BJP to file case against J&K govt. by PTI

BJP to file case against J&K govt.
by PTI

 

Jammu, January 28, 2011

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1134063.ece

Terming as “illegal and unconstitutional” the actions of Jammu and Kashmir authorities to prevent it from hoisting the tricolour at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it would file cases against the State government and move a breach of privilege motion in the Assembly.

“BJP will file cases against the Omar government for disrespecting the national flag in Kashmir, torturing workers, denying permission to MLAs to fly to Kashmir and also our right to hoist the tricolour in Kashmir,” BJP State president Shamsher Singh Manhas told reporters in Jammu.

“The process in this direction will be completed in a couple of days. Proof has been collected and other legal formalities are being completed,” he said.

Terming the actions of J&K administration as “illegal and unconstitutional,” he said, “This all has been done by Omar Abdullah to further the agenda of the separatists of Kashmir.”

The leader of the BJP legislative party and former Union Minister Chama Lal Gupta said the party would also move a privilege motion in the Assembly.

“No cases were registered against the police and administration for detaining us at Jammu airport gate. No cases were registered for disrespect to tricolour at Lal Chowk, where BJP activists were detained,” Mr. Gupta alleged.

“Why were then cases registered against BJP activists for gheraoing car of a State Minister and for disrespect to State flag. When a policeman hurled a shoe at Omar at Independence Day function in Srinagar, he flew him to his native place in a State chopper,” Mr. Gupta said.

The leaders said that they would also move the National Human Rights Commission and the State rights body over the issue.

“We believe in one flag, one Chief Minister and one Constitution of India,” Mr. Manhas said.

The BJP leaders also raised the issue of a BJP woman activist who was allegedly abducted in Budgam district of Kashmir.

Haleema Bano, 35, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2008 Assembly elections from Uri constituency on a BJP ticket, was admitted to hospital with 7 per cent burns. She told the police that she was abducted from Shiekhpura area of Budgam district on January 24 and was tortured by her abductors who released her on Friday at Soibugh in the same district.

A senior police officer said in Sringar that investigations were on into the claims of Ms. Bano.

Keywords: BJP yatra, flag hoisting plan, Lal Chowk

No turning back from flag hoisting plan: BJP leaders by PTI

No turning back from flag hoisting plan: BJP leaders by PTI

Jammu/Pathankot, January 25, 2011
No turning back from flag hoisting plan: BJP leaders

PTI
BJP leaders Ananth Kumar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley ahead of the party's Rashtriya Ekta Yatra at Madhopur bridge separating Punjab and J&K on Tuesday.

The tense standoff between the BJP and the Jammu and Kashmir government over the party’s plan to hoist the National Flag in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on Wednesday escalated with its leadership declaring on Tuesday they will go ahead ignoring Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s call to avoid “confrontation”.

As BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj addressed a rally at Punjab’s border town of Madhopor, near Pathankot, where they were sent from Jammu airport last night, the nearby Lakhanpur town on J&K side linked by a bridge turned into a security fortress to thwart the party’s plans.

“We will head towards Jammu and then towards Kashmir Valley for hoisting the National Flag at Lal Chowk along with hundreds of our activists,” Ms. Swaraj told reporters in Pathankot as BJP activists headed towards Lakhanpur trying to cross the bridge amid high tension in the area.

“We dare them (the State government) to stop us. Where ever they stop us, we will sit there at dharna till January 26,” she added.

The Omar Abdullah government has made it clear that it would neither let any yatra to Srinagar nor would it allow any Assembly at Lal Chowk.

Barricades and barbed wires have been put up at all the seven entry points at Lakhanpur in J&K’s Kathua district.

The J&K government has already imposed section 144 of CrPC at Lakhanpur.

The J&K government has sealed the border with Punjab, including putting barbed wire on the bridge over Ravi river linking Madhopor and Lakhanpur towns.

In a statement, Mr. Chidambaram appealed to Ms. Swaraj and Mr. Jaitley and other BJP leaders to give up “path of confrontation” and not push any “political agenda” that will affect peace in J&K.

Over 400 BJP activists were arrested when they tried to bring out a rally in Jammu as part of the flag hoisting plan at Lal Chowk in culmination of the party’s Ekta Yatra, police said.

Raising anti-government slogans, the activists clashed with police and smashed window panes and doors of some structures as they were prevented from criss-crossing the city.

On Monday, J&K Police had arrested over 1,300 BJP activists from across the State, including 1,000 from two Jammu-bound trains at Vijaypur Railway station in Samba.

In a fresh crackdown on BJP activists, four senior party leaders were detained at Srinagar immediately after their arrival.

