“Holland Hopes to Keep Tutoring Program” plus 2 more |
- Holland Hopes to Keep Tutoring Program
- A Youth's Death in Kashmir Renews a Familiar Pattern of Crisis
- Vineland school official claims Ulrich acted improperly
| Holland Hopes to Keep Tutoring Program Posted: 12 Jul 2010 12:18 AM PDT Holland Hopes to Keep Tutoring Program Teaching Skills and Sharing Knowledge: Nowicki is New Program Director for RCC Voss Receives Kiwanis International's Highest Award Winter, Hintz and Fentzke Earn Eagle Rank Uncovering the History of the Roycrofters: Morton is Leading Archeological Dig at Campus Ackermann Wants Marilla to Limit Flyer Clutter Walk for Independence Moves to Elma Village Green Ormsby Recognizing Graduating Seniors Historic Past, Promising Future: Changes Underway at the Roycroft Campus Iroquois to Seek New Superintendent After Retreat Judge Orders Return of Some Seized Horses EA Police Qualify at Area Club Marilla and Wales Criticize EMW Sports Request Elma Open to Senior Housing Proposal Parents Question Holland UPK Choices Rink Roof Construction Starts Soon Village Gives Green Light to Towne Bistro Goat Farm Worries in Wales Made In America Store Grows Legislators Plan to Meet with Firefighters Aurora Parade and Fireworks on Saturday to Mark Nation's Independence, Elma Fireworks are on Sunday Changes are Coming to Movies in the Park Holland Class Creating Hovercraft [Article and Video] Travel Info Links Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| A Youth's Death in Kashmir Renews a Familiar Pattern of Crisis Posted: 11 Jul 2010 11:14 PM PDT SRINAGAR, Kashmir -- On June 11, as Tufail Ahmad Mattoo headed home from a tutoring center where he was studying for the medical entrance exam, a tear gas canister fired from close range bashed a hole in his skull. He died almost instantly. That morning Mr. Mattoo, 17, had been simply a student with a rucksack full of books. By day's end, he was being called a martyr for the disputed region of Kashmir, and the next day, against his family's will, he was buried in the Martyrs Graveyard of Srinagar. Since then at least 15 Kashmiris have died here in the capital and a few other places, most of them young men killed in encounters with Indian security forces or the Kashmiri police. More than 270 security officers have been injured in confrontations with stone-throwing mobs of youths. The events that have unfolded here over the past month followed a script that has played out every summer for three years. In 2008 dozens of Kashmiris died and everyday life was paralyzed in disputes over land for Hindu pilgrims. Last year protests flared after two young women were found dead by a stream in the town of Shopian. It appeared that they had been raped and killed by security forces, but Indian investigators concluded they had accidentally drowned. This summer, a fresh crisis has emerged, with Mr. Mattoo's death the catalyst. Since then, stone-throwing mobs have confronted security forces almost daily. A government clampdown, which included several days of strict curfew that ended Sunday and the deployment of the Indian Army on the outskirts of this restive city for the first time in more than a decade, have brought a semblance of calm. But few believe the peace will last. The partition of British India divided Kashmir between India and Pakistan. But both countries, now armed with nuclear weapons, continue to claim the Himalayan region. These days, though, the battle for Kashmir comes from within. Tens of thousands of Indian security officers are deployed here, shielded from scrutiny by special laws, and many angry Kashmiris say they act with impunity, like an occupying force. The political class in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is deeply divided between squabbling mainstream parties, which favor embracing union with India, and separatists who seek independence and have refused to participate in elections. Many Kashmiris see the elected state government as an impotent puppet of New Delhi, a perception reinforced by its decision last week to call in the Indian government to quell the rising chaos. The region's economy remains in tatters, and the growing ranks of jobless young men are on the front lines of the stone-throwing mobs. By some measures, Kashmir had been enjoying a season of tranquillity. Militant violence was lower than at any time since a separatist insurgency swept across the region in 1989. Infiltrations from Pakistan had ebbed. Tourists, from India's growing middle class and from abroad, flocked to the Kashmir Valley. In 2008 Kashmiris voted in record numbers, which many took as a sign that the separatist urge had faded. A new state government led by the fresh-faced scion of Kashmir's best-known political family took the reins. Hope for a new era was in the air. But Mr. Mattoo's death and its chaotic aftermath have laid bare Kashmir's inner turmoil. "The hope which was generated in the elections has turned into despair," said Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami, who represents the Communist Party of India in the State Assembly. "The current state of affairs reflects the disillusionment and disappointment of the people." Indeed, for all the talk of Kashmir's embrace of Indian-style democracy during the 2008 election, it is clear that not all Kashmiris feel