Health Minister says Police are hand-in-glove with drug mafia in J&K

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Oct 6: Ebullient BJP leader and Minister of Health and Medical Choudhary Lal Singh on Tuesday caused an unprecedented embarrassment to his own government by claiming that Police were hand-in-glove with drug mafia in Jammu and Kashmir and the menace of narcotic trafficking could not be curbed until the Police officers are made accountable. 

Turning the faces of his own colleagues red after many of the PDP-BJP coalition showered praises on Police, Lal Singh said while speaking on a resolution moved by PDP's Javed Hassan Baig in the Assembly: "DG is listening. I don't care if anybody gets angry with me. Fact of the matter is that the drug trafficking owes its existence to indulgence of a section of Police". 

"After Punjab, it is the youth in the state of Jammu and Kashmir who is becoming target of the flourishing drug mafia", Singh added.

He said it is the duty of the police department to expose the nexus and track down the source if they are serious in their fight against chekcing drug menace in the state.

Referring to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Singh said as Health Minister alone he cannot check the growing menace of drug trafficking. "I need active support of the Police department".

"Police Department comes directly under your charge. I want to make it clear as Health Minister I am working hard to check the drug menace. I can create de- addiction and rehabilitation centres but unless the police department cracks its whip and breaks the backbone of this trade, drug peddlers will flourish in the state and hand over poison to our young generation", Singh asserted.

He said all the drugs enter the state via Lakhanpur in Jammu and despite knowing this, government had failed to track down the culprits and bring them to justice. The minister said that there was need for the government departments to work in close coordination. “De-addiction initiative needs cooperation from all the stakeholders,” he said.

Responding to the points of discussion brought out by other members in the house, Singh claimed those who thought unemployment was the root-cause of growing incidents of drug menace were wrong. He said that the youths found taking the drugs purchased their regular doses by spending hefty amounts of money. They looted jewellery, were involved in chain snatching incidents and other goods such as mobile phones. He said unless strict measures are taken to curb the drug menace it would be difficult to save the youth from falling in the trap.

“There is a lot of work to be done as far as this menace is concerned. You can’t blame a poor drug addict for the problem. The problem lies somewhere else,” Singh asserted.

END

Speaker doesn't allow beef motions, Opposition doesn't allow him to run House 

●Amid ruckus, NC MLAs call Kavinder 'RSS man'

●I am proud to be RSS man: Speaker

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Sep 5: Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly witnessed pandemonium with the beginning of business for the weeklong autumn session on Monday even as Speaker Kavinder Gupta disallowed Opposition's two adjournment motions for a discussion on the demand of scrapping the law that makes cow-slaughter and consumption of beef punishable by 10 years of imprisonment. The Opposition in turn labelled the Speaker as an "RSS man" and did not allow him to operate any proceedings----forcing him to adjourn the House for a day.

In all, Speaker had received five adjournment motions. One of the motions seeking urgent discussion on the situation created by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court order, dated September 8th, for enforcement of section 298-A, B, C and D, had been jointly filed by a number of the National Conference members who included Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mohammad Akbar Lone and Mian Altaf Ahmad. Another adjournment motion of the same substance had been moved jointly by CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and independent MLA Hakeem Mohammad Yasin. 

Speaker informed the House that he had disallowed both the beef-related motions under Rule 58 sub rule 7 that does not permit such discussion on a matter pending for hearing before a judicial court. He clarified that the three Bills on the same subject would come up for consideration on October 8, the scheduled date for private members' Bills.

Besides, PDP's Anjum Fazili, Javed Hassan Baig and Shah Mohammad Tantray had moved a motion to discuss rise in incidents of domestic violence and brurning of women. Congress MLAs had jointly moved two separate motions for revocation of the hike in service tax of helicopter services for Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine pilgrims and the government’s failure to provide relief to the flood victims of September 2014.

Speaker said that he has disallowed all three of these motions as it was a brief sessions of one week and the members could avail other tools (like 30 minutes discussion and 150 minutes discussion) to agitate these matters. He implored the agitating members to let him run the scheduled business without seeking any adjournment.

However, even before the Speaker's announcement, all the Opposition members got up on their toes and created a ruckus. After the first 7 minutes of disruption, Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes. As the members of NC, Congress, CPM and some independent MLAs including Engineer Rashid and Hakeem Yasin did not relent, Speaker ordered another adjournment for one hour.

