmir’s Pulwama Township is being constantly misused, locals said.
The locals said that the tap
which was establishment by
Public Health Engineering
(PHE) was actually meant
for hospital attendants. “But
some people use the tap for
washing their vehicles and
sprinkle water on road,” they
said, adding: “some local
shopkeepers also misuse the
tap.”
The drinking water tap is
just opposite District Hospital Pulwama.
Meanwhile, the Assistant
Executive Engineer (AEE)
Pulwama, Fida Hussain Rizvi said he has constituted
a team which would conduct checking every day. “I
am myself on the spot right
now,” he said.
The Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, Neeraj Kumar,
said he will look into the
matter. “I will summon Chief
Medical Officer and AEE of
PHE in this regard,” he said.
(GNS)
Govt extends
term of J&K
Commission
of Inquiry
JAMMU: As a notification
issued here today by department of Law, Justice
and Parliamentary Affairs,
the Government has extended the term of Jammu
and Kashmir Commission
of Inquiry upto 31st January,
2015 with effect from the
date of expiry of last term
viz 20th of November, 2014.
Pertinently, this has been
done in partial modification
of notification SRO 176 dated
20thJune, 2014 and notification SRO 473 dated 30th October, 2014.
Cycle-expedition team interacts
with President Mukherjee
Srinagar 13 Feb 2015: Some
19 Kashmiri youth from north
Kashmir who are part of a cycle
expedition entitled “Sailab Se
Salamati Tak” Friday met with
the Hon’ble President, Pranab
Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
Badami Bagh based Chinar
Corps had flagged off the expedition as part of army's sadhbhavana initiative on 31 January.
The team cycled through
various states of India on their
way back home. In line with the
Kashmiri tradition, the team
leader, Maj Vishesh Arora, presented a shawl to the president
on behalf of Lt Gen Subrata
Saha, the Chinar Corps and all
ranks of the Corps.
The boys showed indomitable spirit paddling through
the hills of J&K and the plains
of Punjab finally reaching Delhi.
The team shared their experiences of cycling through various
parts of India on their way back
home.
The expedition members met
with another team of cyclists at
the historic India Gate. They in-
teracted with Gen Dalbir Singh,
visited various places and attended a cultural festival of
Hindu College.
the procurement of 12367 SHLS’
in respect of 68 remote villages
of the State without electricity
under the Rural Village Electrification (RVE) Program with
project completion period of six
working months.
Taking recourse to fraud, the
purchase committee fraudulently finalized the decision
without involving the financial
advisor in favour of M/S BEL
Bangalore despite cheaper alternatives elsewhere. According
to the investigation, the fraud
incurred a loss to the tune of Rs.
18,279,52 for one item listed at
serial No. 9.
The purchase committee
intentionally finalized the procurement order only one week
before the operation of new rate
contract without any urgency
by manipulating price bid under
previous rate contract to confer
undue benefit to M/S BEL Limited.
The State Exchequer suffered
a cumulative loss of Rs. 60.32
Lakhs approximately on account
of the fraudulent practice by the
officials of the departments in
question.
The VoK have registered the
case under FIR No. 10/2015 U/S
5(1) (d), r/w section 5(2) J&K
PC Act, SVT. 2006 Section 120-B
and section 109 RPC.
‘Murder of justice’: jaMa’at-e-islaMi
Srinagar: Condemning the acquittal of rape accused Gulzar Peer, the Jama’at-e-Islami
(JeI) on Friday said the court verdict is ‘murder of justice’ and a ‘certificate to rapists’.
“The justice has been murdered. We don’t accept the verdict. The judge has
trampled the justice. The evidence against Gulzar has been ignored deliberately,” the
Jama’at spokesman, Advocate Zahid Ali said.
Raising questions, he said: “They might have pressurized witnesses. Otherwise
the girls gave statements under section 164. Where are those statements? We don’t
understand where those statements went.”
“Basically, there is a syndrome of ‘peer parasti’ in Kashmir. I have seen many judges
here who stand up before a person if he is called ‘peer sahab’. gns
Galloway Demands Return
of Maqbool’s Remains
LONDON: A seminar was held
in the House of Commons here
to mark the death anniversary
of Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru.
Speakers paid rich tribute to
George Galloway MP, the most
outspoken critic of Israeli atrocities said that he was astounded to
hear people have been buried in
secret. "Israel has done many bad
the life and struggle of the Kashmiri leader Maqbool Bhat and
called it an inhuman act to keep
mortal remains imprisoned after his hanging. A joint letter
signed by 60 members of parliament was sent to the President
of India asking him to authorize
the release of Kashmiri leader's
remains to be taken to Kashmir
for Islamic burial.
Speaking at the seminar,
the leader of the Respect Party,
things but even Israel does not
keep dead bodies imprisoned".
Other members of Parliament who spoke at the seminar,
including Yasmin Qureshi MP
and John Hemming MP, said that
they fully backed the campaign
to have the mortal remains of
two Kashmiris released from
Tihar Jail to be buried in Kashmir. They said that they did not
understand why Indian government had taken this decision
Domestic
cylinders
seized from
govt offices
Baramulla: Acting upon the
directions of the Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, the Assistant Director of Consumer
Affairs and Public Distribution,
inspected several government
offices and seized domestic
cylinders on Friday, an official
spokesman said.
The AD CAPD, Sheeba Enayat, made an inspection of various offices to locate and curb
the illegal use of domestic Gas
cylinders.
“During the visit, the AD
found usage of domestic gas
Cylinders in various Offices
and therefore ceased the gas
Cylinders on-spot. Moreover,
he directed them to be careful
in future and don’t use domestic gas cylinders for official
purpose. He directed them to
use commercial Gas Cylinders
instead of domestic ones,” the
spokesman said.
An official source said that
few domestic cylinders were
also seized from Tehsil Office.
It is worth to mention here
that various issues have been
raised over past few weeks regarding the illegal use of Domestic Gas Cylinders in various Government Offices, the
spokesman added. (GNS)
Zadibal PDP
Seeks Cabinet
Berth
60.32 Lakh embezzlement, many
departments in vigilance net
Srinagar, Feb 13: The Vigilance
Organization Kashmir (VoK)
Friday registered an FIR against
several government departments and a Bangalore-based
electrical company, M/s BEL
Bangalore, in connection with
the alleged bungling surfaced in
the procurement of Solar Home
Lighting Systems (SHLS’).
The departments, S&T, P&D,
PDD, DIC Srinagar and JKEDA,
are also allegedly involved in
the non-utilization of the SHLS’
during the year 2009-10. The
verification has revealed that
the officials of the JKEDA submitted project proposals without any actual requirement for
Police and investigating agencies
deliberately keep lacunas in the
investigation so that the courts exonerate them for lack of evidence,”
he alleged.
Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, son Ghulam Qadir Bhat of Khan Sahib
Budgam, was acquitted in the
court of Principal and District Sessions judge Budgam, stated that,
"considering the oral as well as
other evidence brought on record,
it can be safely concluded that the
prosecution has miserably failed
to prove the guilt of the accused."
Srinagar: People’s Democratic
Party supporters from Zadibal
Constituency Friday appealed
to party patron to ensure a
cabinet berth for their elected
representative, once the government is formed in Jammu
and Kashmir.
A meeting of PDP workers
from Zadibal Constituency
was held that was presided
by party zonal president Abul
Hassan. The workers lamented
that since 1947, Zadibal people
were never given a representation in the State Cabinet and
this is the opportune time for
Mufti Muhammad Sayeed to
break the jinx.
“We have been assured
by party patron that Zadibal
would be given a representation in the State Cabinet and we
hope the demand of the people
will be fulfilled,” Hasan said.
and what they feared from allowing the Kashmiri leader to
be buried in Kashmir.
The host of the seminar, Raja
Najabat Hussain of the Kashmir
Self-determination Movement
echoed their sentiments.
A human rights campaigner
and lecturer of International
Politics at the University of
Westminister,
Dr
Debyesh
Anand, analysed in detail Maqbool Bhat's lifelong struggle saying India hanged him to silence
his dream for independence.
He said that Kashmiri nation
and Diaspora needs to be clear
about where they want to take
this movement and how they
are going to achieve their goal.
JKLF president in UK , Azmat
Khan, highlighting Maqbool
Bhat’s struggle said that Maqbool was let down by his friends
such as Farooq Abdullah and
Muzafar Baig.
He said Maqbool Bat, who
was charged as a Indian agent
by Pakistan and ironically India
hanged him for being 'enemy
agent', was a visionary leader
who had no opportunity to defend his case in courts but knew
that his hanging would wake up
his nation.
Hurriyat (G)
condemns
detention of
Sahrai, Akbar
Srinagar): Strongly condemning the house arrest of Tehreeke-Hurriyat general secretary
Muhammad Ashraf Sahrai, continuous detention of Hurriyat
spokesman Ayaz Akbar in police
station Parimpora and “vandalizing” of Jamia Masjid Kupwara by
the police, Hurriyat Conference
(G) Friday termed it as interference into the religious affairs.
In a statement Hurriyat (G)
said, “Although the police all over
the world is created for the protection of life, property and dignity of the citizens, in Jammu &
Kashmir their job is quite reverse
of that and instead of stopping
criminals from the crime, they
have undertook a mission of harassing the pro-freedom people
and are detaining them without
any justification.”
“The state of Jammu & Kashmir
is a police state and the constitution and law has practically been
suspended here. The unjust arrests, raids, harassment and use of
brutal force are the worst kind of
examples of the oppression. It is
the use of the military might that
is making India to claim Kashmir
as its part otherwise they would
have never thought of it,” he said.
Bar releases report
aBout Kot Bhalwal jail
Srinagar: In pursuance of the orders of the
High court a six member Team of J&K High
Court Bar Association, Srinagar comprised
of Advocate Aijaz Bedar Vice President, Advocate Mohammad Ashraf Bhat Secretary,
Advocate Anwar-ul-Islam Shaheen Joint Secretary, Advocate Rafiq Ahmad Joo, Advocate
Mushtaq Ahmad Dar and Advocate Abdul
Hamid Dar visited Central Jail Kotebalwal,
District Jail Kathua, Sub Jail Heera Nagar, District Jail Amphalla, District Jail Udhampur of
Jammu region.
