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NEW DELHI SATURDAY7 APRIL 2012
VOLUME 9
I S S U E
14FREE.FAIR.FEARLESS
Has General VK Singh’sgame gone too far?BY BRIJESH PANDEY P36
CHIEFBIGTRICKS?
Society&Lifestyle } ‘I Want My Sex-Change on TV’ P50
P R I M E T I M ECONFESSIONS
J&K EX-MILITANTSHARD HOMECOMING P10
BANI FOREST WHY WE MUSTSAVE THIS GREEN PATCH P14
SRI LANKA Heal the Wounds or Another Prabhakaran Will Rise P44
The Karnataka State Minorities Commission (KSMC) claimsthe scam runs into 22,000 acres of encroached land worth
2 lakh crore. How did you arrive at that figure?The total value of Wakf properties is close to 5 lakh
crore. 54,000 acres of Wakf land is in cities. 20,000 acres ofland is not registered by owners for fear of land grabbers.Apart from land, there are 23,740 registered properties andaround 18,000 unregistered properties. The most famousWakf property in Bengaluru is the Windsor Manor Hotelworth more than 1,500 crore. In Bidar, the value of theWakf property is close to 25,000 crore.
At what point did you feel the need for such a survey? Wasn’tan inventory of the Wakf properties done before?During my several inspection tours all over the state, Ifound large-scale encroachment of Wakf land. It was happening with the connivance of the officials of the Wakfdepartment and the local land mafia. I took up Bidar as a pilot project and ordered a thorough investigation.
What has been the modus operandi of the scam?There isn’t just one single modus operandi, there are sever-al. It includes the head of the Wakf Board denotifying theWakf land and later transferring it in his name. Anothermodus operandi is that Board members issue the requisiteno objection certificate (NOC) for the land, stating that theBoard has no right over this property. They then sell theland at a throwaway price.
Questions are being raised on the timing of the report. OnlyCongress ministers have been named in it. Is it to balance thenegative publicity received by the BJP in the state?It is absolutely ridiculous. There is no balancing act beingdone here. My report is based on plain facts.
So apart from the Congress, who else is named in it?I wouldn’t like to comment on this now; as it violates thesanctity of the report.
At any point, were you stopped from bringing out the report?The current Wakf Board Chairman Riaz Khan offered me abribe of 4 crore in January to stop me from bringing it out.Apart from that, I received several threats to my life.
What kind of obstacles did you face in the course of your survey and investigation?I must say that I faced absolute non-cooperation from theWakf Board officials. I was not able to access the archives ofthe Board, which could have revealed the true extent of thescam. But I also received great help from a lot of people including some upright government officials like SameerShukla, the deputy commissioner of Bidar. Most of all, therewas a lot of help and support from the members of the Mus-lim community in Karnataka. People who heard of the workI was doing, contacted me and gave documents pertainingto the illegal land grab. It was by following up these leadsthat I was able to uncover what had taken place.
How are you planning to get back the encroached land?According to a Supreme Court judgment, once a Wakf land,always a Wakf land. We have already suggested for aLokayukta probe and demanded that the encroached landbe given back to the Board.
Is the Board also planning to register cases against the ministers/legislators and officials who have been held responsible in your report?We don’t have the mandate to take suo moto action. We area recommending body. But if any complaint is sent to usthen we can direct the government to take action.
Wakf Boardchairman
offered me 4crore as bribe’
KSMC Chairman Anwar Manippady tellsIMRAN KHAN that encroached land should begiven back to the Karnataka Wakf Board
7 APRIL 2012 TEHELKA 3PHOTO: KPN
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SATURDAY 7.4.2012
ONWWW.TEHELKA.COM
SURGICAL STRIKE The health departmentin J&K cracks the whipon private nursinghomes as many patientswere allegedly forced to undergo hysterectomy BY RIYAZ WANI
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PROS & CONS FLAVIA AGNES
Women who aren’t financiallyindependent may get a raw
deal in the new divorce laws
~ 14 ~
KILLING GREENS JANANI GANESAN
The NCR’s vital groundwaterrecharge zone could soon give
way to an amusement park
~ 18 ~
BURIED CASE? PRAKHAR JAIN
Four years after the SalwaJudum burnt a man to death,
justice remains elusive
Former militants lured home by Omar Abdullah’srehabilitation policy face plenty of roadblocks
KASHMIR | BABA UMAR
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KASHMIR
SIMPLE MATHS Poverty estimationneeds to be simplifiedwith the availability ofraw data so that laymencan understand the government estimates BY SHAFEEQ RAHMAN
POVERTY
DOUBLE DISASTER Trouble is brewingas Ghazipur residentsoppose an incinerationplant, even aswaste-pickers fearloss of livelihood BY JANANI GANESAN
DELHI
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FORMER MILITANTS
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His son, Hanzala, 5, and daughter Hais, 6,now study in the school his wife teachesin (see box).
