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Hundreds of pilgrims remain stranded at Jammu
Jammu, July 23 (ANI): Hundreds of pilgrims to a cave shrine for an annual pilgrimage are still stranded at Jammu. A day after the pilgrimage was briefly suspended due to inclement weather, authorities and security personnel grappled with a large number of enthusiastic pilgrims getting uneasy for their turn. Despite government's claims of providing adequate facilities to pilgrims, most of them can be seen resting along roadside waiting for their turn. "We have been waiting here for the last three days. We are waiting for our turn but there is nobody to help us. There is no management for food and other services. This government does not want pilgrims to visit this place," said Manohar Kumar, an agitated pilgrim from Bihar. "We are a group of forty pilgrims. We have been waiting for our turn for last 24 hours," said Suresh Aggarwal, a pilgrim from Faridabad. The annual pilgrimage resumed on Tuesday after it was disrupted for one day by heavy rains. Pilgrims pouring in from different parts of the country to Jammu, the last railhead to the Himalayan region, are allowed to travel in batches by bus to Pahalgam, a small town from where the arduous trek begins. Due to security risk in the revolt-racked state, authorities allow limited number of only the registered pilgrims ahead in different batches. Undeterred by separatist violence saffron-robed holy men, including women and children, are waiting for a gruelling trek to worship at an ice formation deep in the Himalayas. Hindus believe the Amarnath cave which houses the ice formation is the abode of Shiva, the god of destruction. The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine has become a key test for Indian security forces locked in a military stand-off with Pakistan, long accused of supporting the nearly 13-year-old rebellion in Indian's only Muslim-majority state. This year the pilgrimage is being carried out amid unprecedented security. Tensions between the nuclear-armed foes have eased only slightly since Pakistan promised last month to halt the flow of militants from its territory into Kashmir. New Delhi says it will not pull back its troops until it is convinced the incursions have fully stopped. Paramilitary soldiers in full battle gear were posted every few metres in the base town of Pahalgam, nestled among pine forests and towering snow-capped mountains. Militants fighting Indian rule have targeted the centuries- old annual pilgrimage several times since the rebellion broke out in the Himalayan region at the end of 1989. Suspected militants killed 15 people, mostly pilgrims, in an attack last year on the outskirts of Pahalgam. Each group of pilgrims spends the night in tents and starts the trek the next morning for the shrine, which is 13,500 feet above sea level. The treacherous narrow 30-mile path from Pahalgam takes them along icy streams, and around glacier-fed lakes and dense pine forests. Officials said nearly 100,000 people would take part in this year's pilgrimage. Last year, 170,000 trekked to the cave discovered by a Muslim shepherd in the 16th century.(ANI) Advani says infiltration of militants into Jammu and Kashmir has declined but not stopped.
"Infiltration from Pakistan, I can only say that a judgement on this issue can be done only after a period of time has elapsed. As it is, judging only by the infiltrators who are seen or who are caught or where there is a clash, one can say that there is a slight decline. But infiltration has not stopped as is claimed," Advani said. Speaking about elections in Jammu and Kashmir, to be held in October this year, he said that the government wants to hold a "free and fair" elections to enhance the legitimacy of the state assembly. "We are keenly looking forward to elections being held in Jammu and Kashmir in a perfectly fair and free manner," Advani said. "We hope that large sections of the population, even those who may not agree with the government of India or with the Jammu and Kashmir government's point of view would participate in the elections so that the new Assembly that comes up after the October elections is a perfectly representative Assembly," he added. Advani also rejected a demand by the state government to give more autonomy to the province."So what, the election commission would ensure that the elections are free and fair and in fact one reason why we have not agreed to the government of Jammu-Kashmir's point of view that the pre-1953 position should be restored...one reason is the people of Jammu and Kashmir secured a great advantage after 1953 when they came under the purview of the Election Commission, whose reputation in India has been very high," Advani said. "After all we have had elections in India for the last fifty-five years, and the world over, the honesty and the uprightness of the election process in India is acknowledged," he added. All Parties Hurriyat Conference has however, said, that it would not participate in the elections and launched an anti-election campaign.(ANI, JULY 23, 2002) Cabinet meet called on rail bifurcation
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to top New Delhi, July 23 (ANI): Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has called a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to resolve the issue of Eastern Railway bifurcation. The government however has clarified that it has no intention of reversing the decision taken to divide the Eastern Railway Zone into two separate zones. In a new twist to the ongoing row, Jharkhand MPs strongly opposed the deletion of Dhanbad division of Eastern Railway from Kolkata Zone and demanded setting up of a new railway zone at Ranchi instead of at Hajipur. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the MPs, mostly belonging to BJP, said the inclusion of Dhanbad in the proposed new railway zone at Hajipur would amount to injustice to the people of the new state. They argued that though the mineral-rich Jharkhand gave substantial revenue to the Railways, the recruiting boards were located at Bhubanweswar and Kolkata due to which the people of the state did not get any benefits. They warned that there would be serious implications if the Dhanbad division was shifted from Kolkata zone to Hajipur.(ANI)
