Azad Kashmir Spectator

MIR PUR DISTRICT

1 LA-1, MIROURE-1
The whole Tehsil of Dadyal.

2 LA-II, MIR PURE-II
The following patwar circles of Mirpur Tehsil:

Hameed Shaheen

 
AJK PM receives Prime Minister of Pakistan at Muzaffarabad.

MUZAFFARABAD: Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has cautioned that there existed no other option than “reaching a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute” as both Pakistan and India were nuclear powers in the same neighborhood of South Asia.

MIRPUR (AJK) - Azad Jammu Kashmir Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education has warned all the unregistered private-sector educational institutions (including schools and colleges) to get their institutions registered with the board immediately or be ready for punitive action in accordance with the relevant law, official sources said.

SIALKOT - The “mango politics” are on its peak by the candidates ahead of the coming elections of AJK Legislative Assembly. The candidates were busy in holding the mango parties or sending the political “gifts” of the mangoes to lure their voters and supporters as well here. The candidates have geared up their election campaign in different constituencies located in Sialkot district for the elections of Azad Jammu & Kashmir legislative Assembly after depositing their nomination papers, in this regard.

ISLAMABAD, May 31 (APP) - All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and AJK Jamiat Ulama Islam (F) forged alliance for AJK elections of Legislative Assembly being held on June 26. Addressing a press conference here Tuesday, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan said this alliance was the long cherished desire of JUI-F’s chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman and himself as well. The AJK Prime Minister pinned high hopes on Muslim Conference and JUI (F)’s alliance to be instrumental in wielding interfaith harmony, political stability as well as positive impacts on both sides of the divide.

Islamabad—Tourism season is at peak in Northern Areas of the country and will remain till September. Arrival of tourists is getting momentum from various cities of the country to enjoy their summer holidays in hilly areas. While Murree, Aubyia, Nathiagali, Azad Kashmir, Kaghan, Swat, Chitral, Gilgit, Hunza and Skardu, where the weather is pleasant the air is fresh, the valleys are green and the river waters are refreshingly cool.

KARACHI: The representative of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) of occupied Kashmir Aga Hassan Badgami has said that Muttahid aQaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain had adopted a principled stand concerning the struggle of Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination.

MIRPUR (AJK) - With the announcement of schedule for general elections in Azad Jammu Kashmir, the electioneering by the intending contestants including independent candidates and political parties as well as the general public including supporters is swiftly gaining momentum across the state.

India and Pakistan are both building hydroelectric dams along an upper branch of the Indus river, only 70 kilometres apart from each other. India is building 800MW power house on the Kishanganga River that originates in Indian Occupied Kashmir, with a plea to solve the problem of navigation over a distance of 22-kilometre between the Wullar Lake and Baramula connecting Srinagar with Baramula.

At least eight people were killed while 15 others were injured when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine in Azad Pattan area of Azad Kashmir in Sudhnoti district, on early Monday May 9, police sources said.

Azad Kashmir PM says 40 provinces could be formed in Pakistan

More provinces should be formed on administrative basis in order to handle the state of affairs and everybody is looking to join the federal government, which might not be good for the country, Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed said on Sunday.

A moderate earthquake hit the areas adjacent to the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Kashmir on Thursday morning but no causality was reported. According to the reports, the quake of lower intensity was felt in the border areas of Chanari, Chakthi, Bagh and Neelam Valley at 7:18am on Thursday. According to the Met Office the epicenter of the quake was Baramula in Held Kashmir and its intensity was 2.4 on the Richter scale. No casualty was reported from any part of Azad Kashmir.

Former Prime Minister and Quaid of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said that federal government should end its interference in elections of Azad Kashmir, adding that Muslim League-N would participate in the election with the Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Atiq Ahmed Khan has urged Great Britain to lead international initiative on untangling the Kashmir issue.Speaking at a round table conference on ‘Indo-Pak relations and impediments to a way forward on Kashmir’ at the British Parliament here last evening, he pointed out that Kashmir issue is a legacy of the British colonial rule in the sub-continent and therefore the country muster diplomatic and political backing of the entire international community in resolving this 63-year-old question.“The strategic location of the State of Jammu and Kashmir demands a robust international role for a final, peaceful negotiated settlement.It needs geo-pragmatic approach,” he said.

