news details |
|
|
| The polls in J-K would be most free, fair; promises | | People are interested in development, paying no need to terrorists, separatists: Azad | | Early Times Reporter
Srinagar | June 17
Defence Minister A. K. Antony today said that the coming assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir would be the most free and fair and there would be no compromise on human rights even as the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the people of the State were turning towards trade and development activities and showing no interest in terrorist or separatist agenda.
The two were speaking at a high level meeting between the senior officers of the State government and ministry of defence here this afternoon. Deputy Chief Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Defence Secretary, Vijay Singh, Chief of the Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor, Chief Secretary, S. S. Kapur, Director General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda and senior officers of civil, army, police, security forces and intelligence agencies also attended.
Antony asserted that the ensuing assembly elections in J&K would be the most free and fair. He said the Government of India was committed to holding the elections in the State in a free, fair and transparent manner. He also reiterated the Prime Minister’s commitment to zero tolerance on human rights violations and said there would be no compromise on that. He said that the situation in the State had improved a lot and massive development activities were going on under the leadership of the Chief Minister. He said the central government was fully assisting the State government in its agenda for development. He said peace and stability being prerequisite for development, the army and security forces were excellently performing their duties for maintaining peace in the State.
The Defence Minister said that although the over all security situation had vastly improved there was no room for complacency as coming months were full of challenges. He said there were forces within and outside the country that did not want peaceful, free and fair elections in Jammu & Kashmir to take place. These forces, he said, could try to disrupt peace and create problems. “We have to be more vigilant”, he said adding that “we are ready to meet any eventuality”.
On infiltration, the Minister said that the things were much better and the situation was under control at the moment. He said there could be attempts of infiltration and “we have to be more careful”.
Earlier, the Chief Minister said that people of Jammu & Kashmir were paying no heed to the terrorists and separatists and were turning towards development and trade activities. He said this had resulted in a situation where terrorists were finding it difficult to make fresh recruitment or maintain their cadres. He said no new recruitment had been possible for them which was a positive sign. He said the security situation had shown considerable improvement and incidents of violence and killing of civilians and security forces personnel reduced. He said the security forces had achieved considerable operational successes against militants. He said that the efforts of the central government, especially the Prime Minister and the State government had borne the desired results.
The Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister for increasing the rentals of the land and orchards under the use of the army in the State. He said the recommendations of the State government on this issue were accepted by the defence ministry in toto. He said this had benefited the people of the State, especially the orchardists and land owners. He said the State government would change the rules to allow disbursement of rentals twice a year instead of once in a year as at present.
Azad said that the government and security agencies were observing in letter and spirit the Prime Minister’s assurance of zero tolerance on human rights violations. He said there had been no case of custodial death or disappearance this year. He said while dealing with terrorists security forces were taking extra care to minimise collateral damage.
The Chief Minister said that after the decision taken in the last meeting with the Defence Minister, as many as 186 government buildings and 92 private buildings had been vacated by the army and security forces. He said some buildings were still in the use of the army and would be vacated.
The Chief Minister also spoke about promising situation on tourism front and said it was picking up. He said as compared to last year’s 27 lakh pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine, the number had shown an increase of 3 lakhs during the corresponding period so far this year. He said due to the steps taken by India and Pakistan, the cross-LoC movement of people was taking place smoothly on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakote roads. He said 4117 residents of PoK had visited the State since the start of the bus service while 3403 J&K residents had visited PoK through the two roads. He said the movement of goods across LoC was on the anvil and was likely to start some time in August this year. He said the frequency of cross-LoC bus service had been agreed to be weekly instead of fortnightly and would be effective from August this year.
The meeting discussed the over all security situation in the State. The civil and security officials said that all arrangements had been put in place for successful conduct of the Amarnath Yatra. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
