The city centre Lal Chowk in Srinagar wore a deserted look on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 26

Life in the Valley was affected today due a joint shutdown call given by various separatist organisations against the alleged government proposal to set up Sainik colonies and townships for migrant Kashmiri Pandits.The rare joint call was issued by the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference headed by Syed Ali Geelani and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik.Shops and other commercial establishments in Srinagar and other major towns across the Valley remained closed today in response to the shutdown. The day, however, passed off peacefully.Public transport remained off the roads, though private vehicles were seen plying on the city outskirts.Roads and commercial centres such as Lal Chowk in the city wore a deserted look.Most of the schools and banks in Srinagar and other towns remained closed.However, there was some movement in tourist areas such as the boulevard road along the Dal Lake in the morning as some tourists were seen departing or heading to other tourist destinations.Some vehicular movement was also seen on the main road leading to the secretariat and government vehicles were seen ferrying ministers and MLAs as the Assembly was in session today.There was less security on city roads today as compared to earlier shutdowns. The government had not imposed any restrictions, however, senior separatist leaders Geelani and Mirwaiz were put under house detention. JKLF chairman Yasin Malik was arrested from the Abi Guzar area of Srinagar on Wednesday.Even as the PDP-BJP government has already clarified its stand on the Sainik colonies and townships for migrant Pandits and also promised a review of the new industrial policy, the issues have united the separatists and brought them on a single platform against the state government. The separatist have vowed to oppose the proposal tooth and nail.Though the state government has said it was committed to the return of Kashmiri Pandits, separatists have opposed the establishment of separate townships in the Valley for their rehabilitation.While the government has said it has not identified any land for setting up Sainik colonies for retired soldiers of the state, separatists alleged the intention behind setting up Sainik colonies was to change the demography of the Valley.Moreover, the government has asserted that non-local ex-serviceman cannot become part of any Sainik colony in Kashmir as only permanent residents of the state can purchase land in such settlements.Tourists head to hill resortsMost of the tourists in Srinagar preferred to proceed to hill resorts of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg due to a shutdown in city. Tourist cabs were on Thursday morning seen heading to hill resorts where the shutdowns usually have less effect. “I left for Pahalgam on Thursday morning. The tourist party is from Delhi. Since there was a strike in Srinagar, they decided to visit Pahalgam as they are on a short visit to the Valley,” said Ali Mohammad, a taxi driver from Srinagar. 

No restrictions

• Schools, banks and shops in Srinagar and other major towns of the Valley remained closed on Thursday
• There was less security on city roads today as compared to earlier shutdowns. The government had not imposed any restrictions

Army orders probe into porter’s death

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 26

The Army has ordered an inquiry into the death of a porter from Handwara accompanying them, who was found injured after the troops came under fire from suspected militants in a forest area early on Wednesday.“An inquiry has been instituted to establish in detail the possible circumstances leading to the death of Liaquat Ali. Since the deceased was working with the Army, we are committed to providing all possible assistance,” an Army spokesman said.The statement said a joint search operation was launched by the Army and J&K Police in the area of the Watsar forest on Tuesday night. Liaquat of Nagni Wadar Payeen village, who has been working as a porter with the Army, accompanied the search party.“After a brief exchange of fire, the area was searched during which Liaqat was found injured,” he added.

President Pranab Mukherjee delivers a speech at a reception in Beijing, China, on May 25, 2016. — Reuters

Beijing, May 26

India and China should comprehensively resolve challenges, including the boundary question, through “political acumen” and “civilisational wisdom” so that the coming generations are not “burdened” by unresolved issues, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday.

Enunciating “8 steps to a partnership of the people” for India-China relations in his address to the Peking University, he noted that there is bipartisan commitment to strengthening partnership with China, and said political understanding between the two countries is vital for “closer developmental partnership”.

“One of the ways it could be done is through enhanced political communication. In India, we have a bipartisan commitment to strengthening our partnership with China. The frequent contacts between our respective leaders bear testimony to this.

“We have broadened the ‘common ground’ and learnt to manage our differences. There are challenges, including the boundary question, that still need to be addressed comprehensively,” he said.