LAHORE: A female athlete from Azad Kashmir, who reportedly came to Lahore to take part in the 43rd National Athletics Championship, which concluded at the Punjab Stadium here on Thursday, has gone missing, well informed sources told on the condition of anonymity.

PESHAWAR (APP): Taking to the visiting Azad Jammu & Kashmir Minister for Information, Environment and Overseas Kashmiris, Mehmood Riaz, and Abdul Majid Khan on Wednesday, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information, Mian Iftikhar Hussein to Mian Iftikhar said that provincial autonomy does not mean succession from Pakistan as it is our identity, saying that strong provinces would make Pakistan strong. He said that they want a strong Kashmir that will strengthen Pakistan.

MUZAFFARABAD: The construction on the largest road project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) was halted as the technical staff launched a protest.Some 55 members of the Earthquake Emergency Assistance Programme (EEAP), which is working on the 76-kilometre-long Muzaffarabad-Athmuqam Road, have gone

GULPUR: A powerful explosion in an oil depot has killed one man and left five others injured in Gul Pur area located in the outskirt of Kotli locality of Azad Kashmir late on Thursday night.

According to reports, the blast occurred in Gul Pur area of Kotli in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Explosion followed the fierce blaze that engulfed as many as six men, burning one to death and leaving five others critically wounded.

MIRPUR: Candidates for the forthcoming general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), while waiting for the final schedule, have begun electioneering.Various political parties have started consultations to form electoral alliances with field candidates independently or otherwise in the elections, which are like to be held in the next three months.

ISLAMABAD, April 14 -- The government has given the contract for 1,100 MW Kohala Hydropower Project to a Chinese firm, setting aside the Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and without holding International Competitive Bidding (ICB), well-placed official sources told media.

The decision to award the contract to the Chinese company came soon after the recent visit of Cao Guanging, the chairman of the state-owned China Three Gorges Project Corporation (CTGPC),

MUZAFFARABAD:
The intra-Kashmir bus service, which completes six years this year, has served to reunite 15,976 Kashmiris divided by the Line of Control (LoC).

Officials from Indian Kashmir and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) exchanged greetings and sweets at the LoC bridge in Chakothi to mark the sixth anniversary of the bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar that began on April 7, 2005, as a confidence-building measure between sparring India and Pakistan. Initially started as a fortnightly service, in August 2008, buses began travelling on a weekly basis. Following the service’s success, another bus service was launched on June 6, 2006, between Rawalakot in Pakistan and Poonch in India.

Pakistan Muthida Kisan Mahaz (PMKM) has started a movement to condemn Indian water aggression against Pakistan and to foil the Indian plan of depriving Pakistan from its share of water in the rivers irrigating both the countries by building dams on Chenab, Jehlum and Sindh.
The protest movement has been launched from Mirpur (AJK) where PMKM chief Muhammad Ayub Khan Mayo will apprise the media about impact of construction of Kishan Ganga Dam on Pakistan’s agriculture, Mangla Dam and cities of AJK.

Jammu, Indian Occupied Kashmir : In a bid to boost the people-to-people contact between two sides of Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir government is examining proposals for re-opening more pre-Partition routes across the Line of Control (LoC) that divides this state between India and Pakistan.

Family members of the former militant commander Muhammad Ahsan Dar on Wednesday rejected the police claim that he was involved in the murder of Nazir Ahmad Lone of Kreeri Baramulla in north Kashmir.
 Dar’s elder son Zubair Ashan Dar termed the accusations leveled against Dar as “unfounded and uncalled for.”

Rawalakot : 10 alleged terrorists have been arrested by Rawalakot police in a search operation today. Operation was conducted on the basis of information provided by some undisclosed persons which was later verified by security agencies. SP poonch Riaz Bukhari told the news that the alleged terrorists were arrested from a house from the town area "Kasai Gali" in Rawalakot. 7 of those 10 belong to Swat, Pakistan and 3 are the local people. It's said that they were also involved in the terror activities that took place last year in Rawalakot and adjoining areas. Police told that further actions will be taken on the basis of information provided by these alleged persons.

KARACHI, March 27: A young man was gunned down by unidentified men on M.A. Jinnah Road near the Radio Pakistan building in the early hours of Sunday.A duty officer at the Preedy police station said that the victim was in his early 20s and his body had been shifted to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.The incident occurred at around 2am when

Islamabad: Prime Minister Azad Jammu Kashmir Sardar Atiq Ahmed Khan (AJK) has announced half-day public holiday during World Cup Semi final between India and Pakistan in Mohali on Wednesday.