that the election solved their problems. Areas where turnout was lowest are those where trouble routinely erupts -- the separatist strongholds of Sopore and Baramulla, as well as Srinagar's tough downtown neighborhoods. So far the state and central governments have not figured out how to integrate those who have rejected electoral democracy and union with India. Omar Abdullah, 40, has been the state's chief minister, its top elected official, since his party won the most seats in the 2008 election and formed an alliance with the Congress Party. With his youth and family pedigree -- his grandfather, Sheik Mohammad Abdullah, was one of the state's earliest and best-loved political leaders -- many here hoped Mr. Abdullah would lead Kashmir from bitter, armed struggle to peaceful prosperity. But it has not turned out that way. His critics call him aloof and not up to the challenge. In an interview, Mr. Abdullah tried to swat away that notion. "Everybody has an opinion on how I should do my job," he said. "Everyone who has an opinion thinks they can do my job better than me." Still, he acknowledged, democracy has not delivered everything people hoped it would. "The towns where you are seeing these protests are the areas where people did not come out to vote," he said. "They are areas where mainstream politics has little or no say." That would include a neighborhood a few blocks from his house, where residents seethed under curfew restrictions. Friday Prayer, normally offered at one of the city's big mosques, was held locally instead. "Curfew is imposed just to break the will of the people," said a young sociology student who gave his name as Sheik. "Kashmir is a simmering volcano. There is a semblance of peace, but it is a fragile and weak peace." In Maisuma, one of the city's most troubled neighborhoods, residents were locked down, surrounded by heavily armed police officers, and no one was allowed in or out. On July 6 the police shot Abrar Khan, 16, in the throat, family members said, and the curfew prevented relatives from going to the cemetery to pray over his grave. "He was an innocent boy," said the victim's brother, Hilal Ahmed Khan. "The government here has totally failed. They are just murdering the people." Other residents had equally scathing words for opposition politicians and separatist groups, which have jockeyed to take advantage of the current chaos. When Mr. Mattoo died, his parents wanted to bury him in the family graveyard. But an angry mob, led by separatist activists, had other ideas. "They said, 'This is your son, but he belongs to us,' " said Rafiq Bazaz, a neighbor and lawyer who is representing the family. The boy's father, Mohamed Ashraf Mattoo, said he tried to reason with the separatists, but they would not budge. He said he felt betrayed. He has been trying without success to lodge a criminal case against the officers who fired the tear gas canister at his son. Political leaders simply want to exploit the youth's death, he said. "To them it is a comedy," Mr. Mattoo said. "But my son was murdered in cold blood." Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| Vineland school official claims Ulrich acted improperly Posted: 12 Jul 2010 01:43 AM PDT VINELAND -- The Cunningham Alternative School assistant principal charged with bilking the school district's home tutoring program is pursing an ethics charge against a school board member. John L. Sammons Jr. alleges board member Thomas Ulrich improperly used his role as a Vineland Police Department detective to convince other board members to pursue tenure charges against him. Administrative Law Judge William Miller, based in Atlantic City, has scheduled a telephone prehearing conference Aug. 13 to discuss the complaint. Police in March 2009 charged Sammons with theft by deception, official misconduct and tampering with public records, accusing him of billing the school district $25 an hour for home tutoring services he never provided. District officials launched an investigation after a routine audit noted Sammons was the school system's eighth highest-paid employee. During the 2007-08 school year, Sammons was paid an additional $17,325 for home tutoring that boosted his salary to $129,025. The New Jersey School Boards Association Insurance Group has assigned an attorney to represent Ulrich in the ethics complaint, which he categorized as "baseless." Ulrich, who is now the board's vice president, declined further comment noting, "I cannot comment on an open criminal investigation." Sammons alleges that although Ulrich, a city police lieutenant, refrained from voting during the April 22, 2009, meeting to certify tenure charges against Sammons, he "improperly influenced" his fellow board members to do so. The tenure charges started a lengthy process by the district to attempt to terminate Sammons from his position. He has been suspended without pay since the tenure vote. "The vote of the Vineland Board of Education was due to an investigation conducted by Lt. Detective Tom Ulrich who is both a member of the Vineland Police Department and member of the Vineland Board of Education," attorney David Nash, who represents Sammons, stated in the complaint. Nash was hired by the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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