VHP demands separate statehood for Jammu Go to top Kasimnagar, July 23 (ANI): The chief of Vishwa Hindu Parisad Ashok Singhal reiterated the demand for a reparate statehood for Hindu majority region of Jammu. Ashok Singhal was speaking to reporters after visiting survivors of the July 13 militant attack in which 28 slumdwellers were killed in Kasimnagar, near Jammu. "We want separate statehood for Jammu. Although the (federal) government has ruled it out, I think it should keep away from the matter and let the people of Jammu decide that for themselves," Singhal said. The VHP had last month passed a resolution for the trifurcation of the state at its executive meeting. The VHP says division of Jammu and Kashmir into three parts, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, would remove regional imbalance in the state. Jammu is the Hindu majority region, while Kashmir Valley has Muslim dominance. Ladakh has a majority of Buddhists. Singhal distributed relief material to the survivors of the Kasimnagar tragedy. About a dozen groups are battling Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, where officials say more than 33,000 people have been killed since a rebellion broke out in 1989. Separatists put the toll closer to 80,000. Singhal said India should launch a full-fledged war against Pakistan to defend its territory. "If Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is gearing up for war then India obviously would not be able to restrain itself. Rather, I think India would have to launch a full scale war against Pakistan," he said. "Although the international community is trying to avert a war, but India should not get cowed down under any pressure," Singhal added. Both India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since they won independence from Britain in 1947.(ANI)
Farooq calls on Abdul Kalam
Go to top New Delhi, July 23 (ANI): Farooq Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, called on the newly elected President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on Tuesday. Seventy-one-year-old Kalam, who will soon occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan, still receives every visitor at his modest DRDO Guest House in Asiad Village in Delhi. Kalam who won the presidential election with an overwhelming majority on July 18, will be sworn in for his five-year term July 24. He is also known for his ability to recite from the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita with ease. He is the country's twelfth president and the third Muslim to hold that office since India became independent in 1947. The new president will take over from K.R. Narayanan, who finishes his term this month.(ANI)
Rajasthan harnessing wind energy for power generation Go to top Jaisalmer, July 23 (ANI): Rajasthan is tapping wind energy to tackle its power problems. The miseries of people have already worsened due to delayed monsoon which has led to severe power crisis in the state. The state government in association with the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has been promoting setting up of windfarms across the state. The IREDA promotes and finances private sector projects in renewable energy, including wind energy. Jaisalmer, a town along India-Pakistan border, has been successfully meeting the region's increasing electricity demand by harnessing wind, a renewable source of energy. A wind farm aided by government and run by public sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has been supplying electricity to the state government. The unit which was set up last year has so far generated more than seven million units of electricity. "We installed the machines in March 2001 and have almost generated seven million units, in fact more than that, from the 2.76 megawatt windfarm which is a record for itself," said Hazmatullah, a service engineer with BHEL. Dozens of windmills of varying capacities dot several acres of the landscape. This region was identified as one of the wind-prone areas following study of wind patterns throughout the year. Continuous winds throughout the year with an annual windspeed of 18 kilometres per hour or more are the prerequisites for setting up a wind farm. Wind farms or wind power plants consist of arrays of multiple turbines which convert wind into electrical energy. Wind energy is one of the clean, renewable energy sources that hold out the promise of meeting a significant portion of energy demand in the direct, grid-connected modes in developing countries like India. India, which has an installed generation capacity of more than 85,000 megawatts, needs an additional 46,000 megawatts capacity during the Ninth plan period (1997/2002). Windfarming is a relatively new concept in India and windpower growth in the country is estimated to be 30 to 40 per cent annually.(ANI) |
(NEW DELHI--ANI, JULY 23, 2002): The newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in an interview to Asian News International (ANI) today (July 23) said that more time was needed to determine whether Kashmiri incursions stopped completely. But he however, said, infiltration of militants from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir has declined.