The report released by Bar Association
states the six member team met the inmates
of the jail and tried to ascertain from them
as to what kind of facilities of food, clothing,
medical aid, hygiene, sanitation and
legal aid was available to them.
The team as per their report visited Kotebalwal jail on January 9 last
month where two non-loclas have
been imprisoned for their alleged
invovlement in militancy related
incidents. The Bar has identified
these non-local inmates as Qurban
Ali son of Mulla Ahmad resident of
Per Ali Shah Subah Sind Pakistan and
Zaffar Iqbal son of Mohammad Yousuf resident of Tralkhal Tangilla District Palendri Pakistan held Kashmir.
Qurban Ali according to Bar report
has been acquitted in one case and
in another case he was given three
years imprisonment. “The period of
imprisonment stands already expired. He is facing another case under section 7/25 Arms Act before the
court of Additional Sessions Judge
Doda. In the said case the evidence
has been closed since more than two
years and his statement stands recorded under section 342 Cr.P.C. and
for the last two year the case is fixed
for arguments but unfortunately the
presiding officer is not hearing the
arguments despite submissions of
defence counsel. He wants either
his case may be transfer to any other court or some direction may be
sought from Honorable High Court
for quick disposal. He was arrested in the year
2006 and then was lodged in various jails and
interrogation centres.,” the report reads.
“Another undertrial Zaffar Iqbalstated that
he has been arrested in the year 2007 and
is facing trial u/s 307, 121, 120B RPC 7/25 A.
Act before the Sessions Court Janipur. In the
said case there are also some co-accused and
among them one was discharged by the court
at the charge stage and others including Zaffar Iqbal were charged. Since other accused
persons are locals and one of them preferred
a Revision Petition before the Hon’ble High
Court of Jammu and Kashmir. The High court
is not deciding the said revision since long
time and trial of the accused/undertrial is
getting delayed on this said reason despite
the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court
that the cases of the foreigners be disposed
W
i
d
e
A
n
g
l
e
of in one year.”
According to Bar report, in the same jail
two more foreign national detenues (Militancy related) namely Ghulam Nabi son of
Fazil Din resident of Putwal Sialkote Pakistan
and Asif Khan son of Mohammad Sharief
Resident of Chaher Bazar Rawalkote Pakistan
held Kashmir are lodged.
“Ghulam Nabi was arrested in the year
1995 and initially he was lodged in the District Jail Amphalla Jammu and in the year
2009 was shifted to the central jail Kotebalwal Jammu. He was acquitted by the Tada Court
Jammu in one case and in the other case he
was sentenced to nine years imprisonment,
which period has expired. At this time he is
detained under PSA. In the year 2010 he received deportation order but unfortunately
CBI people raised objection with the prayer
that they have preferred an appeal before
Hon’ble Supreme Court against one of his acquittal order passed by the Tada Court. Once
he has received the notice from Hon’ble Supreme Court but he doesnot know whether
the said appeal before the Hon’ble Supreme
Court is still pending or not. He has sent one
application to legal aid of Hon’ble Supreme
Court for engaging a counsel, but doesnot
know about the same. He requested to get
enquire about the result/status of the appeal
pending before Hon’ble Supreme Court. He
stated that on his behalf Mr. Shafaqat Hussain Advocate has already filed a writ petition before the Hon’ble High Court of J&K at
Srinagar, praying to produce the detenue before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. His PSA has
expired on 19.01.2015.”
“Another detenue Asif Khan has been arrested in the year 2004 and has been lodged
in various jails and interrogation centres
which includes Tehihar jail. In this jail he
is lodged since 2007. In some cases he has
been acquitted and in other cases he was
sentenced imprisoned and the period of imprisonment already stands expired. Presently he is lodged under PSA on his behalf Mr.
Shafaqat Hussain Advocate has obtained an
order for his deportation to his native place
from the Hon’ble High Court but nothing has
been done till now. He has no contact with
his home people. He wants to be shifted to
central jail Srinagar. He has also submitted the representation to the Red Cross and
Pakistan Embassy but as per the DG Prisons
his case has not been cleared by the Pakistan
Govt. as stated by him.”
“In the Central Jail Kotebalwal there are
also five foreign national convicted prisoners
(militancy related) namely Khalid Parvaiz son
of Mohammad Ali resident of Tehsil Shakargarh District NarowalSialkote Pakistan, Mohammad Nayeem Anwar son of Mohammad
Anwar Bhat resident of Lahore Pakistan, Mohammad Imran son of Abdul Gaffar resident
of SDBN DeraNawab Khan Bhawalpora Pakistan, Mohammad Abdullah son of Mohammad Zarine resident of Serian Sarhad PAK,
Ghulam Fareed son of Mohammad Shafi resident of Village Ropai PAK.”
C M Y K
Srinagar: Peace, stability, and economic prosperity of South Asia is
linked to Kashmir dispute. Hence,
Kashmir issue should be solved on
urgent basis to extricate millions
of people of South Asia from the
era of uncertainty and instability,”
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Friday
congregation at Jama Masjid.
Referring to the judgment of
Budgam court that exonerated
‘notorious fake god man’, Gulzar
Ahmad alias Gulzar Peer, who was
involved in exploitation of underage girls, for want of evidence,
saturday
14 02 2015 Kashmir Observer

OPINION

Pakistan’s future — fraught
with Perilous Possibilities
raza rumi
N
early two months after the Peshawar attack, it is unclear if
Pakistan’s direction
has changed. The unprecedented grief and anger over
the tragedy has now given way to
business as usual. Bureaucrats
undertaking the routine round-up
exercises, platitudes by the politicians and the ‘firm’ image by the
military leadership. Sections of
civil society that defied the taboos
of entering Islamabad’s no-go
area i.e., Lal Masjid, ignited some
hope that there was going to be a
mass-scale mobilisation of Pakistanis against extremism and its
violent manifestations. But the
last rounds of activism attracted
lesser numbers and apathy – a
cornerstone of Pakistan’s mainstream culture.
What could be the greatest
example of this syndrome than
the muted response of the state
and society over the massacre of
61 worshippers in Shikarpur. The
National Action Plan is under
implementation and apparently,
thousands have been rounded up
without a plan in place as to how
they will be prosecuted in a court
of law. The end result will not be
different from the past record.
Courts will bail them out sooner
than later. Military courts are
being operationalised and many
Pakistanis view them as a panacea for the long-term failures of
the judicial system. But there
are many stages before they will
become effective and deliver the
kind of results that are needed to
combat terrorism.
The prime minister had announced that all violent militias
would be banned and proceeded
against. But there are many
which are free to mobilise. One
day, the Jamatud Dawa is banned,
the other day it is not. The ASWJ
rallied in Karachi and the seminaries that are the backbone of
these organisations remain fully
functional. Admittedly, it is not
possible to tackle them immediately but is there a strategy to
handle three decades of mess that
is growing messier? The answer
to this question is in the negative.
When the Senate questioned
the Punjab Police about foreign
funding to seminaries, the initial
response was denial-as-usual. Senator Tahir Mashhadi reportedly
said that substantive evidence
confirmed the “involvement of
foreign-funded seminaries which
were involved in promoting militancy in Pakistan”. The Saudi Embassy clearly said that whatever
support was extended to welfare
seminaries, mosques and charity
organisations materialised with
theexpress consent of the government. This has exposed the
hollowness of the government’s
commitments to address this key
issue. Pakistan simply cannot be
a playground for imported ideologies and allow sectarian battles to
further bleed society.
Evidently, the military is lead-
ing the counterterrorism efforts.
The provincial apex committees
that met earlier have been steered
by the military leadership. While
this is a welcome development to
achieve coordination, the role of
Nacta as the key agency is once
again unclear. Shortly after coming to power, the Nawaz Administration reconstituted the Defence
Committee of the Cabinet and renamed it the Cabinet Committee
on National Security (CCNS). The
CCNS was meant to formulate an
umbrella national security policy
that would guide the country’s
internal and external security.
The turbulence during much of
2014 meant that the civilian government lost its grip over power
and therefore could not assert its
mandate to re-fashion the security policy.
Had the political instability
not been there, would the civil-
T
other oPinion
hree young Muslims
were killed by a gunman in the US state
of North Carolina on
Tuesday.
A statement from police
in the town of Chapel Hill confirmed they were questioning a
suspect over the murder of three
people at 5 pm local time.
Local media reported
that the victims were
23-year old Deah
Shaddy Barakat, his
wife Yusor Mohammad,
21, and her sister,
razan Mohammad AbuSalha, 19.
ian government have taken the
initiative? It seems unclear given
the manner in which the federal
government is being run. Even in
areas where it has autonomy, the
performance remains far from optimal.
Recognising how foreign
policy impacts internal security,
the army chief has been talking to
Afghanistan, the UK, the US and
China. Mending fences with the
new Afghan government is a welcome step. However, the regional
security calculus will not change
until Pakistan decides to engage
with India and not be driven by
old demons. Nawaz Sharif was
the ideal candidate for such a reengagement but his wings have
been clipped. The question is:
how is Pakistan going to handle
this? Alignment with China is not
enough as Sino-Indian economic
cooperation has grown over the
WRAL news reported that a
46-year old man, Craig Stephen
Hicks, turned himself in to the
Chatham County Sheriff's Office
in Pittsboro after the attack.
Craig Stephen Hicks read
paralegal studies at Durham
county's Technical Community
College. Hicks described himself
as an atheist on Facebook and
posted regular images and text
condemning all religions.
Activists on social media
shared pictures of the victims
and criticised US media for its
lack of coverage of the murder.
The condemnation across
social media, included a tweet
by Richard Dawkins, who said:
"How could any decent person
NOT condemn the vile murder of
years and China at best could
help to only manage a potential
conflict.
Pakistan simply cannot afford
to turn a blind eye to private militias anymore. Their network has
grown exponentially in the past
two decades and is now getting
embedded into societal networks.
Crackdowns and police actions
are not going to work unless there
is a cohesive strategy to deal with
the thousands of radicalised (and
some armed) men, who comprise
the ideologically integrated jihad
industry. Sadly, the kind of thinking necessary to address this challenge is missing.