When the Speaker returned at 12.02 p.m, entire Opposition joined the course of anti-BJP, anti-PDP and anti-RSS slogans. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as well as NC Chief Omar Abdullah were in attendance. The NC brigade led by Sagar labelled Speaker Gupta as an "RSS man" while forcefully alleging through slogans that the BJP-PDP coaltion was running the "RSS agenda" in Jammu and Kashmir.

On one tumultuous occasion, NC’s Devinder Singh Rana shouted on Speaker, asking him to clarify whether he was a BJP MLA or an RSS man. Speaker retorted: "I'm proud to be an RSS man". This incensed the entire Opposition and members of different parties trooped into the well. They stood up on tables, tore off papers and continued with slogans against the coalition and the Speaker. 

Two of the NC's belligerent MLAs, Altaf Wani alias Kaloo and Abdul Majid Mir, were dragged out by the watch and ward staff. One of the marshals was injured in the scuffle. Failing to restore order for 33 minutes of mayhem, Speaker adjourned the House for full day.

While as most of the Ministers and MLAs of the Treasury Bench maintained calm and did not confront the Opposition, PDP's Anjum Fazili was one-odd MLA who was seen trying to retaliate.

Later speaking to STATE TIMES, the Opposition MLAs asserted that they would not allow any of the scheduled Business even on Tuesday and subsequently until Speaker sustained the adjournment motions and allowed a special discussion on the beef and cow-slaughter issues.

END

[Published in today's STATE TIMES]

J&K MLA disrupts Assembly proceedings over beef ban

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, Oct 3: Independent member from Langet, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, on Saturday disrupted beginning of Assembly's autumn session while asserting that cow-slaughter and beef consumption should be decriminalised in the Muslim majority State of Jammu and Kashmir.

As soon as Speaker Kavinder Gupta picked up the obituary references at the beginning of the week-long session, Rashid began shouting that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP coalition was pushing the RSS agenda of banning cow-slaughter in Jammu and Kashmir. He asserted that Jammu and Kashmir was a predominantly Muslim-majority State and no government or political party could proscribe beef which was Halal in Islam and consumed by the Muslims.

Rashid directed his anger even on Speaker Mr Gupta, alleging that the House's Presiding Officer was "biased" against the members seeking a debate on the three opposition Bills demanding lifting of the 1862 ban

With the beginning of the session when speaker Assembly Kavinder Gupta started reading obituary references, MLA Langate Engineer Rashid stood up from his seat with a placard in his hand reading ‘No interference in religious affairs’ tried to make it to the well of the house but was prevented by the marshals, however he continued to disrupt the speaker till the end.

Rashid shouted that J&K was a Muslim majority state and nobody there would be allowed to dictate RSS terms to the masses. “When Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Shareef can speak on any issue in the UN General Assembly, why can’t we speak here on this beef ban issue? We are also elected representatives,” Rashid shouted.

Asking Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed to clear his stand on the beef ban issue, Rashid said, “PDP- BJP is carrying forward RSS agenda here. PDP must clear its stand on the beef ban issue.” According to him, Speaker was not letting him speak on the subject. "Allow me to speak or else ho and join RSS or VHP", Rashid shouted on the Speaker while staging a walkout in protest.

None of the other 88 members of the House however supported or confronted the maverick MLA who has his origin in late Abdul Gani Lone's Peoples Conference.

Substantive business in both Houses of the Legislature is scheduled to begin on Monday. According to well placed official sources, Speaker has admitted the three pro-beef Bills from NC's Ali Mohammad Sagar and Akbar Lone besides CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and the independent MLA Engineer Rashid. The Bills are likely to come up for consideration and passage on October 8th which is being fixed for discussion on 10 private members' Bills.

While as BJP is demanding blanket ban on cow-slaughter and consumption of beef with strict enforcement of the law originally adopted by Maharaja in 1862, its coalition partner PDP has publicly taken the pro-beef stand identical to that of the opposition National Conference and other opposition Muslim MLAs Engineer Rashid, Hakeem Yasin and Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami.