Making his first state visit to China as head of the state, Mukherjee said while it was natural for neighbours to have differences of views on certain issues from time to time, “I consider it a test of our political acumen when we are called upon to draw upon our civilisational wisdom and resolve these differences to the mutual satisfaction of both sides”.

“Both sides should work with the aim of ensuring that we do not burden our coming generations by leaving our unresolved problems to them. I am confident that by ensuring that these matters are not aggravated and by remaining sensitive to mutual concerns, we can minimise our differences and maximise our convergences,” he said. — PTI

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 13

Jammu’s first civilian shooting range, General Zorawar Singh Rifle Club, aims to popularise shooting as a sport in the state. The club management had its first meeting today and want to give a platform to budding sportsperson.The club, built in the Dogra Educational Complex, Bari Brahmana, has state-of-the-art facilities constructed with the help of the J&K Rifle Association.Speaking on the occasion, former minister and club president Gulchain Singh Charak thanked Dilbagh Singh, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), who is also president of the J&K Rifle Association, for granting the club affiliation to promote shooting as a sport in the state.“Local youth are gifted to achieve excellence in sports and this will help them to further hone their skills in this sport,” Charak said.He cited the example of Chain Singh, son of the soil from Doda district, who made his mark in the Asian Games 2014 and he is a big hope for the Rio Olympics.The 10-metre shooting range for pistol and rifle will provide national coaches to train the youth from schools and colleges, in addition to the other civilian population, who can seek membership of the club.

Ambala, May 10

The Jago Yuva Jago Manch today commemorated the sacrifice of the 1857 revolt heroes in Ambala Cantonment and appealed to the state government to start the construction of Shaheed Smarak soon.UV Singh, retired history lecturer from SD College, and a member of the manch, said the revolt started at Ambala Cantonment on May 10, but it was unfortunate that even after many years, the heroes of the revolt were unknown. Chief Minister Manhoar Lal Khattar laid the foundation stone of the Shaheed Smarak in May last year, but the construction had not started yet. He appealed to the government to start it as soon as possible.SP Singh, vice-president of the manch, said: “The school children are being taught that the 1857 revolt started from Meerut, while it has been proved by historians that the revolt started from Ambala. The Centre must take steps to change the course of history in text books.” — TNS

Army men at the encounter site in Kupwara on Saturday. A Tribune photo

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 21

Five unidentified militants were killed and two soldiers of the Army’s counter-insurgency units injured in a seven-hour gunfight with militants in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district today.The gunfight erupted at Check Drugmulla in Kupwara, nearly 100 km from Srinagar,  this morning when joint teams of the Special Operation Group of the J&K Police, Army’s 41 and 47 Rashtriya Rifles battalions and CRPF started a search operation after an input about the presence of militants in the area.As the search started, the militants, who were hiding in an abandoned house in the village, opened fire. As the forces retaliated, it triggered a gunfight.“In the seven-hour-long gunfight, five militants were killed. They were most probably from the Jaish-e-Mohammad,” said Deputy Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir Uttam Chand. He said it was being investigated whether the slain militants had infiltrated recently or had been active in the area.Defence spokesman Col NN Joshi said two Army men were injured in the gunfight and there condition was stable. “We recovered five weapons from the encounter site,” he said.Sources said the area was cordoned off on Friday night after an input that a group of recently infiltrated militants was hiding in the village.“The group of militants had infiltrated recently and one of the members was killed in a gunfight in the Zunreishi Chowkibal forest on May 17. They managed to escape that day and we were tracking them. We zeroed in on them at Check Drugmulla, around 25 km from the Zunrerishi encounter site,” the sources said.Kupwara had remained a key infiltration route of militants to enter the Valley. In the recent past, militants had stepped up efforts to sneak into the Valley.There were intelligence inputs that nearly 200 militants had been waiting to infiltrate from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.Sources in the security establishment said around 20 militants had infiltrated into the Valley this year till April. Last year, Union Home Ministry figures stated that 35 militants had infiltrated into Kashmir.The latest infiltration bid was foiled in north Kashmir’s Uri sector on Friday. The sources said a group of militants tried to infiltrate via Kamalkote in Uri, which witnessed a ceasefire violation by the Pakistani army four days ago.The sources said when militants were trying to sneak into the Valley, they were noticed and challenged by the Army. They fled to the Kamalkote sector without opening fire.The Army later recovered some jackets, blankets, rucksacks and other war-like stores from the area. A total of 44 militants have been killed across the Valley this year so far.