Even more alarming is the
fact that provincial governments
mandated to manage police forces
have not launched much-needed
reforms. Raising additional forces
is a short-gap measure and without reforming the institutional
three young US Muslims in Chapel Hill?"
"Muslims only
newsworthy when
"behind a gun. Not
in front it." Lack of
coverage on Chapel
hill murders confirms
this," Khalid Beydoun, a
law professor at Barry
University in Florida,
posted on twitter.
Similarly Sana Saeed, a producer for AJ Plus, an offshoot of
Al Jazeera, posted: "Incredible
that major news networks have
yet to talk about the #Chapel-
culture and incentives, no results can be expected. Similarly,
the prosecution services need an
overhaul as judges cannot deliver
verdicts when cases presented before them are weak. On their part,
superior courts in the provinces
have not fully sensed the public
mood on their inability to deliver
justice. The popular decision to
set up military courts (currently
under judicial review) is a clear
show of no-confidence in their
performance. The very least the
high courts can do is to see how
they can improve the adjudication of terrorism-related cases in
light of their earlier judgments.
This is why the military appears
to be the only institution moving forward. And herein lies the
paradox of Pakistan: the institution that has been at the helm of
designing controversial security
doctrines seems to be the only one
that can deliver.
Finally, why have the federal
or Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments not set up inquiry commissions? Yes, these commissions
have been useless in the past but
at least there needs to be some
process of accountability. After
all, someone must be responsible
for the security lapses of December 16, 2014. The issue of accountability has been bypassed in public debates. Even good-hearted
members of civil society are more
concerned with getting this cleric
arrested and that mosque shut
down. That will be a good symbolic gesture but nothing beyond
tokenism.
State accountability is fundamental to the crisis that has
engulfed Pakistan. Until its powerful institutions are not checked
and made answerable, they will
continue to make mistakes thus
making the citizenry more and
more disengaged and apathetic.
Such a breakdown of the citizenstate relationship is dangerous
for Pakistan’s future. Whether the
civil-military elite are cognisant
of this stark reality remains an
open question. This is why Pakistan’s future trajectory appears to
be fraught with perilous possibilities. --The Express Tribune,
HillShooting. Absolutely shameful. This is how Islamophobia
operates."
Deah Shaddy
Barakat, a dental
student who had
established a program
to help Syrian refugee
Students in turkey,
and his wife Yusor
Mohammad were
married recently
according to the
victims' social media
accounts.
-- Middle East Monitor
The persecution of Kashmiri language
MuhaMMaD faYsal
B
ryathyo'mut tchuk' or 'Daand
goakh'were the words from
Baba that would wake me on
Sunday mornings. They were
my alarm clock. Not a good
way to start your day. As I walked down
the steps of the stairs, I hear his footsteps
again. I scampered back to my room (that
completes my morning jog). He has left
the house to buy grocery (with added
flavours of politics). The way is clear for
me to step into the kitchen. As I march
inside, stealthily, Mother, the epitome of
love in my life, comes with nun-chai and
hands over remote. I hear grandmother
cursing the cows that have destroyed her
kitchen garden.
Tune into BBC World. "Good Morning," says the suave Lyce Doucet. I won-
der why we don't have such a word in our
language. Usually, it's the rebuke I encountered earlier, a ninja kick or throwing off the blanket or sending your little
brother to beat the crap out of you or, if
you were clever enough to close the door,
he'll kick it until your sleep is sent into
exile. That's Good Morning to me, in my
life. Or the smell of Harissa will fly you
into the kitchen, much like Shaggy of the
Scooby-Doo show.
A lot of words are borrowed from other languages to fill in the gaps of our endangered lexicon. Like the word 'Thank
You' is borrowed from Urdu, 'Shukriya'.
It doesn't mean we are rude but, maybe,
we are the silent-type. The legendary
Walter Lawrence in his book "The Valley of Kashmir" wrote a hundred or more
years ago that the oppression our ancestors endured made them lose the sense of
smile.
Tyndale Biscoe, the founder of western education who also gave us a school
which stands by his name even today,
goes to the extent of saying: "It is quite
possible that if we Britishers had to undergo what the Kashmiris have suffered
in the past, we might have lost our manhood."
Moving to the nineties, my eloquence was filled with war-like vocabulary which even today forms the core
of my speech. For example, if I have to
stash away some money for bad times, I
am more likely to use the word 'dump',
as was used by the rebels to store away
their weapons. Or post an amazing presentation, I would tell my friends, 'I did
Ragda', which is a name of a protest song
created by the incarcerated Muhammad
bin Qasim in the prison and presented
to the world in 2008 by Masrat Alam. Or
the latest 'Daz', which basically means
crushed for good.
Suicide is a good (really bad though)
example. There's no word for it. But
the incidents of suicide have reached
alarming rates, so we borrowed it from
Persian (which has a lot of influence on
Kashmiri). Then we have a lot of words
for pain like dagh, tatur, machar, laga'an
and the domesticated, corrupted version,
pee'ean. Does this reflect something?
Our linguistics are effected by the
environment we live in. For centuries
Kashmiris have remained persecuted under various foreign rules. These foreign
rules enslaved and destroyed the sense of
freedom in all aspects of life. What we see
today is the contemporarization of previous tyrannical regimes.
As I turn to call it a day, I am lean-
ing on the wall watching the last bits of
TV, listening to the bubbles of water for
my cuddly water-bottle. That's my good
night call. Or if I would be watching a
Liverpool match, it would be my father
running in like a Spartan and plugging
off the TV. That's Good Night for you.
But there's no Good Night in Kashmir.
"Survival was the one constant in the
changing patterns of Kashmiri people.
To survive calamity, and conquest, they
needed to develop a certain amount of
guile, cunning and ruthlessness in both
business and barter. Perhaps because of
this many succumbed to an increasing
lack of personal inner strength or morality. What did it matter though, when tomorrow might never come? And indeed,
for many, it did not," Allen Stacey rightly
said. --Authint Mail
tYnDale biscoe, the founDer of western eDucation who also gave us a school which stands by his name even today, goes to the
extent of saying: "It is quite possible that if we Britishers had to undergo what the Kashmiris have suffered in the past, we might have lost our manhood."
saturday
14 02 2015 Kashmir Observer

PANORAMA

Pakistan versus india
The ultimate World Cup jinx
Rehan Ulhaq
win the battle against his own temper, which he lost when he was right
on top of the bowling and was hitting the seamers where he wished.
It was a moment of the match when
Prasad bowled him. Or was Sohail
bowled by his own hot temper?”
O
n February 15, 2015, India and Pakistan will
lock horns and kickstart their respective
World Cup campaigns.
India versus Pakistan is not, and
never has been, an ordinary cricket
match, it is much more than that; it
is a matter of metaphoric life and
death, a matter of pride. Ask the
players involved and they will tell
you; the pressure in an India-Pakistan encounter can’t be compared to
any other.
More than a billion stakeholders are involved in the battle between these two bitter rivals. The
last time these two teams played an
ODI World Cup match in 2011, more
than 150 million viewers saw the
match live on television, making it
the most viewed television event of
the year.
In the 126 ODIs played between
these two teams, Pakistan holds the
upper hand with 72 victories while
India has won 50 matches. However,
Pakistan has never managed to beat
India in a World Cup face off. Barring 2011, Pakistan has gone into
every World Cup match against
India as favourites. On paper, at
least, Pakistan shouldn’t have lost
all those battles but each of these
matches has seen the team succumb
to either pressure or self-inflicted
misery.
After the first defeats in ‘92
and ‘96, India’s presence started
psychologically affecting Pakistan.
And this block has stayed for a long
time; we even saw it in the T20 format when in 2007, Pakistan failed
twice to cross the line; once in the
group match and once in the final of
the inaugural World T20 Cup. Each
lost match has a short story that
adds up to the overall synopsis of
Pakistan’s failure to beat India in a
World Cup match.
The current team must look
back at these events and learn valuable lessons, instead of torturing
themselves psychologically by over
hyping the occasion as we have often done in the past.
Here is a brief look back at the
five World Cup encounters between
India and Pakistan highlighting the
moments that symbolise the larger
story – that is, Pakistan lost its
nerve, resulting in its defeat.
1992
The first of the World Cup encounters came in the tournament
that crowned Pakistan as world
champions. India won this group
match comfortably by 43 runs. A
young Sachin Tendulkar starred
with a good overall performance
with both bat and ball; Tendulkar
scored 54 of 62 and conceded only 37
runs for one wicket in his 10 overs.
However, the highlight of the
match was Javed Miandad’s mimicry of the Indian wicket-keeper
Kiran More. Miandad had lost his
temper after constant banter from
More behind the stumps. Miandad’s
response was hilarious, typical of
the man perhaps; however it symbolised the first incident of Pakistan
losing their nerve and subsequently
losing the match against India in a
World Cup.
1996
Four years later, the World Cup
1999
Pakistan took on India in the
super-six stage. Heading into this
encounter, Pakistan had won nine
out of the last 10 ODI encounters between the two sides. Pakistan headed into this match as firm favourites. It wasn’t a must win match
for Pakistan but India had to win to
stay alive in the tournament; that
hunger and added motivation became obvious as, for the third time
in a row, Pakistan lost to India in a
World Cup match.
In the end, it was another com-
Defending champions Pakistan were dumped out of the
tournament after a fierce battle with arch-rivals India in the
second quarter-final played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Photo: ESPNCricinfo
was being held jointly by Pakistan,
India and Sri Lanka. With conditions in mind, both Pakistan and
India were considered favourites; at
least a semi-final birth was expected
for both. However, that didn’t happen because the teams were drawn
against each other in the quarter
final match. The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was to host this
event.
Pakistan was defending its
world champion crown and India
was playing in their backyard,
hence the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Right before the match, Pakistan’s
captain at the time, Wasim Akram,
opted himself out of the match; this
meant that Aamir Sohail was incharge of the defending champions
in this crucial match. India won the
toss and elected to bat, posting a formidable total of 287. Sidhu anchored
the innings with a well compiled
93 but Ajay Jadeja provided the Xfactor at the end of the innings – he
plundered Waqar Younis to all parts
of the Bangalore ground in the closing overs; Younis’s last two overs
went for 18 and 22 respectively.