END

Govt. strategises to kill pro-beef Bills in Assembly on Oct 8th

◆ 3 Bills in Assembly and 2 Bills in Council being pushed to fag end of session

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, Oct 1: Even as the PDP-BJP government is attempting to foil a discussion on the proposed legislation on scrapping of a law that makes cow-slaughter in Jammu and Kashmir punishable by 10 years of imprisonment, the ruling coalition has devised a parallel strategy to kill the opposition's five private members Bills in the bicameral Legislature on October 8th and 9th. Probably the shortest duration autumn session is beginning on October 3rd and ending on October 10th.

On admitting a petition from the J&K Government on Wednesday, Supreme Court of India has fixed next Monday for the first hearing. The Mufti government has contended that the September 8th order from a Division Bench of the J&K High Court in Jammu followed by a Srinagar-based Bench’s notice were “in conflict with each other” and being "exploited by vested interests" for generating a political turmoil and alienation.

While as the Jammu DB, on a PIL filed in 2014, has ordered Director General of Police to ensure enforcement of section 298 A,B,C and D of Ranbir Penal Code against anybody indulging in slaughter or trade of bovine animals or anybody possessing or consuming beef, the Srinagar Bench on a counter PIL has issued notices asking J&K Government why the 1862 monarchical law be not scrapped.

With nobody knowing what the Supreme Court would order on Monday, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s government, in complete coordination between the coalition partners, has initiated parallel attempts to ensure that there was no discussion on the five explosive Bills having potential of splitting the lawmakers on religious lines. A potential embarrassment either to BJP or to PDP, who have diametrically opposite stands on the three opposition Bills, could foreseeably lead to a political crisis including fall of the government.

While as BJP has sponsored a campaign to end cow-slaughter with strict enforcement of the 15 3-year-old law, PDP has adopted a pro-beef posturing in tune with the sentiment of its all-Muslim constituency in Kashmir and Jammu. All but one of BJP's 25 MLAs are Hindus while as all of PDP's 28 MLAs are Muslims.

Two of the private members Bills have been jointly filed in Assembly by the opposition National Conference's Ali Mohammad Sagar and Mohammad Akbar Lone. Two more of almost same substance have been moved separately by CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and independent MLA Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid. In Legislative Council, two identical Bills have been filed separately by NC’s Bashir Ahmad Veeri and Qaisar Jamsheed Lone.

All the ruling and opposition parties are meeting here on Friday to discuss their respective strategies and floor management during the 8-day-long session which would have just 6 days of substantive business.

Well placed authoritative sources revealed to STATE TIMES that rather than disallowing the three Bills in Assembly and two more in the Council, government was now in favour of admitting the same but strategically at the fag end of the session-----on October 8th in Assembly and on October 9th in the Council. Speaker is expected to place as many as 10 private members’ Bills for consideration on October 8th. The last three could be the pro-beef Bills filed by Sagar, Lone, Rashid and Tarigami.

In a possible pandemonium, the one-odd day fixed for the private members' Bills could pass without substantive discussion and voting. Similar situation could be created in the Upper House on October 9th.

The private members' Bills cannot be taken up on the next day under Business rules.

On the other hand, sources said, NC and other opposition parties would stress on preponement of the discussion on the private members' Bills with a strategy to place PDP and BJP in a tough situation. NC's planning to aggressively target not only the government but also the presiding officers of the two Houses became clear on Thursday with Omar Abdullah’s tweets. The Leader of the Opposition lashed out at Speaker Kavinder Gupta's interview in which he told NDTV that the pro-beef Bills were being moved with ill intentions to polarise the MLAs on religious lines.

END

Dy CM among 69 who missed flights due to Srinagar traffic jam

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, Sep 29: Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Prof Nirmal Singh was among the 69 Jammu and Delhi-bound passengers who missed their flights on Tuesday due to a massive traffic jam on Srinagar-Airport road.

Sometime around 11.30 a.m. residents of Galwanpora village staged a dharna and blocked traffic at Hyderpora on the airport road, officially known as Indira Gandhi Road. They demanded supply of drinking water to their neighbourhood with the complaint that officials and engineers of Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department had failed to keep their promise of providing to them drinking water from a stable source.

The people on dharna complained that nobody in the government had responded to their demands and complaint in the last one week even as Police had assured them eight days ago that the PHE engineers would address their problem within a week's time.