Many such former militants, some withlittle knowledge of war and arms, had entered into a deadly conflict with the Statethat has dragged on until now. However,with Pakistan and India nudging each other for peace, and insurgency in Kashmirat its lowest ebb, former rebels like Rashidare trying to reclaim the lives they had leftdecades ago. Abdullah’s announcement of a “proper” militants’ rehabilitation policy has only added to that hope of coming back.
The policy, announced in 2010, is con-ditional on a ‘change of heart’. It includesidentification, monitoring, debriefing, rehabilitation and reintegration of formerrebels into normal life. It requires theirparents to file surrender applications before the Superintendents of Police con-cerned; the ex-rebels can also file applica-
tions on their own tothe Indian High Com-mission in Pakistan.The applications arethen scrutinised by var-ious intelligence agen-cies, and if cleared, the
rebels can enter the state. The four entrypoints identified for return include Uri-Muzaffarabad, Poonch-Rawalakote, Wagah(Punjab) and the Indira Gandhi Interna-tional Airport, New Delhi. Those surren-dering will, however, be tried for casespending against them.
According to recent government figures,the state has received 1,034 applicationsso far, of which 67 cases have been recom-mended and the decision is still awaitedfrom the Union home ministry. However,mere news of the policy, sources say, hastriggered the homecoming of almost 40youth. According to sources, all of themreturned to the Valley via Nepal and UttarPradesh and surrendered before the policebefore they actually reached home.
“There are hundreds of youth, mostlymarried to local girls who want to comeback to lead peaceful lives,” says ManzoorAhmad Bhat of Landoora, Hajipora, 7 kmfrom Shopian town. Bhat returned to theValley on 8 March 2010, almost eightmonths before the state Cabinet had ac-tually approved the rehabilitation policy.It was in 1990 when Bhat (15 then) left forPakistan for arms training. But he aban-doned the camp and started working as asalesman. “I was with an NGO that workedfor the rehabilitation of the 2005 earth-quake victims,” he says.
The NGO Subahi-Nav paid him Rs54,000(in Pakistan currency) every month. Besides, a monthly relief of Rs1,200 —which the POK government offers to nearly40,000 Kashmiri refugees who crossedover to POK after 1989 — was enough to leada peaceful life. Bhat married a local girland has three children from her. However,after her death in September 2009, Bhat’sparents travelled to Muzaffarabad in thetrans-Kashmir bus service insisting theirson return for good.
“In Pakistan, I was earning good money.But I had to take care of my three children.I was missing my old parents too. So I decided to come back,” says Bhat. “Butnow I’m jobless.”
Y E A R S AG O, when Shafiq Ahmad Seh, 42, entered Lavahind, 3 km from Shopiantown, he was greeted with cheers. Butwhat he saw surprised him. “New houseshad sprung up everywhere,” he recounts.“Mud houses with thatched roofs were notvisible. Many, who until a few years agohad worked in our orchards, had their own
IN THE Urpara village of south Kashmir’sShopian province, Abdul Rashid Dar,in his late 30s, is tilling the eartharound the apple tree stumps in his
orchard with a spade. His mother feedsthe cattle while his father sips nun chai(traditional salt tea): a scene unthinkablejust months ago, before Rashid’s returnfrom Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pak-istan-occupied Kashmir (POK).
In between sips, Rashid’s father AbdulGani Dar talks about the long wait for hisson. “I wanted to see my eldest before mydeath,” he says in sentences broken withsobs. “My beard grew white during these21 years. Thanks to the government’s rehabilitation promise, my son is back.”
Immediately after 1989, when armedrebellion for an independent Kashmirgained momentum, Rashid, like thousandsof others, joined the fight against the security forces. A Class V passout and acarpet weaver, Rashid says he was only 17when he, along with his childhood friendSiraj-ud-Deen, left with a group of 30 youths in 1991 and crossed the Line ofControl (LOC) to join the pro-Pakistan Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
“For three months we were trained tooperate pistols and Kalashnikovs,” saysRashid as he plants the spade into the softground. “For the next three, small batchesof armed boys waited for their turn to crossover to the Valley. But before my turn cameI ran away from the camp.”
The change of heart led Rashid to domenial jobs in the streets of Muzaffarabaduntil one day when he ended up workingat a local gas distribution agency.
“My friend (Deen) had decided to stayback,” he recalls. “Later I learnt he waskilled trying to cross the LOC throughPoonch. He was gutsy. He wanted to fight.His priorities never changed.” The stressin his voice is unmistakable.
Rashid married Muzaffarabad-basedjournalist Shabina Naaz in 2003. Afterreading in a news portal about Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s announcementthat youth stranded in Pakistan-occupiedKashmir were welcome to restart a normallife, he returned to the Valley on 5 Novem-ber 2011 with his wife and two children.
W Back for worseManzoor Ahmad Bhatwith his children
S Digging rootsAbdul Rashid Dar andhis apple tree
The J&K government’s rehabilitation policy for former militantswho crossed the LoC is an unfulfilled promise, says BABA UMAR
