Dr. Jitender Singh lauds role of Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir

The famous green-eyed 'Afghan girl' Sharbat Bibi who was immortalised in the 1985 National Geographic magazine was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Peshawar on Wednesday for living in the country with fraudulent identity papers.

According to FIA sources, she was arrested from her home in Peshawar for forgery of an illegal Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), reports the Express Tribune.

Last year in February, news had surfaced that Bibi and her two sons were issued CNICs, a claim which the National Database and Registration Authority NADRA officials denied.

She had appealed to the NADRA chairman to take notice of the issue and form an inquiry committee to expose the persons involved, as the K-P NADRA authority had failed in this regard.

Bibi shot to global fame after National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry clicked her photograph when she was around 12 years old at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp, situated on the edge of Peshawar.

A short documentary was also made by National Geographic about her life and dubbed her the 'Mona Lisa of Afghan war'. (ANI)

By Jaibans Singh

New Delhi [India], Oct.26 (ANI): On the occasion of Accession Day, celebrated in commemoration of signing of the Instrument of Accession of his state to the Union of India by Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, a symposium was held at the at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti Bhawan, New Delhi.

The main speaker in the symposium was Dr. Jitender Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), who also hails from the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The other speakers were Maroof Raza, a defence and strategic expert and Jawaharlal Kaul, President of the Jammu and Kashmir Study Centre (JKSC).

Dr. Jitender Singh, hailed Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of the state as a patriot who has been misunderstood and misrepresented for his role in the accession process simply because he chose to maintain a dignified silence.

Instead of creating political ripples he chose to lead a quiet life in Bombay after having acceded his state to the Indian Union.

Dr, Jitender Singh, said that separatist and divisive elements in Jammu and Kashmir pursue a self-centred agenda based on personal ambitions. He said that if the separatists are so concerned about the future of Jammu and Kashmir they should make at least dedicate one member of their family as a stone pelter so as to identify with the cause.

While showering wholesome praise upon the Indian Army and the Indian soldier for maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation against tremendous odds and at great risk to their lives, Dr. Jitender Singh said that due thought needs to be given to the gross human rights violation that they suffer in the hands of the terrorists.

He rued the fact that certain section of media and so-called intellectuals speak of human rights of terrorists and disruptive forces who are, by themselves, perpetrators of human rights violations.

Finally, Dr. Jitender Singh said that there was no dispoute in Jammu and Kashmir other the challenge of getting back such areas of the state that are under illegal occupation by Pakistan.

The Indian Army landed in Srinagar on 27 October, post the signing of the instrument of Accession by Maharaj Hari Singh and, against great odds, saved the people of Jammu and Kashmir from large scale massacre, rape, loot and arson in the hands of the mercenary hordes of Tribal's of the North West Frontier province of Pakistan under the leadership of officers from the Pakistan Army to annex the state. The resultant action is known as the Indo-Pakistan war of 1947-48.