Vishavjit Singh

Washington, May 9

Donald Trump wants to make America great again, but “Sikh Captain America” feels the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is making America hate again.“Donald Trump has certainly been a candidate whose words have been alarming for someone like me, who happens to be at the front lines of bigotry in post-9/11 America,” said Vishavjit Singh, a Washington-born Sikh artist-activist in his mid-40s who occasionally transforms into “Sikh Captain America”.Singh, who is a political cartoonist, on occasions transforms into “Sikh Captain America”, a costumed soldier with a turban who fights bigotry and champions cultural understanding through public appearances and talks.As the film “Captain America: Civil War” plays at theatres, Singh drew a stark contrast between Trump and Captain America’s alter ego, Steve Rogers—two iconic New York characters born in the 1940s.“Captain America as a character would stand in complete opposition to Donald Trump and his candidacy. Today, besides the ISIS, the festering of extreme right-wing and supremacist forces at home will be targets for Captain America’s wrath,” he was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.The artist also creates cartoon campaigns, such as the “Send Sikh Note To Trump” postcard campaign, in which he and some of his fans send Trump a postcard every day “with a message focused on processing our anger inspired by his jingoistic madness into small kernels of humour and compassion”.“He might be full of himself, overstuffed with his achievements with a towering skyscraper of an ego, but even deep inside him resides seeds of benevolence,” Singh said.“I wish him well; I wish him compassion; I wish him to realise the violence of his words; I wish him a landslide loss in the elections for his own good,” he said. Captain America was born in New York during World War II, from the minds of Jewish creators and future comic-book legends Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who introduced their super-soldier by having him deliver a haymaker to the jaw of a reeling Hitler.“Sikh Captain America” was also born in the Big Apple for socio-political reasons, as Singh was planning to attend his first New York Comic-Con as an exhibitor in the fall of 2011. “Some of my art is informed by my own experience on the streets of America and being targeted as an outsider—at times as a threat just based on my looks,” Singh said. — PTI

The 1974 Pokhran blast site being inspected by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi along with top nuclear scientists.

Washington, May 19The US intelligence community had concluded as early as 1964 that India was in a position to develop nuclear weapons, a declassified State Department report said, citing frequent change of the fuel core of the Canada-supplied reactor at Trombay.”The Indians are now in a position to begin nuclear weapons development if they chose to do so. We have no evidence, however, of a weapon research and development programme and would expect to see some if the programme existed,” the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) said in a report on May 14, 1964.The report along with several others was published yesterday by the National Security Archive and the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Noting that the fuel core of the Canadian-Indian Reactor (CIR) at Trombay was being changed every six months, the US intelligence report had raised questions about India’s nuclear objectives.It said a six-month period was quite short for “normal research reactor operations,” but it was the optimum time for using the CIR’s spent fuel for producing weapons grade plutonium.The report said the Canadians had not established specific safeguards when they made the reactor available to India thus giving the Indians a free hand in using the newly-built Phoenix plutonium separation plant to produce the fissile material.According to the State Department report, “India’s leadership might have had nationalistic motives for building the Phoenix plant but if it wanted a nuclear weapons capability it would seek such a capability”.INR report said it had no “direct evidence” of an Indian weapons programme and believed it was “unlikely” that India had made a decision to build a bomb.Nevertheless, it was “probably no accident” that “everything the Indians (had) done so far would be compatible with a weapons programme if at some future date it appeared desirable to start one”.According to INR, India had taken the “first deliberate decision in the series leading to a nuclear weapon,” which was to have “available, on demand, unsafeguarded weapons-grade plutonium or, at the least, the capacity to produce it.”    The report said that a scholar characterised this as India’s “proliferation drift, the slow but sure moves towards the development of nuclear weapons”. —  PTI

The mother and wife of sepoy Dharma Ram of Mahar Regiment receive Shaurya Chakra (posthumous) from President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday. Ram was honoured for saving the lives of two of his colleagues during an encounter with militants in Kashmir. He killed two ultras before succumbing to injuries during the firefight.