"Left with no alternative, we have gathered here to communicate our just and genuine demand to the Government in the language it understands. We won’t withdraw until we get water", Ghulam Rasool Bhat of Galwanpora told STATE TIMES.

Entire vehicular traffic on Srinagar-Airport road, that also leads to Budgam and over two dozen major towns, came to a standstill due to the squatting of the angry residents of the area on periphery of the summer capital. Jammu and Delhi-bound passengers, who included elderly women, handicapped men and scores of young children, were seen coming out of the stranded vehicles and rushing towards the airport desperately while making efforts to catch their flights.

"It seems that there's no government in place in this State", a middle aged woman passenger carrying her heavy luggage complained.

It was only after 90 minutes of the anarchical situation that some Police officials and incharge DC of Srinagar reached the spot to mollify the demonstrators with the assurances that drinking water would be provided to the locality.

After about three hours of mayhem, authorities succeeded to convince the demonstrators for calling off dharna. Traffic was diverted to airport via National Highway Bypass and Rawalpora. It resulted in further jams on the Bypass. By the time traffic was restored, scores of passengers had missed their flights. Twenty of them were accommodated by Go Air in its late afternoon flights subsequently but around 50 returned to Srinagar disappointed. Some of the passengers were seen weeping over the predicament they were forced to face due to the authorities' failure to meet the demonstrators on time.

SSP Anti - hijacking at Srinagar Airport Manzoor Ahmad Dalal told STATE TIMES that Deputy Chief Minister Prof Nirmal Sigh and three of his staff members missed their Jammu-bound Air India flight 822 as they failed to show up by its departure time of 2.25 p.m. "Now Honoursble Dy CM will travel to Jammu tomorrow. He is booked on one of tomorrow's flights", Mr Dalal said. He said that one or two passengers do routinely miss a flight but it was for the first time in the last over one year that 69 passenger failed to show up. Dy CM reached airport at 2.45 pm when the flight had been pushed back on the tarmac.

In all, officials said, that 69 passengers missed their flights. However, Go Air managed to accommodate 20 of its no-show passengers in the afternoon flights subsequently. Of the 49 passengers who returned to Srinagar, 25 were booked on Indigo flights, 11 on SpiceJet, 9 on Jet Airways and 4, including Dy CM, on Air India.

Sources said that DGP K. Rjendra Kumar pulled up many of the Police and Civil officials for their failure to respond to the situation on time. While as SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar pleaded that Hyderpora was the jurisdiction of Budgam district Police, officials said that DC Srinagar Farooq Lone was currently on mid-career training. SSP Traffic Srinagar Maqsood-uz-Zamaan said that he had just returned from Hajj and had not yet joined his duty.

Phone of DIG Traffic Alok Kumar was continuously switched off. Unconfirmed reports said that he was himself among some senior officers who arrived in from Jammu or Delhi, got stuck in the jam and walked a distance to come out of the mess.

END

Beef is Halal for Muslims and no force on earth can stop us from cow-slaughter: Geelani 

'Sacrifice animals on Eid according to true Islamic spirit'

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz 

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SRINAGAR, Sep 23: Even as many of the BJP leaders and senior government officials were heard claiming in Jammu on Wednesday that the Hurriyat hardliner had been "tamed" and that he would appeal Muslims not to sacrifice bovine animals on Eid-ul-Azha, Syed Ali Shah Geelani asserted that beef was Halal for Muslims and no force on earth could stop them from the practice of cow-slaughter.

Those celebrating Geelani's statement and claiming that it would defuse a potential crisis include Jammu's Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kotwal and several Deputy Commissioners. Sources said that many of the DCs and SSPs heaved a sigh of relief over whispers that Geelani had agreed to appeal Muslims not to sacrifice cows on the festival.

However, when Geelani's much speculated statement came out, separatrly from his organisation Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and his faction of the Hurriyat Conference, it contained nothing of what the BJP leaders and government officials had spread through their whispers and telephonic conversations.

"Allah has made beef Halal for us and no force on earth can make it proscribed for us or stop us from its consumption", Geelani said in the statement issued in Urdu. He, however, advised Muslims that the sacrifice of animals must be only to pratice a Sunnat and in no way aimed at hurting the sentiments of the followers of any religion.