Three BJP MLAs — Jugal Kishore, Gharu Ram and Sham Chaudhry — and a party leader from Udhampur Pawan Khajuria were not allowed to leave the airport for taking part in the flag hoisting plan, officials said.

Officials said as soon as the BJP leaders reached the arrival hall of the Srinagar international airport this afternoon, securitymen deployed there escorted them to the VIP lounge and not allowed to enter the city.

He said besides the city, Section 144 CrPC, which prohibits assembly of four or more persons at any public place, has been imposed in Budgam district.

A senior officer in-charge of Lakhanpur sector said over 7,000 security personnel have been deployed at the J&K-Punjab border terminal to prevent the BJP rally from entering the State.

Two women platoons have also been deployed in view of the presence of women activists, he said.

“Riot control vehicles, water cannons and deployment of CRPF and police personnel have been posted at all the entry points,” the official said.

The J&K government has ordered closure of all educational institutions in Jammu and Kathua districts and imposed Section 144 of CrPC, prohibiting assembly of five or more persons, as a precautionary measure.

“We will not allow peace in Jammu and Kashmir to be disturbed,” a senior police official said.

Addressing a rally at Madhopor, Mr. Jaitley described the government’s move to stop the party’s Rashtriya Ekta Yatra en route to Srinagar as a complete surrender of the Central and State governments before the separatists.

“We are not a banana republic the way we were detained. They cannot physically throw us like that. I informed the Home minister regarding this to which he said that he would look into,” he added.

He described as a criminal act the Centre’s act of diverting trains bound for Jammu. “What the government did by diverting trains and expelling leader’s amounts to hijack,” he said.

Mr. Jaitley said that the situation in J&K was worse than what it was in 1953 when people required a permit to enter the State. But today you physically pick up people and throw them out of the State, Mr. Jaitley said.

Ms. Swaraj said that they were determined to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on “If the J&K authorities stop us we will sit on dharna there,” she said.

In his statement, Mr. Chidambaram said the BJP leaders should respect the orders passed by the state government. It would be most unfortunate if the BJP leaders defy the restrictions placed by the State government or deliberately cause a breach of peace.

“There is no justification whatsoever to push a political agenda that will certainly affect peace and law and order in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Mr. Chidambaram said the State government has also made it clear that it would not allow the BJP leaders to cross the bridge connecting Madhopur and Lakhanpur and enter Jammu and Kashmir.

“I would request the two Leaders of the Opposition (in Parliament) and their colleagues to give up the path of confrontation, return to Delhi and join the celebrations in Delhi on Republic Day,” he added.

In New Delhi, former BJP President Rajnath Singh, who is sitting on a hunger strike at Rajghat over the issue, charged the government with trying to divert the attention of the people from the issue of corruption by not allowing party leaders to hoist the national flag in Srinagar.

While nearly a dozen BJP workers from the Valley have been taken into custody for violating prohibitory orders over the past three days, separatist leaders like JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, moderate Hurriyat Conference leaders Bilal Gani Lone, Shahidul Islam and Khalil Ahmad Khalil have gone underground as they apprehended arrest.

Mr. Malik has called for Lal Chowk Chalo march on Republic Day to counter the BJP’s Tiranga Yatra.

Keywords: Flag hoisting programme, Ekta Yatra, BJP-J&K standoff, Lal Chowk

The Hindu : States / Other States : Omar blames separatists for Srinagar violence

The Hindu : States / Other States : Omar blames separatists for Srinagar violence

Omar blames separatists for Srinagar violence

PTI

SRINAGAR, September 11, 2010

courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article627110.ece

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday accused the Chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq of betraying the trust reposed when his close aide asked for permission for march to Lal Chowk and said violent incidents would result in setback for any political initiative in the State.

“Today’s protests were uncalled for as people wanted to celebrate Eid after a month long fasting. But violence like today’s will result in set back for any initiative that the Government can think for breaking the impasse,” he said reacting to protests in the state capital in which two government buildings were set on fire.

Accusing the Mirwaiz and JKLF Chief Yaseen Malik of failing in their duty to maintain peace, Mr. Omar said, “It was the Mirwaiz’s office which approached a senior official in my government and requested for permission to have a march to Lal Chowk.

“They were repeatedly asked that the mob will go out of control but the repeated insistence from the separatist camp for allowing them a political space for peaceful march made me overrule suggestions of my police officials. However, whatever has happened later from Lal chowk can be termed as betrayal of trust,” he said.

While the Chief Minister refrained from naming the close aide of the Mirwaiz, but sources said the offer was made by the Hurriyat Chairman through Shahid-ul-Islam, a former chief of terrorist group Hizbullah.