Pakistan came out to bat, having to chase the total in 49 overs instead of 50 due to a slow over rate.
Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail
started off the run chase on fire.
Srinath was the main victim as the
two left-handed openers took a special liking to the Indian pace attack
spearhead. Pakistan had amassed
over 80 runs in the first 10 overs
when Saeed Anwar got out.
Sohail went on his merry way
and kept scoring at a blistering
rate. He brought up his 50 at more
than a-run-a-ball. After bringing up
the milestone, he slashed Prasad
over the offside field into the extra
cover boundary. He told Prasad
to “Go, fetch that”, pointing in the
extra cover direction. Sohail tried
the same shot on the next ball, only
to see his stump uprooted. Having been comprehensively bowled,
Prasad gave him a send-off, pointing towards the dressing room.
The Pakistan stand-in captain lost his temper and the match
swung on its head. India managed
to strangle Pakistan after that and
won by 39 runs. Following on from
Miandad losing his nerve in 1992,
Sohail became the second player to
be affected in such a way in the PakIndia World Cup story. He lost his
cool and Pakistan lost its match.
R Mohan wrote in the 1996 Indian Cricket annual,
“Pakistan’s stand-in captain
Aamir Sohail won his battle against
the interfering ways of former captain Javed Miandad, whom he banished to the outfield, but he did not
amassed a considerable score of 273,
thanks to Saeed Anwar’s century. It
finally seemed as though Pakistan
would end their India World Cup
jinx, considering the pace attack of
Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib Akhtar
at their disposal. India’s biggest
hope was their star batsman, Tendulkar, who admitted after the
match that he hadn’t slept properly
for 12 nights in anticipation of this
encounter.
The little master didn’t disappoint, with a little help from Pakistan. Tendulkar started off at 100
miles per hour, smashing Akthar
through and over the field at centurion. Pakistan knew that if they
could get Tendulkar’s wicket in
time, the match would be in their
hands. But yet again, Pakistan
threw this chance away; to be more
specific, Abdul Razzaq threw this
first and, again, it was Tendulkar
who starred with the bat, falling 15
short of his hundred.
At one point, Tendulkar was declared out by the umpire, on Ajmal’s
bowling; but this was only temporary and he was soon saved by the
Decision Review System (DRS). It
was quite ironic, seeing how the
system that Indians despised the
most ended up saving their game.
However, the DRS wasn’t the only
thing that helped Tendulkar make
such a huge score.
Pakistani fielders, it seemed,
had made it their duty to not catch
any of Tendulkar’s shots. His ball
was dropped by Misbahul Haq on
27, Younus Khan on 45, Kamran Akmal on 70, and Muhammad Hafeez
on 81. It was finally Shahid Afridi
who caught it. More than jubilation,
Tendulkar’s wicket brought a sigh
The Indians celebrate victory over Pakistan, 4th Super Six match: India v Pakistan, World Cup, Old
Trafford, June 8, 1999. Photo: ESPNCricinfo
fortable victory for India winning
by 47 runs at Old Trafford. India
scored 227, against perhaps the
best bowling attack in the world at
the time and then dismissed Pakistan for 180. Prasad was again the
scourge of Pakistan, picking up five
wickets and ripping through the
Pakistani middle order with accurate bowling. Pakistan had again
choked against India; this time it
wasn’t an on-field shenanigan that
overshadowed the match but the
political pressure surrounding the
event at the time.
Tensions were high as armies of
the two countries were in a standoff over Kashmir. A war between
the two rival supporters brewed in
the stands, three people were arrested and nine were ejected from
the ground. Pakistani players just
couldn’t cope with the pressure and
the pre-match political hype which
dubbed Old Trafford as Kashmir
and the match as a war.
2003
The group match between these
bitter enemies was perhaps the
most long awaited ODI clash. The
fans of both the nations had been deprived of an India-Pakistan match
for three years – because of obvious
political reasons.
Pakistan batted first and
chance away.
India had lost two quick wickets
and with the score at 57 for 2, Abdul
Razzaq dropped a dolly catch at
mid-on off Wasim’s bowling. Wasim
is famously quoted to have said,
“Do you know who you’ve
dropped?”
Pakistan lost its nerve again
in that important junction of the
match and with it, lost their fourth
successive world cup match against
India.
2011
A World Cup in the subcontinent and Pakistan not amongst the
hosts was a bitter pill to swallow
for cricket fanatics in Pakistan. Not
much was expected of the 2011 team;
however Pakistan topped their
group and demolished the West
Indies in the last eight, to set up a
mouth-watering clash with India at
Mohali for a place in the final. The
fifth World Cup clash between India
and Pakistan, and this was perhaps
the first occasion when India was
considered favourite.
Mohali was booked, tickets
were sold out, some were even sold
in black, Pakistani fans applied for
visas, pulled strings, and Pakistan’s
prime minister was invited to India
to watch the match live. The stakes
were high as usual. India batted
of relief. Thanks to Tendulkar, and
contributions lower down the order
from Suresh Raina and company,
India reached 260.
Pakistan started off their run
chase in a fine style, only to end
up throwing it all away. Pakistan
was motoring along at 70 for one
with Hafeez in full control, when
suddenly Hafeez decided to play a
weird paddle shot towards the fine
leg region, which wasn’t needed at
the time. He did manage to get bat
on ball but the ball went straight
into the gloves of MS Dhoni.
Pakistan eventually lost by 29
runs. 2011’s encounter featured
1996’s recklessness (of Sohail in
Hafeez) and 2003’s butterfingers (of
Razzaq in the uncountable dropped
Tendulkar catches); it basically
epitomised everything wrong with
Pakistan when taking on India in
a World Cup. Yet the losing margin
was smaller than previous encounters.
Had Pakistan held its nerve,
caught its catches and been a bit
more careful with the basics, the
India versus Pakistan World Cup
story would have been very different. It was more Pakistan shooting
themselves in the foot than India’s
brilliance that has scripted this
piece of history.
My last-ball six in Sharjah changed the game
Javed Miandad
E
ver since the summer
of 1975, when I started
my ODI career during the inaugural ICC
Cricket World Cup in
England, the dynamics of this format of the game have evolved at a
scarcely believable pace.
I can still recall vividly how
completely different the format
was back then. For a start, each
innings was 60 overs in length for
that tournament. At the time it
felt like a logical length, because it
was early days for the format and
it was transitioning from a fiveday game to just a single day.
Everyone was still wearing
whites, as they did in Tests, and
with almost no endorsement logos
it reinforced a cleaner, uncluttered and more wholesome feel to
the cricket from that era.
Only a couple of years later, in
1977, the Australian media tycoon
Kerry Packer changed the look of
the format permanently when he
introduced World Series Cricket,
in which teams played in colored
kit. That was indeed a colorful addition to the game. The red cherry
was replaced with white cricket
balls so that they were easily visible to players against the background of colored clothing and,
more radically, artificial floodlights.
The natural evolution of the
format was speeded up when ODI
cricket began to be played under
artificial lights. This innovation
changed the game in many ways,
not least because it meant games
could be stretched out into the
evening and allow a new demographic of younger fans to be introduced.
In turn, this youthful boom,
and the shorter duration, allowed
big businesses and sponsors to
jump on to the format. Not only
did that help in the glamorization
of the game, which was needed,
but it also strengthened the financial base of the entire game.
Investors and sponsors start-
Miandad mocks Kiran
More’s excited appeal
by jumping in the air
ed to measure the mileage they
would extract from supporting
cricket. Many preferred to hold
three ODIs instead of three Tests
in those early days. Therefore, the
‘C’ of cricket soon became synonymous with the ‘C’ of commercial.
Looking back I feel I was fortunate enough to play a small part
in unleashing the true potential
of the excitement and enthusiasm
for the format, which had been
hidden until then. My last-ball six
in the final of the Australasia Cup
in Sharjah in 1986 to beat India,
changed the game in a way. Teams,
officials, players and, most importantly fans, all started to believe in
the format and its’ potential. Now
players would fight till the very
last ball was bowled knowing they
could triumph at the very last instant. Fans knew likewise, that every game was alive until the last
ball was bowled.
The ICC Cricket World Cup
1992 was the first to be played
in coloured clothing and under
lights. The experience and results
were so encouraging that soon
after all limited-overs cricket
was played in coloured kits, with
white balls.
"The ICC has played a vital
role in supporting this process of
evolution for ODIs with regular
innovations; the introduction of
the Third Umpire, the Decision
Review system (DRS), the concept
of Powerplay overs, Free Hit for
front-foot no-balls are just some
examples of how they have enhanced the format."
It is a fact that ODIs have become batsmen-friendly. Nowadays
many batsmen find it challenging
to reach three figures in their Test
innings, but it is common to see
huge individual scores in ODIs,
and increasingly, even double centuries. The crowd is keen to see
lots of massive hits and continued
excitement and ODI cricket has
provided an opportunity to those
fans who felt bored during Tests
to engage with the sport.
The newest, shortest format of
the game - Twenty20 - is still evolving but ODIs are now as serious a
business as Test cricket. The 50over format also works better as
an effective filter for finding talented players who are able to perform at both ODI and Test level.
"Unlike Twenty20, ODIs still
allow a broad enough canvas for a
player to exhibit his entire range
of skills, defensive and attacking,
while also being able to recover
his form during the course of an
innings."
The ICC Cricket World Cup
tournaments are, in fact, the ornament of this sport. Players,
fans and sponsors wait anxiously
every four years for this extravaganza. The uninterrupted success
story of ICC Cricket World Cup
tournaments over the last four decades is testament to the durability of this format.
— ICC EXCLUSIVE
6 Saturday 14022015
Kashmir Observer
Compared to rest of the world, Indians take home more gold
TRANS ASIA NEWS
MuMbai: India rarely brings home GOLD medals
in Olympics ,but when it comes to actual GOLD,
it brings home more than any other country. The
World Gold Council is concerned that the India consumed less gold last year than it had in five years but
it still bought tons more of the precious metal than
any other country. Overall Indian consumer demand
for gold only fell 12% to 842.7 tons last year.
