M A I N   N E W S

Hizb rejects PM’s offer
Hurriyat, JKLF to meet today
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Nov 20 — While there has been a mixed reaction of militant outfits and mainstream political parties to the ceasefire offer of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Jammu and Kashmir, the All Party Hurriyat Conference is to respond tomorrow.

The APHC is holding a meeting of its executive members here tomorrow over the ceasefire offer for Ramzan beginning next week. The pro-Azadi, JKLF, a constituent of the APHC, is yet to react to the offer. The meeting in this connection is to be held here tomorrow in which top leaders including the chairman, Mohammad Yaseen Malik, is likely to participate.

Rejecting the ceasefire offer, several militant outfits including the Hizbul Mujahideen, which had announced a unilateral ceasefire in July, have described the move as meaningless. According to reports reaching from Pakistan, Syed Salahuddin, who heads the Jehad Council, an umbrella group of militant organisations there, the move has been rejected for the Government of India did not respond “positively to the Hizbul Mujahideen’s ceasefire in July.

Other frontline militant organisations operating in Kashmir, including Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jash-e-Mohammad, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Badr and Al-Umar have also rejected the ceasefire offer.

The ruling National Conference, Awami National Conference, State units of the BJP, the CPM, the PDP, have hailed the announcement of the Prime Minister.

The ANC chief, Mr G.M. Shah appealed to the militants to reciprocate with a similar gesture. He described it as encouraging and a political move “different from a bureaucratic approach”.

M.L. Kak adds from Jammu: The decision according to informed sources, is not as sudden as it is being made out. The Home Ministry, the Ministry for Defence and several Security and Intelligence agencies were seized of the matter for quite some time. Three factors are said to have precipitated the decision.

First, Shahi Imam had urged the Central Government to order ceasefire so that peace was restored in the state. The Imam had telephoned the Hizbul Mujahideen chief, Syed Salahuddin. Though what transpired between the two was not known, authoritative sources said the Imam had felt encouraged to pursue the peace process. The sources said the Centre accepted Shahi Imam’s plea for a ceasefire when he said that he would be visiting Srinagar shortly to continue his dialogue with rebel leaders. In fact he had invited Syed Salahuddin to Srinagar for a detailed discussion. It is yet not certain whether the Pakistani authorities would allow Salahuddin to cross over to Srinagar.

Secondly, the Union Home Ministry authorities had discussed the ceasefire issue with some top pro-government militants. In this connection the Awami League leaders had been in the forefront of demanding a ceasefire.

Thirdly, when Hizbul Mujahideen resumed operations after eight-day ceasefire an impression had gone round that the Government of India had backed out. And the Prime Minister has taken the initiative to set at rest speculations that the Government was averse to talks. And the Prime Minister has made it clear that the government would hold talks with any group that came forward.

UK, Russia hail India’s offer

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (UNI, PTI) — Russia and Britain today welcomed India’s unilateral ceasefire offer to militants and hoped that Pakistan and the militant groups would respond positively to end bloodshed and violence in the troubled state.

British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Peter Hain hoped that the ceasefire would help herald a new era of peace.

“I hope the militants and those who support them will respond positively to this encouraging move. This will create a climate which encourages resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan.’’

He said his government would persuade Pakistan to act with responsibility so that the era of instability ends in the region.

Asked whether Britain was ready to talk to Pakistan in this regard, he said, “Yes, we will” and added, “Our views will be made clear to them”.

Hain, who held wide-ranging discussions with Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Kumar Panja and Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, said, “I hope that the militants and those who support them will respond positively to this encouraging move.”

Russia today said India deserved to be “congratulated” for announcing suspension of combat operations.

“My only reaction is that India must be congratulated” for the ceasefire declaration, visiting Russian First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs V.I. Trubnikov told newsmen here.

Trubnikov is here to attend the first meeting of the Indo-Russian Joint Working Group of Afghanistan.

On efforts being made to nab Afghanistan-based Bin Laden, Trubnikov said the area of cooperation should not only be confined to Laden but its scope should be much wider.

“Without internal peace in Afghanistan, we will see every now and then the threat of terrorism and narcotic drugs emanating from the territory controlled by the Taliban,” he said.

BEIJING: China on Monday refrained from commenting on India’s decision to observe a unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir but hoped New Delhi and Islamabad would resolve their differences, including the vexed Kashmir issue, through peaceful means.

Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, who was actively involved in discussions with separatist leaders for bringing about peace in Jammu and Kashmir, today urged Pakistan to respond positively to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s unilateral ceasefire offer during the month of Ramzan.

Welcoming the ceasefire offer, the Shahi Imam said that Pakistan should take all possible steps to maintain peace and tranquillity in the valley during the holy month of fasting.

Syed Bukhari today held a telephonic conversation with senior Hurriyat leader Molvi Omer Farooq and sought his support for making the ceasefire a success. He urged the Hurriyat leaders to welcome such a bold step of the government as it would enable Muslims to offer prayers and attend other religious functions fearlessly during the month.