"This (sacrifice of animals) is our religious dogma which we have been practicing since long and will continue to practice in future", Geelani added. He implored the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir to "adhere to decency and spirit of Sunnat" while making such sacrifices to please the Almighty.

"Geelani Sahab expressed his anguish and deep concern over the reports that the court's recent controversial order on stopping cow-slaughter has caused tension and vitiated the atmosphere in Jammu province. Some insane elements are attempting to foment communal tension and drive a wedge between Muslims and Hindus with their conspiracies", said the statement. Geelani, it added, made an appeal to the Hindus "to be aware of the machinations of Shiv Sena and other Sangh Parivar outfits" and maintain communal harmony and brotherhood at any cost.

"We don't do cow-slaughter for hostility (of the Hindus). Nor do we intend to hurt their sentiments. We do it for it is a religious obligation for us", Geelani asserted. "However, it should be strictly according to the religious prescription and in no way turned into a means to provoke others and hurt their sentiments", Geelani said while avoiding to be specific where the cow-slaughter should happen around this Eid or not.

END

Law Minister terminates engagement of two BJP-sponsored Govt advocates

◆Vishal sought reasons of his shifting to Education, RDD

◆Parimoksh refused to withdraw anti-beef PIL

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Sep 22: Law Minister Basharat Bukhari on Tuesday gave a major affront to PDP's coalition partner BJP by terminating services of Additional Advocate General (AAG) Vishal Sharma and Deputy Advocate General (DAG) Parimoksh Seth on account of their failure to toe his party's line on a petition against cow-slaughter in Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

After taking Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on board, Bukhari, according to sources, directed Law Secretary Mohammad Ashraf Mir to terminate the services of the two BJP-sponsored advocates. Law Secretary accordingly issued a Government Order.

While as Sharma, who had been allocated Home Department upon his engagement earlier this year, had been lately shifted to Education and Rural Development departments, Seth was designated as DAG in Jammu.

Highly placed government sources revealed to STATE TIMES that Bukhari had in the last two days attempted to take Dy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh into confidence, explaining to him "PDP's political compulsions" for disengagement of the two Jammu-based lawyers. However, talks between the two Ministers failed as Singh insisted that their termination would cause damage to BJP's credibility, influence and vote base in Jammu. Thereafter, Bukhari, on advice of the top PDP leadership issued direction for the two advocates' termination.

The termination order will definitely cause remarkable embarrassment to BJP as both the lawyers are well connected to the Sangh Parivar and are known to have been appointed on the recommendation of RSS earlier this year. Vishal Sharma happens to be the son of senior advocate Leela Karan Sharma, currently J&K State head of Vishwa Hindu Parushad. The elder Sharma was also head of Sagharsh Samiti that sponsored the turbulent Amarnath Land allotment agitation for about three months in 2008.

Parimoksh Seth is a senior leader of BJYM and son of senior BJP leader Onkar Seth. He is also known for his close association with Anurag Thakur, BJP youth leader, MP from Himachal Pradesh and a top functionary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Sources revealed to STATE TIMES that Vishal Sharma had addressed a letter through Advocate General to Law Secretary asking him to explain the reason of his shifting from Home to Education and RDD. Law Department had earlier this month shifted Sharma from Home as he had failed to represent the PDP-led government in a PIL seeking enforcement of the ban on cow-slaughter in Jammu and Kashmir. As the PIL went uncontested, a Division Bench directed Director General of Police to strictly enforce Section 298 A, B, C and D that makes anybody indulging in cow-slaughter liable for imprisonment of 10 years and fine.

Seth was the petitioner of the PIL which he had filed in 2014, months before his appointment as DAG. When, Law Department asked Seth to withdraw the PIL, he initially agreed but later refused to take the Law Department's diktat. A couple of days ago, he straightaway communicated to Law Secretary and Law Minister that he had been advised by BJP and particularly Deputy Chief Minister not to withdraw the PIL. 

"He said plainly that he had filed the PIL on the direction of his party high command and he could withdraw it only on the direction of the high command. Chief Minister and other PDP Ministers took exception to the two advocates' conduct. This led to termination of their service", said a senior bureaucrat.

END

[Published in today's STATE TIMES]