That’s the least amount of gold India has bought
in one year since 2010, but still more than China or
any other nation bought in 2014 Still, the returns
in 2014 were a far cry from the average 10% to 15%
annual rise in its prices seen in recent years.
That was because the government last year
clamped down on demand in an effort to reduce
the country’s high import bill that was causing
its international trade position to weaken and
weighing on the rupee.
In response, the UPA government had raised
the import tax on GOLD to 10% and announced
other restrictions as well, including the 20:80
rule. As Arun Jaitley presents the next budget
later this month, all eyes are whether he will
continue the UPA path of curbing GOLD imports
or will he reduce the taxes to ensure that GOLD
imports are cheaper.
In the last couple of years India has been desperately trying to wean its citizens of their addic-
tion to GOLD.
However Analysts say the price of GOLD could
continue to rise next year as the new government
at centre lifted a key restriction on imports of
the metal. The World Gold Council forecasts that
Indian consumption of gold this year will rise to
between 900 and 1,000 tons if the Indian government supports the sector by reducing the 10% import duty that it had imposed last year.
Late November, authorities scrapped the so
called “20:80 rule” that required a fifth of all the
imported gold to be re-exported as jewelry or in
other forms which helped strengthen ahead of
the annual festival season in India that began in
October this year and is a key time for gold purchases in the country.
It helped jump growth to 39% to 225 tons in the
quarter ended September. As a result, India regained its status as the world’s top gold consumer
that quarter, overtaking China. -- VG
From Front Page
Cop Booked On
against him. The cop has been lodged at the police station Baramulla.
According to the locals, the constable was also
involved in other burglaries that occurred in the
area.
Kanispora had seen rise in burglaries, giving
sleepless nights to the residents. Residents of the
area had appealed police to investigate the theft
cases on priority and arrest the culprits.
Besides the cop, police booked another person
Imran of Delina under same charges while three
other persons were booked under section 109
Crpc. “One of the persons have been challaned in
court,” the sources said. (GNS)
Delhi
built-up case, I had to put the fragments together and even face the humiliating victimization from my own party, but I did what was my
job to do. It is up to Mufti Sb. Now, how he takes
it forward,” he said, cautioning that given the experience he has been through, in dealing with the
affair, the matter would not be too easy to deal
with for PDP patron.
Taj, however, said that Mufti has the liberty to
seek Supreme Court intervention as the cabinet
has already agreed for the same. He also said the
file was lying with the advocate general. KNS
20 Nimazis
another was grabbed by people and neutralized before being shot by police.
Later another militant was arrested in an injured condition, Dawn quoted SSP operations
Mian Saeed as saying.
Doctor Mumtaz Khan of the Hayatabad Medical Complex said that at least 20 people had been
killed and 63 wounded. Senior police official
Mian Saeed confirmed the death toll, putting the
number wounded at "around 100".
Several unexploded grenades were reportedly
recovered from the site, Shafqat Malik, head of
bomb disposal unit, was quoted as saying.
According to provincial police chief Nasir Durrani
the attackers appeared to gain access to the mosque,
which is under tight security, from an under-construction building next door. "They cut razor wire
on the boundary wall to gain access," he said.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque.
“It is the revenge of Dr Usman who was hanged
last month for attack on the army’s headquarters,”
the TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani
said, according to The Express Tribune.
The mosque is close to several government
buildings including the offices of the Federal Investigation Agency and passport agency.
Pakistan has suffered a rising tide of sectarian violence in recent years, most of it perpetrated by hardline Sunni Muslim groups against minority Shia Muslims, who make up around a fifth of the population.
The suicide bombing at a mosque in southern
Sindh province on January 30 was the deadliest
sectarian attack in Pakistan since February 2013,
when 89 were killed in a market bombing in the
southwestern city of Quetta.
Anti-Shia attacks have been increasing in recent years across Pakistan from Karachi in south
to the far-northeastern town of Gilgit.
Shia scholar Arif Hussain warned attacks such as
these would continue, if they are not brought under control. "They are enemies of the state and enemies of Islam," he said, referring to the assailants.
The country has stepped up its fight against
militants since a Taliban school massacre in Peshawar in December. Trans Asia
Mufti led
be chief minister for six full years, whereas Dr
Nirmal Singh from BJP was likely to be his deputy,” he said and clarified that the two parties have
also worked out the distribution of portfolios.
However, a senior PDP leader wishing anonymity said that nothing can be said with confidence,
though everything has been finalized as of now.
“Unless done, nothing is done,” he said, adding
that Mufti doesn’t seem in hurry.
“Mufti was even willing to wait more because
that will not have any bearing on his six year
term. He (Mufti) doesn’t want to make any haste.
BJP has more problems than PDP to face if government is not made soon,” the leader said.
He, however, added that the situation was uncertain though both parties have resolved all the
contentious issues as of now.KNS
Day 3
allegations of excesses by residents of Jamaldar
Mohalla, the DC said he has brought the issue into
the notice of SP Kupwara. --With inputs from GNS
4 injured
disperse the youth. However, witnesses said,
the youth were re-grouping themselves and engaging forces in clashes.
Local sources said three youth sustained injuries in the clashes. One of the injured youths, who
could not be identified, was hit by pellets. A paramilitary CRPF man was also injured in clashes.
Meanwhile, the media persons alleged that police didn’t allow them to cover the clashes in the
area.
A local youth, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, was killed
in police firing on Monday during protests in the
area.
Indian foreign
India halting the talks in August enraged that
Pakistan consulted Kashmiri separatist leaders
before the dialogue began.
US Secretary of State John Kerry last month appealed to both nations to resume the talks, saying Washington was “deeply concerned” about a
surge in violence on the border in Kashmir.
News of the visit came hours after Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi phoned his Pakistani counterpart to wish his cricket team good luck ahead of a
World Cup grudge match between the rivals.
Modi said “cricket connects people in our region and promotes goodwill “after speaking with
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other South
Asian leaders whose country's teams are playing
in the World Cup starting Saturday.
“Spoke to President @ashrafghani, PM Sheikh
Hasina, PM Nawaz Sharif & President Sirisena.
Conveyed my best wishes for the Cricket World
Cup,” Modi also tweeted.
"Hope players from SAARC region play with
passion & bring laurels to the region."
Millions of India and Pakistan fans are expected
to watch Sunday's clash on television, while thousands of others are set to flock to the Adelaide
Oval in Australia.
Modi's government is seen taking a more assertive stance towards its neighbour since coming to
power last May.
Modi and Sharif failed to hold a bilateral meeting at a SAARC summit in November.
Sharif's office released a statement about Modi's phone call but did not mention any bonhomie
shared over cricket.
“Modi informed the Prime Minister that India's
new Foreign Secretary will soon visit all SAARC
counties and would also like to visit Pakistan,” the
statement said.
Pakistan and India, who have fought two of their
three wars over disputed Muslim-majority Kashmir, have traded blame for an upsurge in firing and
shelling which started in October last year.
Exchanges of fire across their de facto border
and undisputed border further south have killed
more than two dozen civilians and forced thousands to flee their homes on both sides.
A great
a heap of garbage.
"This is part of our daily life," Ghulam Rasool,
a resident, told me, "This heap (of garbage) keeps
growing for days before thesafai karamcharis
come to clean it up. It has a gut-churning stink
which spreads in the entire locality and makes
our lives miserable. We complained to SMC and
they cracked the whip on the errant safai karamchari. But he again resorted to old trick of disappearing. In this cat and mice game, we gave up."
Safai karamchari is a ground-level worker who
does all the manual work including, among many
others, collection of tonnes of garbage, sweeping
roads, cleaning sewers and draining choked roads.
Around 1200 regularized and 1300 consolidated
and daily wage employees work to clean 34 wards in
which the Srinagar city has been divided by the SMC.
President of SMC safai karamchari union, Ghulam Mohammad, told Authint Mail that the number of wards increased from 16 in recent times but
the number of employees has remained the same.
"It has brought extra burden on us. On the visit of
any minister or bureaucrat to any part of the city, we
have to clean the roads. But when it comes to addressing our grievances, we don't matter to anyone. The
non-regularized safai karamcharis get INR 4000 per
month. How will they feed their families? It is a human rights violation," Ghulam Mohammad told me.
Manual labourers involved in cleaning the city
have to deal with dust and filth every day which
makes them prone to catching infections because
of which they frequently fall ill, "It is impossible
for us to work daily and clean the city. Most of us
worked 12 hours every day in cleaning Bakshi Stadium on time for January 26 function but we were
not even given refreshments," Mohammad said.
Manzoor Parray who works as a sanitation officer with SMC said the annual budget of the corporation on disposing off solid waste runs over INR
45 million, a major chunk of which goes into paying salaries of the employees and fuel of vehicles
used in carrying wastes.
"At least 39 sucker vehicles, 21 tippers, 15 loaders, 14 compactor vehicles, eight dumper place
vehicles, seven night suckers and four JCB's are
employed by the corporation in its operations for
taking garbage to the outskirts of Srinagar, in Achan,
where it is processed," he said.
Although the safai karamcharis are foundation
stone of the SMC, they don't enjoy the perks of
the regularized SMC employees and most of them
nurse a grudge of neglect against the SMC bosses
and the state government with the result that no
one holds sway over them. A senior SMC official
said this has caused a lack of accountability in the
corporation which affects the process of cleanliness in the city.
While there is lack of accountability among the
menial workers, the SMC bosses have done little
to prevent this anarchy. Outside the Shutra Shahi
locality, in the parking bay of the historic Kashmir
Haat, a few passenger vehicles stand idly along
with a heap of garbage in a corner along with an
abandoned hand-driven cart of a safai karamchari. When I returned to the place after surveying other areas of the city for a couple of hours,
the scene hadn't changed much. The empty cart
was still there.
I walked on the Jehangir Chowk flyover that
merges into the Budshah Bridge over Jehlum river.
The Budshah Bridge is a gateway to Lal Chowk, the
heart of Srinagar city, along with Amira Kadal and
Zero Bridge. Sensing the strategic importance of the
bridge, the SMC got it decorated with flowerpots
slung on the arms of CFL-fitted black lampposts.
Four CRPF men walk stealthily on the pavement of
the bridge, casting suspicious looks around them.
