BOOKED: Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and author Arundhati Roy besides five others including Kashmir University professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain were finally booked for sedition. Delhi police registered a case against them on directions of the court for making anti-India speeches in a seminar at Delhi.
REVEALED: An RTI application has revealed that state government had sought permission for initiating prosecution in 42 cases pending against army men since 1990. In 25 cases, the request was declined while as 17 cases are pending. MoD rejected three cases saying they were registered under pressure from the militants, and in two cases involving rape the MoD said the women levelled allegations under militant pressure. There are 1514 police FIRs registered against the army in J&K police record books that are pending action.
RETURNED: Moderate Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Bilal Ghani Lone returned home after surviving three attacks by rightwing Hindu groups in five days – one each at Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi. They said the assaults were orchestrated by the governments in J&K and Delhi.
PROTESTED: Shopian town was on a day long protest against the arrest of three youth whom police accused of being stone pelting ring leaders. State police chief Kuldeep Khoda disclosed that they had arrested 3040 persons during summer unrest. Most of them are released on bail as the police are holding only 165 persons under Public Safety Act, judicial and police custody right now.
EXTENDED: Government has extended the term of two-member judicial commission probing the 17 civilian killings by one month. It comprises of retired Justices Bashiruddin Ahmad and Y P Nargotra. Extension was granted on their request.
RECOVERED: Doctors at GMC Jammu removed a seven-inch knife from the duodenum of an Orissa woman Basanti in a two hour long surgery. She had accidentally swallowed the knife while performing a jugglery trick in 2003.
ISSUED: CJM Bandipora has issued a non-bailable warrant against former government gunman Qasim Ahangar alias Qasim Khaar and his two former PSOs in a case of attempt to murder registered with police station Sumbal in 1998.
APOLOGIZED: Lt Gen BS Jaswal, the head of the Northern Command apologized to chief minister Omar Abdullah for a statement that was “unauthorizedly” issued by its PRO Lt Col Pradeep Kochhar. The statement suggested that Omar had ‘given in’ to the clamour of demilitarisation and dismantling of bunkers in Srinagar, which had ‘delighted’ the separatists. It came within a day after the Qamarwari encounter that coincided with Omar’s statement that AFSPA will have to go. This forced Omar to shoot a letter to Prime Minister protesting army’s criticism and interference. Central government, in the meanwhile, informed parliament that there was no move aimed at revoking AFSPA anywhere.
SUBMITTED: J&K State Finance Commission led by retired IAS officer Mehmood-ur-Rehman has submitted its 1000-page report to the state government. Set up by Ghulam Nabi Azad government in 2007, it was tasked, among other things, to study the regional disparity in development and public spending. Initially supposed to submit its report within a year, it got several extensions.
SUPERSEDED: The government superseded the management of the J&K Cooperative Housing Corporation Ltd after a preliminary inquiry detected embezzlement and losses worth over Rs 120 crore. DC Jammu is its new administrator. The Board lacked audit after 2006.
REACHED: Vaishno Devi shrine was visited by eight million pilgrims till November this year. Last year it has 82 lakh pilgrims in full year compared to 67.92 lakh in 2008 and 74.17 lakh in 2007. Vaishno Devi shrine board hopes the rush to reach 85 lakh this year.
REARRESTED: Kashmir Bar Association president, Mian Abdul Qayoom was re-arrested by police minutes after he was released from Kotbalwal Jail. His release came after High Court quashed his detention under the Public Safety Act.
MANUFACTURED: DRDO is conducting field trials of rubber bullets fired from AK-47 assault rifles. This is part of the larger scheme of deploying less lethal weapons for managing Kashmir protestors. Use of fire arms and conventional fighting machinery led to 112 civilian deaths in Kashmir during 2010 unrest. Some of these deaths were caused by some of the so called non-lethal weapons like pellets guns.
ALLOTTED: The 11th Finance Commission has allocated Rs 50 crore for the restoration of Jammu’s Mubarak Mandi complex. Usually the award money goes to a particular sector and not the work. The 1824 CE complex is being renovated on war footing.
MET: Omar Abdullah had a 30-minute meeting with Congress president Ms Sonia Gandhi. They discussed the state of development and the overall situation prevailing in Kashmir besides the rehabilitation of the survivors of the Leh cloudbursts.
Ends