The Congress today decided to practice the wait-and-watch policy with regard to the government’s decision to suspend combat operations in Jammu and Kashmir during Ramzan.

“The party was considering the developments and shall convey its view shortly, may be tomorrow”, party spokesman Anand Sharma told newsmen when asked to comment on the government’s decision.

The CPM today welcomed the suspension of combat operations in Jammu and Kashmir, but said this should be followed by concomitant political steps for lasting peace in the state.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday said it would “closely watch” the developments arising out of the Indian ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir and the “intent and purpose” of New Delhi’s announcement.

The views of Kashmiri leadership, specially the Hurriyat Conference, would be of importance, Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Muhammad Khan said.

“We cannot overlook the fact that India had tried to exploit an offer of ceasefire by Hizbul Mujahideen in July last to sow dissension within freedom movement and to try to exclude Pakistan from negotiations for a solution of the Kashmir dispute,” Khan said at a press briefing.

The Pakistan spokesman said India must pursue the course of negotiations and dialogue with Pakistan, with the participation of the Kashmiri leadership, for a “just and durable” solution.

Ceasefire: ball in Pak’s court
Faces further isolation if it back-pedals
From T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 — In a move that has caught Pakistan on the backfoot, India has provided the necessary food for thought to Islamabad to stop the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir for restoring peace and restarting the stalled bilateral dialogue.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire during the holy month of a Ramzan beginning at the end of this month reaffirms New Delhi’s desire for a peaceful resolution of the protracted Kashmir tangle without compromising the country’s security interests.

J and K Pradesh Congress Committee chief Mohammed Shafi Qureshi failed to understand the relevance of the ceasefire with Ramzan. He had no doubt that the Prime Minister had been wrongly briefed about the perspectives of Islam.

However, highly placed sources in the government maintained that Mr Vajpayee’s gesture is another positive initiative on New Delhi’s part to pursue the path of peace.

These sources drew pointed attention to Mr Vajpayee’s unilateral ceasefire announcement in J and K being appreciated internationally with the major powers waiting to see how Pakistan responds to the proposal.

As evidenced in the past, Islamabad is weighing the pros and cons of India’s ceasefire announcement before offering any comment. New Delhi firmly believes if Islamabad back-pedals and continues with its machination of trying to whip up chaos in J and K through terrorist violence, the international community will once again have to take serious note of Pakistan’s intransigence in curbing the growing menace of Islamic fundamentalism.

Sources said Mr Vajpayee’s announcement of a unilateral ceasefire in J and K is subject to certain conditions has not been to Pakistan’s liking. Islamabad will have to respond which will provide a fresh insight to its line of thinking of aiding and abetting cross border terrorism. If Pakistan does not change tack, the powerful military establishment in that country is bound to get further isolated.

They said the timing of the Prime Minister’s announcement has nothing to do with the high profile wedding in Pakistan where senior leaders of Kashmir from either side of the Line of Control (LOC) indulged in much backslapping over the last few days. Both the All Party Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Amanullah Khan disclosed that they would discuss the Kashmir conflict in the next few days now that the wedding which brought the two families together is over.

Obviously, the decision to stop combat operations in Jammu and Kashmir was taken in the wake of proposals from various sides. After the talks with the Hizbul Mujahideen was scuttled by Pakistan five months back, the fatigue of the decade old Jehad is coming to the fore. Kashmiri militants in particular want to sit across the table with India and find a way out of the impasse.

Without undermining the intent of the Vajpayee government in trying to bring about peace and calm in war-torn J and K, Mr Qureshi, who has served as Governor and a Union Minister, regretted that the ceasefire proposal displayed a “complete lack of Islamic history by linking it wrongly with the fasting month of Ramzan.”

He was categoric that it would have been better to give the example of the Hudaibiya peace agreement under which “Prophet Mohammed had to retreat without performing the Haj by accepting the conditions which many Muslims resented at that time.” The Prophet agreed to those conditions with one purpose and intent that there should be peace between the people of Mecca and Medina. “That would have put Pakistan in a real tight spot,” Mr Qureshi added.

Anti-infiltration operations to continue: Advani

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (PTI) — Operations to check infiltration of militants along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border would continue notwithstanding ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir announced by the Centre for the holy month of Ramzan, Home Minister L.K. Advani said today.

Mr Advani told reporters here that “infiltration will not be allowed” and the security forces will have the right to retaliate if attacked.

The unilateral ceasefire, he said, “does establish our credentials with those who want peace and mainly with the people of Kashmir keen to see that this region which has been in the throes of very bloody turmoil in the last one and half decades gets a much and long-needed respite.

Talks with Pak ruled out

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (PTI) — Union Minister Omar Abdullah today ruled out possibility of tripartite talks involving Pakistan on the Kashmir issue but said doors were open for negotiations with militant organisations.

“We are prepared to talk to the militant outfits but there is no question of any tripartite parleys that involves Pakistan,” he said.