Beneath the bridge, the muddied waters of Jehlum
sullenly carry bloated polythene bags, half-crushed
plastic bottles and rotting wooden planks on its surface, like a burden of its inglorious past.
In the India Today survey on the Smart Cities of
India, Srinagar which emerged at the ninth spot in
terms of cleanliness, figures nowhere in other cat-
egories. The survey carried out by Indicus Analytics, a
Neilson group company, for India Today, also rated the
surveyed cities on the basis of housing, environment,
road, transport, real estate, entrepreneurship, entertainment and public services. Srinagar didn't figure in
these categories.
The SMC has nevertheless used the survey to pat itself on the back. Even the former ruling party, National
Conference, took credit for Srinagar being the 'cleanest
city' in India. Senior NC leader, Ali Mohammad Sagar,
said it was a great achievement for former chief minister, Omar Abdullah-led government. While the dark
interiors of the city continue to stink, a monstrous
hoarding has come up near the Srinagar's premier
Government College for Women, announcing the results of the survey in bold letters. Close to the pompous hoarding, as if mocking at it, the iron railing around
the Pratap Park remains concealed in layers of mud
poured into the city by the flood in Jehlum in September last year. The railings have not been cleaned even
four months after the flood.
"It is strange that Srinagar has been declared as one
of the cleanest cities while the facts are completely
different. You can see filth in almost all colonies. Safai
karamcharis rarely come to collect garbage. In such
circumstances, residents of the city are forced to throw
garbage on vacant places including roads and streets,"
said Tahil Ali who lives in Bemina locality of Srinagar.
With the city's population growing exponentially
over the last decade, the availability of vacant spaces
for garbage disposal has shrunk with every passing
day. The growing number of residential colonies and
lack of waste management forces people to drop garbage on road sides.
"Some years back, the SMC started a very good program of collecting garbage from homes and later disposing it off. But the practise was stopped later. Since
then, everyone is forced to throw garbage on Rambagh
Bund," said Dr Purshotam Singh, a resident of Allouchi
Bagh.
Residents of the city are aware that throwing garbage on roads will attract more stray dogs into their
localities and also increase the canine population, but
most of them concede that they are under 'compulsion' to throw wastes either on roadsides and vacant
places since there are garbage collection trunks for
most disadvantaged and often poor localities of Srinagar.
Take the example of Indra Nagar locality where
garbage is left uncollected, sometimes for weeks.
The stink from the garbage on roadside gives people
a tough time. Residents blame the SMC for neglecting
the area. They have appealed SMC bosses several times
to regularly clean up the garbage but their pleas have
often fallen on deaf ears.
"Foul smell and stray dogs is a serious issue, not
only here but for entire Srinagar city. In absence of
any measures, we have been left to suffer," said Haji
Habibullah, a resident of Iqbal Colony in Indra Nagar.
"If only they could hold the safai karamcharis accountable, this problem would not have been there. In
most parts of old city, the garbage remains unattended
for days," said Rayees Amin, a resident of Fateh Kadal.
Known for its picturesque places like Dal Lake,
Power House
Food & Nutrition Supplement Store
DSN , ON, Muscle Deck etc
All types of Food & Nutrition Supplement Available Here..
PH : 9906484443
Khayam Road Srinagar 190001
Mughal Gardens and Zabarwan Hills, Srinagar also
got no mention in the top 15 cities in Clean Environment category. While the India Today survey hasn't
disclosed the criteria used to describe 'cleanliness', if
the environment is not clean, clearly, what amounts to
cleanliness then?
In the housing category of the survey too, the city of
Ludhiana in Punjab was adjudged as the best planned
city in India while Srinagar found no mention. Illegal
and unplanned colonies continue to thrive in Srinagar
often with official patronage and sometimes even on
agricultural land. Over the years, the shrinking greenery in Kashmir has affected agricultural produce as
well as the economy of the region.
Srinagar also failed to figure in the top ten cities preferred by entrepreneurs, but it was listed among the
top 15 fast developing cites of India with Hyderabad
at the top. The survey found that the public services
available to the citizens in Srinagar are not adequate
enough in comparison with small cities like Faridabad
and Gurgaon which flourished in last twenty years.
In public services category of the India Today survey that analysed the facilities like electricity, water
and sanitation, Srinagar fared nowhere. The claims of
Power Development Department of Kashmir of providing 24 hours power supply didn't help the city in
improving its rank in the survey.
In terms of cleanliness, the survey was done on the
basis of air quality, water quality, waste management
and sanitation. While neither the quality nor the quantity of sample has been clearly specified in the survey,
the fact that even the top places in Srinagar city like
Rambagh, Lal Chowk, Haft Chinar, Baghat, Rajbagh,
Karan Nagar, Maisuma, Khanyar, and many other parts
of old city and uptown remain littered with garbage
raises many doubts about the methods and the motives of the survey.
Close to the historic Clock Tower in Lal Chowk, a
heap of garbage has taken over the compound that
was once used by the state's bus service provider,
SRTC, as a bus depot. The yard has turned into a territory of dogs where the existence of humans is relegated to fearfulness. A man walks in and empties
a sack of sheep entrails on the garbage. The dogs
seem to be aware of his coming and they pounce
on the feast.
On the other side, a building of Tyndale Biscoe
School, one of the top missionary schools in Srinagar
where the children of Kashmir's elite study, bears a
board which prominently displays the name of the
school in red along with its slogan:
'In all things, be men'.
Police
electoral rolls been ordered in time.
“Sagar, the DEO and their other collaborators besides having committed the penal offences have violated the provisions of J&K Representation of People
Act 1957 and other Election Laws for which they are
accountable and punishable besides declaring the
election of Sagar null and void,” submits the petitioner,
praying for fresh elections in the Assembly constituency. (CNS)
14 02 2015 Kashmir Observer

NEWS

Will pursue
corruption
charges against
Mukesh aMbani: aap
NEW DELHI: Delhi's AAP government, to
be sworn in on Saturday, will pursue allegations of corruption against ex-chief
minister Sheila Dikshit, industrialist
Mukesh Ambani and others, deputy chief
minister-designate Manish Sisodia said
on Friday.
All the cases that were registered last
year during Kejriwal government's 49day stint "will be pursued", he told in an
exclusive interview here.
Sisodia, who had been asked whether
the FIRs lodged by the AAP government
last year against Mukesh Ambani, the
then petroleum minister M Veerappa
Moily as also allegations against Dikshit
would be pursued, responded "yes, definitely".
The then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had ordered filing of an FIR on Feb-
ISI cultivated Taliban to counter
India in Afganistan: Musharraf
ruary 11 last year against Moily, his predecessor Murli Deora, who is dead now,
and RIL chief Mukesh Ambani for alleged
collusion in hike of prices in natural gas
from the KG basin.
The then AAP government had also ordered a probe into street light purchase
scam during the Commonwealth Games
of 2010 in which Dikshit's role had come
under the scanner.
ISLAMABAD: Former military
ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf has called for an end
to militant proxies in neighbouring Afghanistan, said
a report published on The
Guardian.
In the interview, Musharraf admitted that during his
tenure as the head of state,
Pakistan had tried to undermine the government of former Afghan president Hamid
Karzai because Karzai had
helped "India stab Pakistan in
the back".
However, the former army
chief was of the view that the
time had come to fully cooperate with Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai who
he believed was the last hope
for peace in the region.
“In
President
Karzai’s
times, yes, indeed, he was
damaging Pakistan and therefore we were working against
his interest. Obviously we had
to protect our own interest,”
Musharraf said.
“But now President Ashraf
CM-designate Arvind Kejriwal (R) with deputy CM-designate Manish Sisodia.
10 passengers die
thousands lay chapel hill
as India train derails shooting victims to rest
HOSUR: Several coaches of
the Ernakulam-bound Bengaluru City-Ernakulam Intercity
express Friday derailed near
Anekal on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border killing at least
10 passengers and injuring
many more.
The accident, of which the
cause is still unlcear, is believed to have occurred between 7.35 a.m. and 8 a.m,
when most passengers were
still asleep. The derailed
coaches are D-8, D-9, D-10,
D-11, two AC Chair Cars and
two
unreserved
coaches,
railway sources said. Unconfirmed reports say the locomotive of the train also caught
fire and that the pantry car
rammed into the adjacent
D-8 coach. Reports suggest
D-7 and D-8 general compartment coaches are the worst
affected and initial investigations reveal that the train may
now.” Other sources pointed
out that the section between
Anekal and Hosur where the
accident took place was a slow
section and was also a part of
elephant corridor and hence
trains moved slowly. However, the reasons could be established only after the technical
team completed its probe.
Keralites depend mainly on
this day train that reaches Ernakulam junction at 4.55 p.m.
The fatalities and injures were
reported more among those
travelling in D-8 coach. Over
60 Keralites were in the coach
and the train is mostly used by
those in the northern districts
of Kerala for commuting.
Accidents are not uncommon on the Indian Railway
network
which
operates
9,000 passenger trains and
carries some 18 million passengers every day.
The Railway Minister who
CAROLINA: Thousands turned out
to attend the funeral of the three
Chapel Hill victims on Thursday,
theBBC reported.
Police said as many as 5,500
people attended the funeral
held at the athletic grounds of
the university where the victims studied.
Family, friends and classmates
of the three victims bid an emotional goodbye to the Muslim students who were shot this week at
their home in Chapel Hill.
Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his
wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and
her 19-year-old sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were shot to
death Tuesday by a neighbor in
what police said was being investigated as a parking dispute. The
father of the two sisters has said
that the killer had shot them “execution style” and reiterated that
it was a hate crime.
At the university, dozens of
people carried the funerals the
victims to an Islamic cemetery
outside Raleigh.
The night before hundreds
more had turned up at the University of North Carolina to hold
a candlelight vigil for the victims.
Farris Barakat, Deah’s brother
spoke before a tearful crowd in
the university town and said
“do not fight fire with fire… it is
quite possible that this was an act
based off of evil and a scared ignorant man, do not let ignorance
atheist and hates Christians and
hates Muslims,” said Sarah Alhorani, a former student at University of North Carolina where
Barakat was a second year den-
propagate in your life, do not reply ignorance with ignorance.”
