SRINAGAR: About 1,300 candidates on Sunday appeared in the common entrance examination for selection of Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and other ranks in the Army even as the Valley was reeling under official curfew and separatist-sponsored shutdown following the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat.
The examination was held in summer capital Srinagar and Pattan area of north-western Baramulla district.
The Army tweeted “Written Examination #IndianArmy JCOs & OR held at Srinagar & Pattan. 799 in Pattan & 493 in Srinagar appear today.”
A defence spokesman here told this newspaper that out of 815 candidates who had applied for JCOs post 799 appeared for the test at Pattan whereas in Srinagar out of 493 out of the 500 candidates who had applied for the posts reached the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regimental Centre at Rangreth in Srinagar for the examination.
“Candidates defying shutdown call and choosing their future is a clear message,” the spokesperson said.
In New Delhi, Minister of State at the PMO, Jitendra Singh, said, “Kashmiri youth are keen to be a part of mainstream development journey led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As they can see the enormous benefits which are now available to the youth in other states and they don’t wish to be deprived of that.”
The minister added that the youths in the Valley are very keen that normalcy be restored in the Jammu and Kashmr as soon as possible.
Singh who was reacting to Pakistan’s charge that Bhat was 'martyred extra-judicially' said that, regardless of what Islamabad says, India's approach towards Kashmir remains "clear and consistent". He said in an interview, "Regardless of what Pakistan says, it continues to be in denial mode on whatever has happened over the years. As far as India's approach is concerned it is clear and consistent."
Pakistan had while condemning the killing of Bhat and other militants by the Indian security forces also said that world powers must get New Delhi to stop targeting 'defenceless Kashmiris'. Responding to it, Singh said that is going to be no leniency as far as tackling terrorism is concerned.
Meanwhile, the Army said on Sunday that a civilian working as a porter with it was killed while another received injuries in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on Saturday. It added that the body of the slain porter was retrieved and handed over to his kin for last rites while the injured was evacuated to a medical facility.
The Army also said that it killed an "intruder" on the LoC in Poonch district on Sunday. "Soldiers noticed suspicious movement on the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector around 2.30 am. They opened fire killing one intruder whose identity is yet to be ascertained", the Army said.
In Uri area of Baramulla district, the locals have expressed doubt over the Army claim that the two persons it killed near the LoC on Friday could be militants or Pakistan army personnel. The Army had said that it had stopped an infiltration attempt backed by the Pakistan army along the de facto border and killed two members of a Pakistan army Border Action Team (BAT) who had crossed the de facto border and were very close to an Indian Army post located 600 metres from it (LoC). "The BAT action against the Indian Army patrol along the LoC in Uri sector was foiled. Two BAT terrorists have been killed. The operation continues," the spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said in a brief statement issued here on Friday.
The bodies of the slain men were handed over to the locals for the burial. Srinagar newspapers on Sunday quoted the residents and the gravediggers as saying that the duo was "very old persons possibly septuagenarian or octogenarian who could hardly be militants or soldiers."