According to sources

JOSEPH LELYVELD’S hypothesis (in his just released book Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India) that Mahatma Gandhi left Kasturba to spend two years with his architect associate Hermann Kallenbach to further an alleged homosexual relationship, exposes a complete disregard for facts. 

In October 2010, Mohammad Abdullah alias Abdullah Inqualabi held a meeting around 10 fellow terror operatives in Shopian of Jammu & Kashmir on the instructions of his handlers sitting in Pakistan. The coming together of all these terror operatives was an indication that Pakistan-based outfits are pooling in their resources.


It was decided in the meeting that Inqualabi will go to Delhi to set a base there and start preparing for a spectacular strike. But before he could make headway in his plan he was arrested by the special cell of Delhi in an Intelligence Bureau (IB) backed operation.


More : Continue here

To admire Geelani, it is not necessary to subscribe to his political views. But like it or not  he has made his place in the hearts & minds of  Kashmiris, young & old. In fact he has already occupied the centre-stage of Kashmir politics, wherefrom it will be impossible to de-throne him in immediate future.
In more ways than one, India itself is responsible for this situation and the mess it is finding  itself in Kashmir today. By indulging in  political misadventures from day one, sheer apathy & indifference towards the political aspirations of people, the promotion of unaccountable governance, the  grievances of Kashmiris' have  transformed into despair & hatred throughout the Kashmir valley.
More : Continued here

Islamabad : Sihala Road, connecting the sensitive Kahuta, has been in a dilapidated condition for more than three years.

The section of the road passing through the Model Town Humak needs repair as whenever it rains it becomes impossible for motorists to pass through it. ‘The News’ learnt that dozens of serious accident occurred on the road because of its dilapidated condition in which many precious lives were lost. 

Sihala Road was constructed in the 1970s and its carpeting was done on the directives of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan.

The single track dilapidated road is the only source for all kinds of traffic to approach the Model Town Humak, Sihala, Kahuta and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Motorists are facing great difficulties in driving their vehicles on the road. A major portion of Sihala Road, between Humak village and Model Town Humak, remains inundated in sewage.

Heavy traffic plies on Sihala Road because of industrial area. There are more than 100 big and small industrial units along the road. 

Talking to ‘The News,’ motorists and residents of the Model Town Humak, said that they have submitted several applications with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for repair and renovation of the road, but all in vain. The heavy traffic, including 20-wheelers, trucks and public transport, passes through the road.

Model Town Mohallah Committee General Secretary Malik Muhammad Nasir said that the concerned department and elected members are not taking interest in the development of the locality. “We are facing great difficulties due to dilapidated condition of Sihala Road.”

When ‘The News’ contacted CDA spokesman Malik Muhammad Saleem, he said that they would start repair work on Sihala Road soon. He admitted that Sihala Road is a busy road and used for heavy traffic

MUZAFFARABAD (INP): AJK flood affectees have blamed the Revenue Department of Azad Jammu and Kashmir of awarding Watan cards to the influential people of the area while deserving and poor genuine people have been deprived of this facility. A group of flood-hit people of AJK told INP that deserving people have not been given Watan cards by the Revenue Department of AJK because the poor people have neither any approach to the officials nor they can influence them to acquire the cards. Sources said that merely less than 3 percent deserving people had been given the Watan cards and rest of them have been ignored because the officials of the Revenue Department were only considering the cases of only influential people and ignoring the applications of the deserving one. "Our cases were not considered by the officials of the Revenue Department because we have neither any money to bribe them to consider our applications nor we have other means to influence them," the flood-effectees blamed. All the benefits extended by the government of Pakistan to the flood-hit people including the Watan cards were being enjoyed by the affluent and those who have terms with the officials of Revenue Department, they accused.

Source : The frontier post

LONDON, March 11 (APP)- Azad Kashmir Police has decided to establish an overseas police complaint cell for the British Kashmir Diaspora to deal with their grievances.The decision was announced by Tarik Khokhar, Inspector-General, Police, Azad Kashmir, while addressing a community meeting at Slough on the outskirts of London last evening.The IG who is currently on an official visit to the UK on the invitation of the Home office and Metropolitan Police, has met members of Kashmiri and Pakistanis communities in various cities of the UK to know first-hand their grievances from the police administration in Azad Kashmir.
Khokhar told the meeting that he was fully aware of the problems faced by expatriate Pakistanis including cases of kidnap for ransom, police heavy-handedness, lack of response, tribal-oriented litigation and targeting of the overseas Pakistanis by the criminal gangs including some rotten apples from within the police services.
He told the community that the decision to set up the cell was taken on the demand of the expatriate community members.