North Carolina Muslims call
for calm after students murder
Muslim leaders called for
calm after three students were
killed by a gunman with antireligious views.
“This is definitely a hate crime,
it’s all over his Facebook that he’s
tistry student.
“To be honest, it makes me
more scared because I have two
babies, so I don’t even want to
imagine,” she said.
Some Muslim leaders said
the shooting was a reflection of
wider anti-Muslim hostility, and
warned it could sow fear among
Muslim Americans.
pak won’t accept permanent
seat for india in un: sharif
have come to an abrupt halt
that led to derailment of nine
coaches.
India’s Railway Minister
Suresh Prabhu said that he
was personally monitoring
the accident and is in touch
with state and local administration. Anil Saxena, spokesperson, Indian Railways said,
"A boulder hitting is suspected
that have caused the train accident. Our officers are on the
spot and they are looking to
the matter. The accidental relief train has been dispatched.
We will not be able to confirm
the number of casualties as of
called for immediate accident
relief said, “I express my condolences to all the unfortunate members of the families
who lost lives. I have directed
officials to provide best possible medical care to the injured.” Timeline of India train
accidents
The worst accident on India's massive rail network was
in 1981 when a train plunged
into a river in the eastern state
of Bihar, killing up to 800 people. The following are some
of the most serious train accidents in India over the past
25 years:
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has refused
to accept India's permanent membership in the reformed UN Security Council. Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif is reported to have said this
during a telephonic conversation
with US President Barack Obama
on Thursday, 12 Feb. Sharif objected to the US’ support for India to
be added to the P-5 for its alleged
“non-compliance of all the resolutions passed by the UN on Kashmir
and because India has "not fulfilled
the commitment to give the right
of self-determination to people of
Kashmir.” Interestingly, on the same
day, Pakistan’s friend- China said it
respects the aspirations of India and
Brazil to “play bigger roles at the UN
Security Council,” while keeping
mum on Japan's candidature.
In a statement the ‘PM House’
said in Islamabad that US president- Barack Obama called Sharif
on Thursday night and both leaders
discussed issues of mutual interest
and those related to regional stability and peace for over half-an-hour.
During his unprecedented second India visit last month, President
Obama had reaffirmed his support
for a reformed UN Security Council
with India as a permanent member.
In Pakistan, this was viewed “as
contempt of democracy and human
rights”. In his telephonic conversation with Obama, Sharif also said
that Pakistan wanted to become a
member of the Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG). Obama, during his India visit, had also reaffirmed the US'
position that India is ready for NSG
membership.
Mr Obama reportedly informed
Nawaz Sharif about his recent trip
to India and also congratulated
the prime minister on the success
of Operation Zarb-e-Azb- to wipe
out militants from the North Waziristan tribal region. When the US
President visited India on January
25, he became the first US president
to make two official visits to India
during his tenure and the first to
be chief guest at the Republic Day
Parade.The News reports that Sharif
asked Obama to impress upon India
to resume the peace dialogue with
Pakistan to address all outstanding
issues including Kashmir.
The White House tweeted to
say, “President Obama spoke by
phone today with Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif of #Pakistan to discuss bilateral and regional issues”
and also that “They agreed to continue to strengthen US-#Pakistan
relations & advance shared interest of stable, secure, prosperous
Pakistan & region.”
Obama had telephoned Sharif before going to India as well,
and had promised to take him
into confidence at the conclusion of the visit.
Ghani has come and he is
trying to restore balance in
Afghanistan. We must totally
cooperate with him.”
During his first few months
in office, the Afghan president has sought to improve
ties with Pakistan. Ghani not
only called off a weapons
deal with India, but also sent
troops to fight against antiPakistan militant groups in
eastern Afghanistan. The arrival of six Afghan army cadets in Pakistan for training in
a sign of increased cooperation was the most welcome
development for Musharraf.
Pakistan first offered to
train Afghan forces back in
2010, but then Afghan president Hamid Karzai had dismissed the offer as a nonstarter till Pakistan rebuilt
confidence by addressing
Kabul’s concerns about its
involvement with militants.
Instead, Karzai sent cadets to
India, where the retired army
general believes they were
“indoctrinated” against Paki-
stan.
Musharraf made repeated allusions at what is now
widely accepted among diplomats and analysts: that the
nominal western ally assisted
both Nato forces in Afghanistan and the Taliban they
were fighting against in a bid
to counter the perceived influence of India.
“Pakistan had its own
proxies, India had its proxies,
which is unhealthy. I do admit
this, it is most unhealthy. It is
not in favour of Afghanistan,
or Pakistan or India. It must
stop,” he said.
The former army chief
said spies in Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence
(ISI) had given birth to the
Taliban after 2001 because
the government of Ghani's
predecessor had an overwhelming number of nonPashtuns and officials who
were said to favour India.
“Obviously we were looking for some groups to counter this Indian action against
Pakistan,” he said. “That is
where the intelligence work
comes in. Intelligence being in
contact with Taliban groups.
Definitely they were in contact, and they should be.”
Pakistan's powerful military remains deeply wary of
India. The two countries have
fought three wars and came
close to a fourth in 2001. The
Himalayan region of Kashmir
has been a bone of contention
between India and Pakistan
since independence in 1947.
Insisting that he does not
loathe India, Musharraf, however, expressed his bitterness over
what he called western bias towards Pakistan's arch rival.
“India is the greatest democracy, promoter of human
rights and democratic culture’? All bullshit,” he said.
“There is no human rights. The
religion itself is anti-human
rights. In the rural areas, if
even the shadow of an untouchable goes on a pandit,
that man can be killed.”
China offers to
mediate Afghan
reconciliation talks
ISLAMABAD: Sticking its neck
out at long last, China has officially stated its position that
it is willing to play a "constructive role” in helping the Afghan
government to mediate the
long-stalled efforts to negotiate
a peace deal with the militant
Taliban group.
China’s Foreign Minister
Wang Yi made the comments
at a joint press conference
with Pakistani foreign affairs
adviser Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad on Thursday, February 12.
“The international community
needs to give support and encouragement. China is ready
to play a constructive role and
will provide necessary facilitation any time if it is required by
various parties in Afghanistan,”
the minister said. This comes as
NATO's combat mission ended
in Afghanistan last December
and Afghan Taliban spokesman
Zabihullah Mujahid admitted
last month that group representatives did visit China recently though the visit was not
for purposes of mediation.
Wang, who is on a two-day
visit to Islamabad said, “We
will support the Afghan government in realising reconciliation with various political
factions including Taliban.” The
Chinese foreign minister also
underlined Pakistan’s important role in achieving the objective. He said that Afghanistan's
long-term stability depends on
a “broad-based and inclusive
national reconciliation “which
needed international support.
Now that the NATO's combat
mission had ended, it was time
to help Afghanistan emerge
from decades of strife and poverty, the minister said.
China has maintained its
distance from the conflict in
Afghanistan since September
11, 2001. However, Andrew
Small, a fellow with the Asia
program of German Marshall
Fund of the United States, says,
“In the past few years, Beijing
has become increasingly worried about the implications of
the West's drawdown in Afghanistan. It fears that a deteriorating situation there could
have destabilising implications
for Xinjiang, China's restive
northwestern province, and for
the wider region, impacting on
China's ambitions for a "Silk
Road economic belt" and risking a proxy war between India
and Pakistan. In the 1990s, Afghanistan was a safe haven for
Uighur militants, and Beijing
is concerned that the situation
will repeat itself. It sees the
only solution to this is a political settlement between different factions in Afghanistan.
Given the failure of previous
reconciliation efforts and Bei-
jing's unique relationship with
some of the key external parties to the conflict, especially
Pakistan, it has felt obliged to
take on a larger political role in
helping to forge a solution.”
The US welcomed China’s efforts: “The US and China have
agreed to work together to support Afghanistan’s government
of national unity, security forces and economic development
to ensure that Afghanistan can
never again be used as a safe
haven for terrorists,” the US
State Department was quoted
as saying.
The US has been urging China to take on a greater role in
Afghanistan for some time. The
two sides share interests there
to an unusual degree and this
is one part of the world where
Chinese assertiveness looks
like a good thing from Washington's perspective.
C M Y K
saturday

news
One
Died
Sci-Tech
Legendary '60 Minutes' correspondent Bob
Simon of CBS News died Wednesday night a car
crash in New York City. He was 73
Milestone
The researchers are confident that
based on their results, and the results
of other, less conclusive attempts,
some dogs are able to
differentiate between
human
expressions.
C M Y K
and time of unloading and loading
of people and goods at the borders,
making cross-border trade more efficient. Transport secretaries along
with senior officials of the four
countries met in Kolkata on February 2-3 to finalise the draft MVA.
A transport ministers' meeting in
May or June is expected to approve
the deal that would help transform
transport corridors linking the four
countries into economic corridors
and increase people-to-people contact.
India, Bhutan and Nepal are reported to have accepted Bangladesh’s
Minute
Quote of the Day
'Freedom of expression must not turn into
‘fundamentalist behaviour in reverse.'
Audi started selling cars in UK in 1965
and sold just 32 cars in the first year.
Fifty years after, Audi UK has achieved
a milestone by selling their 2 millionth
car, an Audi A3 Sportback e-tron.
4 SAARC nations form subgroup
to sidestep bottlenecks
Dhaka: To sidestep bottlenecks
posed by some of the more difficult
members of the Saarc (South Asian
Association of Regional Cooperation)
grouping, four countries including
Bangladesh, India, Bhutan and Nepal
have formed a sub-regional group to
plan seamless transit of passenger,
cargo and personal vehicles between
their borders. This is a parallel initiative to the proposed Saarc Motor
Vehicles Agreement (MVA) and will
be kept open to other neighbouring
countries, wishing to sign up- such
as Myanmar or even China.
In effect, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan
and Nepal, have drawn up a draft
plan and are close to endorsing a
deal that would allow movement of
vehicles through their borders just
like in the European Union countries, reports the Daily Star. The
four-nation initiative is born out of
an agenda of economic development and connectivity against the
backdrop of Saarc’s failure to take
pro-active measures.
“The draft agreement is smarter
than the proposed Saarc transport
agreement,” an official who was a
member of the committee to draft
the plan, was quoted as saying.
