Kashmir
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| | CM, Rana acting as dons with Cable Operators: Sajad Lone | | | SRINAGAR, July 17 (KNS) Expressing his support to aggrieved cable operators, Peoples Conference Chairman Sajad Lone said the Chief Minister’s Political Advisor, Devender Rana was harassing the valley’s cable operators and acting as a don by arm-twisting and blackmailing the cable operators for his personal business interests.
Sajad stated that Rana who according to him has interests in Take One and JK channels has been using the Police to harass cable operators by blackmailing them to run his channels based in Jammu while local channels are still censored.
“A SP of J&K Police and a Dy SP have gone around and harassed cable operators yesterday under the supervision and orders of the CM’s Political Advisor. These cable operators have run the cable network in Srinagar for the past twenty years despite great odds and risk and around twenty one individuals belonging to these cable operation networks in Kashmir have lost their lives in the course of their work during the turmoil”, he said. Now, Devender Rana and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who were expatriates from Kashmir during the turmoil have the audacity to use State machinery for personal business gains, he said.
“Devender Rana who is a distributor for some national channels in the State holds a monopoly over airwaves and has been using this monopoly for conspicuous political motives despite his constitutional position in the government”, Sajjad alleged.
The Chief Minister, Sajad Lone added, was a part and parcel of this tragic mafia-like behaviour where local Kashmiri cable operators had to be subservient to distributors in Jammu, especially Rana – who has time and again resorted to political hooliganism for his personal business goals. Stating that this pattern of the valley entrepreneurs and businessmen being held under the captivity of Jammu based businesses had reached alarming and unacceptable proportions. Almost all C&F agents for various brands are based in Jammu while it’s an acceptable fact that Kashmir Valley sizes up to be a much bigger consumer market, he alleged. Sajad Lone stated that while he wasn’t against Jammu or the businessmen there, this state-sponsored pattern of disempowering and exploiting valley based businessmen and entrepreneurs is unacceptable and wont be allowed to go on.
Adding that he would personally join the valley based cable operators and even come out on the roads with them if they so choose, Sajad Lone said that the Chief Minister needs to put an end to his teenager antics and respect the constitutional chair that he holds. If the CM and his political advisor think that they can snatch the livelihood of those associated with the cable industry in Kashmir, they were living in a delusion as such a policy was no exposed before the people and will be resisted tooth and nail. Appealing all political parties including those leaders in National Conference who still own a conscience and have some humanity left in them to treat this as a national matter and not a political issue, Sajad Lone asked all quarters to stand up for the livelihood and rights of the cable operators and stand up against the hegemony and hooliganism of the CM and his political advisor in this issue. Stating that Devender Rana’s don-like behavior was unbecoming of a constitutional office holder of the government, Sajad Lone said that the government was in a habit of creating problems that would enrage the public and then resorted to atrocities against them by branding them as anti-national elements. Stating that he left the issue and the incident of an SP and DySP getting illegally involved in this purely corporate battle to the conscience of DGP Mr. K. Rajendra for whom he has respect and regard, Sajad Lone said that he hoped the DGP would take cognizance of this glaring misuse of police powers by the CM’s political advisor and initiate necessary disciplinary action against those who are found to be guilty. |
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| ‘Militant’ killed in Handwara encounter | | SRINAGAR, Jul 17: An unidentified ‘militant’ was killed in the wee hours today in an encounter with police and army at Batsunjhi in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, police said.
The militant, according to the police, was hiding in the forest near Jaba in the village. On a tip off, the police and army started a search operation overnight, resulting in a gunfight that ended at 9 AM with death of the ‘militant’.
“On receiving the information, the police and 6 RR jointly launch | | > Govt dismisses KAS officer for graft | | > 16-years on, son wants to see father’s grave | | > Laila Khan case | | > Army worries over infiltrations, happy about cricketing ties | | > 2 more Amarnath pilgrims die, toll toll rises to 85 |
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