“The Complaint Cell has been established in the Central Police office (IGP Office), Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu & Kashmir to receive process, inquire and redress the complaints of the overseas community on a fast track basis,” Khokhar told the meeting.
He said that the Complaints cell will be monitored and supervised directly by the Inspector General of Police, AJK, and managed by the Personal Staff Officer (PSO) to IGP on daily basis.
Khokhar also informed the community of the serious problems the police force in AJK was facing due to the economic situation of Pakistan and the lack of funds.
He said with a shoe-string budget the police was doing everything to perform their duties in the best possible manner and to serve the communities.
He informed how the police wants to map all the major AJK cities with CCTV cameras to keep an eye on criminal elements who take advantage of the lack of modern surveillance technology.
He also informed of the plans to set up small mobile units at the grassroots level in major cities to create a better and direct policing interaction with the local communities.
He appealed to the communities to also assist the police in improving its operations, not through monetary grants but taking interest in neighbourhood and community projects in collaboration with the police.
The IGP invited the community to interact with the AJK police to create a better sense of things and to improve the situation at every level of the policing.

LAHORE - Defending champion WAPDA secured their first victory in the 46th National Men's Volleyball Championship, easing past a weak challenge from AJK in straight sets 25-13, 25-14, 25-10 here on Saturday at WAPDA Sports Complex. Four other matches were decided on the second day as all the top teams including Navy, PAF, Punjab and Police staged wins. WAPDA led throughout the match against lowly AJK, who failed to match the speed and agility of their fast moving opponents. AJK lacked in stamina and technique. WAPDA maintained an iron grip through Aimal Kahn, Farooq Khan, Mohib Rasool and Muhammad Imran.
Meanwhile, PAF routed Higher Education Commission in straight sets 25-17, 25-19, 25-16. PAF spikers demonstrated brilliance and coordination to outplay HEC. Muhammad Saqib Moon and Ismail Khan played key role in PAF’s success. Army had an easy sailing over Sindh as they beat them in straight sets 25-15, 25-6, 25-6, exhibiting quick moves and powerful serve game. Navy overpowered FATA in a one sided affair 25-9, 25-9, 25-13. Navy remained in total control throughout the match as Wasit Ali and Syed Shuja Abbas led from the front. In another match, Punjab beat Balochistan 25-19, 25-14, 25-15 Today’s Matches: KPK v Navy, Railways v WAPDA, Punjab v Army, Police v PAF and Sindh vs Balochistan.

New Delhi, March 26: India will not want Shahid Afridi’s boys to prolong their stay in the country by winning Wednesday’s match, but some others from across the frontier are welcome to longer visits.

New Delhi today “unilaterally” eased travel restrictions across the Line of Control (LoC) to increase people-to-people contact.

Visitors from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) can now stay in Jammu and Kashmir for up to six months and will be allowed multiple entries, the foreign office said.

The move comes a day after Manmohan Singh invited Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to watch the March 30 India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final at Mohali. Gilani and his wife are likely to come although an official confirmation is awaited from Islamabad.

Till now, the entry permit for cross-LoC travel remained valid for four weeks, with a provision for a two-week extension at the discretion of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

A further two weeks could be added in case of health or family emergencies if the foreign ministry and the state government so recommended.

The multiple-entry offer, too, is new: only one-time travel was allowed across the LoC on a single permit.

A foreign ministry statement said: “To encourage more people-to-people contact across the Line of Control, the Government of India has unilaterally decided to increase the stay period for the persons visiting Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) to six months with multiple entries.”

At their meeting in Thimphu in February, the two countries’ foreign secretaries had agreed that their governments should take steps to increase people-to-people contact.

Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir had also agreed that the two sides should resume dialogue on all issues, and that Bashir would visit India by July to review with Rao “the progress in the dialogue process”.

That meeting is to be followed by one between the two foreign ministers. But before all this, the two countries will have their bureaucrats meet and discuss a range of issues.