The agreement proposes to permit
vehicles to ply designated routes in
the four countries and reduce cost
C M Y K
Kashmir Observer

recommendation to keep the membership of this sub-regional group
open to let other neighbours join.
The agreement would allow the
member countries to bilaterally
fix the rate of fees, administrative
costs and service charges etc. They
will also decide on traffic volume
through mutual negotiations. Only
authorised operators will be allowed
to carry passengers and cargo. The
Asian Development Bank (ADB) is
reportedly providing financial, technical and administrative support to
implement the MVA.
Apart from the travel agreement, the
four countries have also agreed to begin power trade and inter-grid connectivity among them soon. The four
countries have also formed a group
named BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, and Nepal), which at a meeting in New Delhi last month agreed
to make joint efforts to explore harnessing of water resources, including
generation of hydroelectricity, and
power from other sources.
A national committee in each country will coordinate and monitor the
agreement and a sub-regional joint
committee is going to look after the
process to make land transport easier and coordinate and monitor the
implementation of the agreement.
Officials are careful to point out
however, that this parallel deal
would not hamper the proposed
Saarc MVA. It is in addition to and
not meant to replace the other arrangement. The Saarc effort has
been sluggish because of delays on
the part of some member countriesnotably Pakistan. -
Florence Noiville
French author
Journalist and literary critic
Teesta arrest put
on hold by SC
MUMBAI: Social activist, Teesta Setalvad and her husband, Javed Anand, have had their arrest stayed until
19th February, 2015, as per an order passed by the Supreme Court on 13thFebruary, 2015.
The Apex Court has asked the Gujarat Government lawyer to produce some relevant documents pertaining to
this case at the following hearing on 19thFebruary, 2015.
The Court has also allowed Setalvad to file additional
documents in support of her defence that the charge of
misusing funds meant for the 2002 post-Godhra riot victims was concocted.
Setalvad and her husband had moved the Supreme Court on
12th February, 2015 and were granted a day's reprieve from
arrest by the Gujarat police. The relief came just hours after
the Gujarat High Court rejected the couple's anticipatory bail
plea, prompting them to approach the Supreme Court.
Setalvad, through her NGO, 'Citizens for Justice and Peace',
was instrumental in bringing the 2002 Gujarat riot cases
before the Supreme Court. In the Best Bakery case, the
Apex Court had indicted the Gujarat Government, which
was headed by current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi at
that time, as 'Modern-day Neros who looked the other
way when the Best Bakery was burning'.
Setalvad had also extended her support to Jakia Jafri, the
widow of former Congress MP, Ehsan Jafri, who was killed by
a rioting mob in 2002, to put the Gujarat Government and
Modi on the back-foot till the special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court was able to exonerate Modi.
While rejecting her anticipatory bail plea, the High Court
had criticized Setalvad for allegedly spending funds collected to aid the 2002 Gujarat riot victims for
her personal indulgences. However, the
Court granted anticipatory bail to three
riot victims, former residents of Gulbarg
Society and co-accused in the embezzlement case - Ehsan Jafri's son, Tanvir, the
society's Chairman, Salim Sandhi
and the Secretary, Firoz Gulzar.
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8 SATURDAY 14 02 2015
Modi calls Nawaz, wishes Modi resents, temple removes idol
luck for cricket World Cup
iSlaMaBaD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday telephoned Pakistani counter
Nawaz Sharif among other leaders of South
Asian Association of Regional Cooperation
(Saarc) countries and wished them luck for the
cricket World Cup which kicks off on Feb 14.
"[Five] Saarc nations are playing [and] are excited about the World Cup. [I] am sure [World
Cup] will celebrate sportsman spirit [and] will
be a treat for sports lovers," Modi tweeted.
The Indian prime minister was optimistic that
five Saarc countries were participating in the
cricket's biggest tournament. He hoped for the
teams to play with passion.
"Cricket connects people in our region [and] promotes
goodwill. Hope players from Saarc region play with
passion [and] bring laurels to the region," Modi said.
The Indian premier also tweeted that newly
appointed Foreign Secretary would soon visit
Saarc countries to strengthen the country's ties
with other member countries.
Earlier in a series of tweets, Modi had individually wished good luck to members of India's
World Cup squad.
Radio Pakistan reported that bilateral relations
and matters of mutual interests were discussed
during the telephone conversation betyween
Sharif and Modi. The report further said that
Prime Minister Sharif told his Indian counterpart that Pakistan wants resolution of all outstanding disputes with India through dialogue.
Nawaz Sharif was further quoted in the report as
saying that dialogue between Pakistan and India
is imperative for peace and stability in the region,
adding that Pakistan desires friendly relations
with all its neighbors.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson, Riffat
Masood, talking to Dawn termed the telephone
call from Modi to Sharif as an important development and hoped something positive would
come out of this.
New Delhi: After India’s Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said he was
shocked and appalled that a temple
had been built to worship him in his
home state Gujarat, plans to inaugurate the structure over the weekend
have been shelved and the Modi idol
in the sanctum of the temple was removed on Thursday, 12 Feb.
The temple is reportedly not new. It
was built in 2006, took around two
years to build and initially had a photograph of Prime Minister Modi. It
rose to prominence after his win in
the general elections in May 2014. The
temple has apparently been attracting supporters of the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party from neighbouring villages too. But after reports started to
emerge that the temple would be officially inaugurated by Gujarat’s minister of state for agriculture, Mohanbhai
Kalyanjibhai Kundariya on February
15, Mr Modi sent out a flurry of tweets
on Thursday, 12 Feb, to express his disapproval.
“Have seen the news about a temple
being built in my name. I was appalled. This is shocking & against In-
dia's great tradition,” said one tweet.
In a second tweet, he said: “Building
such temples is not what our culture
teaches us. Personally it made me very
sad. Would urge those doing it not to
do it.”
Modi, whose party just suffered a humiliating defeat to newcomer Aam
Aadmi Party in Capital city- New Delhi
has already invited a wave of criticism upon himself for donning a suit
with his name embroidered all over
it during the U. S. presidential visit
last month. Many of his most ardent
bhakts (fans) had found themselves
at a loss for words to defend what his
critics described as "megalomania"
and "narcissistic" tendencies. British
daily- The Telegraph wrote: “just as
he seemed unassailable and heading
to yet another state election victory
in Delhi, the emperor donned new
clothes which cast him in an entirely
different and unflattering light. His
choice of a dark Bandhgala Nehru
jacket pinstriped with gold lines of
his own full name suddenly traded his
carefully crafted image from selfless
leader who had sacrificed his personal
life for India's betterment for self-aggrandising and insecure megalomaniac who needs the reassurance of his
own name woven into his fabric.”
Drawing comparisons between Modi
and former Egyptian dictator Hosni
Mubarak who was also a “notable fan
of the personalised pinstripe”, the article said, “The claim that the fabric
had been woven to order in London
and tailored in India for 1,000,000 rupees - around £10,000 - or more than
ten years' wages for many of those
who voted for Modi in the hope of a
higher standard of living - left him a
little more frayed at the seams. Even
Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Party's
slow-motion leader, belittled his "ten
lakh ka (million rupee) suit”."
A temple in honour of Modi to be inaugurated at such a time could have
become even more of a PR disaster for
the PM, currently battling an imagecrisis of his own making.
New Delhi: The controversial film featuring
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh- the chief of the
sect- Dera Sacha Sauda was finally released today with a revised title- MSG: The Messenger,
instead of its original name- MSG (Messenger of
God). However, it was received with protests in
several parts of Northern India and screenings
had to be called off with some theatres complaining of poor attendance. This turned out
contrary to the initial claims made by the Dera
that shows were completely sold out in advance,
with lakhs of bookings for days on end.
But it turned out that the movie in which GRRS
plays himself in a self-funded 197-minute-long
advertisement of his 'humanitarian' deeds as a
crusader against substance abuse, prostitution,
terrorism, female foeticide, corruption, AIDS and
a host of other evils, was met not so much by
expectant audiences as angry protestors.
The film was released on Friday in 4,000 screens
across the country. But protests were witnessed
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at several places in Haryana and authorities were
forced to halt shows at two places following tension. Local authorities had to halt screening of
the film in Dabwali and Karnal towns following
protests from Sikh organisations. At other places
like Sirsa (where the sect headquarters are located), Kurukshetra, Hisar and Gurgaon, various
Sikh organisations and opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supporters held protests
against the release and screening of the film.
Security personnel patrolled near all the theatres and multiplexes across Haryana and Chandigarh Friday as the film was released.
Those associated with the Dera Sacha Sauda
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had said the movie would be released in five
languages- Hindi, English, Tamil, Malayalam
and Telugu to packed cinema halls. It was also
claimed that the Dera chief had got the CBI
court’s permission to travel abroad to the US
and Canada from February 20 to promote the
film as the movie is releasing in more than 500
screens abroad. Even a sequel to the film is being shot which is 80 per cent finished, it was
announced.
In Haryana however, prohibitory orders were
issued against the assembly of people and carrying of weapons, to deal with any untoward
situation, resulting due to the build-up of tension over the release of the film. Sikh leaders
Thursday submitted a memorandum to the
Chandigarh administration, seeking a ban on the
release of the film because they alleged Singh
distorted their scriptures and dressed up as a
17th-century Sikh guru in the movie.
In Jammu, members of the Jammu and Kash-
mir Sikh United Front (JKSUF) staged a protest
against release of the film, shouting slogans
against Singh and burnt posters of ‘MSG’.
'MSG' hit headlines when the entire censor
board resigned after an appeals tribunal reversed the panel's decision to keep the film out
of theatres for being too promotional.
In New Delhi, the screening of the controversial movie was stopped at more than four
cinema halls after protests at various locations. Cinema officials however maintained
that the movie was taken down after a lukewarm response.
Protestors reportedly staged a demonstration in
West Delhi's Tilak Nagar, Vikaspuri, Janak Puri,
Rajouri Garden and east Delhi's Karkardooma.
The movie was to be originally released Jan
16, but it did not get clearance. Various groups
protested against its release at that point. The
clearance by the Tribunal had resulted in mass
resignations by Censor Board officials.
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Release of MsG Meets With pRotests