The Chief Minister said the onus for maintaining peace was totally on the two separatists leaders who have been “accusing my government for not providing them space for a peaceful protest.”

Asked whether such incidents would cast a shadow on the talks about partial removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), he said “while we want the changes to take place but such incidents would definitely have a bearing on any moves to restore peace.”

The Mirwaiz aide reasoned out that the march was a political necessity for them as the space for separatists in the Valley was shrinking fast, the sources said.

However, as the mob in Lal Chowk started turning hostile, the Mirwaiz and his aides quickly disappeared from the scene.

The Chief Minister was at present in Delhi where he would be holding consultations with the Central leaders ahead of a crucial Cabinet Committee on Security on Monday.

Reacting to the Chief Minister, the Mirwaiz said it was people’s anger that was playing out on the street though he would not justify the violence.

Keywords: Omar Abdullah, Kashmir violence, Lal Chowk protest

The Hindu : States / Other States : Violent protests in Srinagar after Eid prayers

The Hindu : States / Other States : Violent protests in Srinagar after Eid prayers

SRINAGAR, September 11, 2010

Violent protests in Srinagar after Eid prayers

PTI

Police accuse the Hurriyat Conference's hardline fraction of taking advantage of the Eid congregation and inciting violence in the city.

Rampaging mobs on Saturday set on fire some public properties including the Crime Branch office and a police guard post in Hazratbal Shrine as violence marred Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in Srinagar city.

Police blamed activists of hard line faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Muslim league headed by underground separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat for carrying out the incidents of arson as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to disrupt Eid celebrations.

Soon after a protest rally organised by separatist leaders at Lal Chowk, a group of youth barged into the office of Chief Engineer Power Development Department (PDD) near Exhibition Crossing here and set it on fire.

The adjacent building housing the Crime Branch office was also engulfed in flames within no time and the blaze spread rapidly as the building is mostly made of wood.

Police had been clearly instructed that there should be no firing on the mob. Several rounds were fired in air to disperse the mob and fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames.

Senior police officials led by Director General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.

So far, there are no reports of anyone getting injured in the firing incident.

The rally at Lal Chowk was organised jointly by several separatist leaders including Moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and acting chairman of hard line faction Nissar Hussain Rather.

The separatist activists hoisted several objectionable flags atop the clock tower. The tower, which was recently renovated by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, suffered damage as several youth climbed atop it.

The Mirwaiz called for an half-an-hour sit in protest in the heart of the city and later left for his home despite assurances made by him that the crowd will disperse quietly after the sit-in.

During his Eid sermon at Eidgah, where thousands of people offered prayers, the Mirwaiz asked them to march to Lal Chowk to stage a 30-minute protest against the recent killing of people in Kashmir.

Earlier, a mob set on fire a police barrack and a vehicle of the police department outside the Harzratbal Shrine on the banks of the Dal lake here following which security forces had to open fire.

Soon after Eid-ul-Fitr prayers, a group of people attacked the police barrack in the lawns of Hazratbal and set it on fire. They also set ablaze a police vehicle.

Police opened fire to disperse the mob and prevent any further damage to public property, they said adding seven persons including three cops were hurt in the clashes.

Police spokesman said activists of hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani and Muslim League disrupted Eid prayers at Hazaratbal and set afire the Auqaf building housing the policemen and a police vehicle.

“Timely and prompt action of the fire service and police stopped the fire from spreading. The mob was dispersed. However, the situation is tense,” he said and accused the Mirwaiz of aggravating the situation by “leading a procession to Lal Chowk, taking the advantage of the Eid congregation.

“He (the Mirwaiz) has vitiated the Eid celebration in Srinagar”, the spokesman said, adding the administration and police were exercising maximum restraint and have appealed to the people to cooperate with the administration.

The police spokesman said the workers of the Hurriyat and Muslim League, who had in a pre-planned manner disrupted the peaceful prayers at Hazratbal, have been identified.

“Investigation reveals that these elements had planned in advance to provoke the administration and use the Eid congregating to disrupt festivities and create the misconception this was a popular movement,” he said.

The spokesman said the arrests at Kulgam on Thursday had found that “hardline Hurriyat Conference has been using hooligans to force people to participate in the strikes and protests.”

“This is for the first time that an Eid congregation has been converted into protest and the people of Srinagar have not been allowed to celebrate Eid peacefully,” the spokesman said, adding it seems that people by and large are being held hostage by elements with vested interests.

Meanwhile, traffic police posts at Jahangir Chowk and Regal chowk were also set on fire. The plastic road dividers, used by the traffic police for regulating traffic, were also torched at many places.

Keywords: Kashmir violence, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hurriyat, civilian-police clash