These include “counter-terrorism (including progress on the 26/11 trial in Pakistan), humanitarian issues, peace and security, including confidence-building measures, Jammu and Kashmir, promotion of friendly exchanges, Siachen, economic issues, the Wullar Barrage and Tulbul navigation project, and Sir Creek”.

As part of this “comprehensive dialogue”, the two home secretaries are scheduled to meet in New Delhi on March 28-29, that is, on the eve of the World Cup semi-final.

Sources said Singh might take the opportunity to discuss with Gilani, on the sidelines of the match, what “deliverables” can be achieved by July. More so, because the bureaucratic talks may become long-drawn given that both countries have lobbies opposed to the resumption of the dialogue process.

A young Pakistani fan at the Wagah border on Saturday. He is on his way to Mohali to cheer his team in the March 30 semi-final. (PTI)

Date for the General Elections for Legislative assembly has not been announced so far but it is believed that elections are going to be by the end of June 2011. Opposition parties, particularly Pakistan People's party AJK is criticizing the Attique khan's government for deliberately delaying the elections. While all this mess prevails, the ruling party Muslim conference is going deep and deep in troubles with each passing day and as a wild estimate, almost half of the Muslim conference has already joined Pakistan Muslim League (N) AJK which is headed by Sardar Sikander Hayat and Raja Farooq Haider. It is said that 8 more ministers including Sardar Najeeb Naqi, Chaudhary Rukhsar and many others are also in contact with PML(N) while Mehmood Riaz has been approached by Pakistan People's Party. Even the personal charisma of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan has not worked here and Muslim conference is probably facing the worst crises of its history. Political Gurus are throwing blame on Sardar Attique khan for putting Muslim conference in such crises.





Election campaigns have been started by almost all the political parties at some level and corner meetings and rallies are going on. Candidates has not been decided yet by most of the political parties but potential candidates are found in public to grasp the support from them. Pakistan Peoples party is considered to be the strongest party in these elections. Mirpur & Bhimber are the strongholds of PPP while Sardar Qamar Zaman from Bagh, Sardar Yaqoob khan from Rawalakot, Chaudhary Lateef Akbar form Muzaffarabad and Mian Waheed from Neelum are also among the strong candidates for assembly from their respective constituencies.  Sardar Mohammad Hussain, Sardar Akhtar Rabbani and Sardar Ghulam Sadiq are also giving tough times to the opponents in Sudhnuti.

ISLAMABAD, March 23: Given the frequency of natural disasters in the world and the devastation that they cause, one would have expected public institutions to welcome offers of training in survival methods, but not the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE).

According to a senior official, the FDE showed no interest in the offer of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to train some 400,000 students in its institutions in disaster management training free of cost.

CDA`s emergency and disaster management (EDM) directorate had sent a letter containing the offer to the director general of the FDE a few months back but got no response.

The official said the EDM wing had highlighted the importance of the training to cope with any natural disaster, especially an earthquake.

“The CDA had offered the FDE director general that its EDM wing can impart disaster management training to the 400,000 students studying in around 400 educational institutions in the capital,” said the official.

He said looking at the rising disasters the world over, a proper training programme for the students on disaster management drills would be highly beneficial to save lives. However, it seems that the FDE is not interested in the offer, he regretted.

“The EDM wing is capable of imparting training to such a large number of students within a few months.”

The official said they had even sent a reminder to the FDE but still there was no response.

In our reminder: “We have drawn her attention towards the much needed training which can be vital for saving lives during natural disasters.”

He said the EDM wing had skilled manpower, machinery and gadgets for running life-saving rescue operations during disasters. The authority also has a canine unit having several dogs trained on search and rescue operations.

“We have also prepared the training programme and assigned rescue workers to train the students,” he said.

It may be noted that several thousands students were killed in the October 2005 earthquake which hit parts of northern Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir.

When this scribe contacted the FDE Director General Shaheen Khan, she said she was not aware of any such letter sent by the CDA.

“I will see it (on Thursday)…I have to go through and check the files,” she responded when her attention was drawn towards the matter relating to almost 400,000 students.

“You can remind me (on Thursday) and then I will be in a position to give you an answer,” she said.

Yesterday 447 bottles of Wine were confiscated by AJK Police from Rawalakot area during a search operation.  The alleged Abdul Shakoor has been arrested and investigation has been started. Police told that the alleged person was also involved in the dealings on illegal weapons and is doubted to be also involved in a theft case which took place last week. It's a great achievement from the AJK police and it really deserves an applaud.