The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, November 26, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Talks with militants likely
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 25 — The Centre was preparing ground for talks with militants, the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Mr Girish Chandra Saxena, said today.

“Ground is being prepared for talks but no formal initiative has been taken so far”, Mr Saxena said after a three-hour meeting with the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, here.

Mr Saxena said the government stood by its offer of ceasefire even after the recent spate of killings in the state. The government, he said, would stick to its decision on not launching combat operations during Ramzan.

Those present at the meeting including the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, and the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, besides senior officials.

The move to prepare ground for talks with militants comes within days of the ceasefire announcement made by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. While not outrightly rejecting the ceasefire, militant groups have laid some preconditions for reciprocating the offer of ceasefire. Both Pakistani and the militant groups are also under international pressure to react positively to the initiative taken by the Indian Government.

The Hizbul Mujahideen had declared a unilateral ceasefire on July 24 which was responded by the government by withdrawing operations against the group. But talks between the Centre and the Hizbul failed after the militant group insisted on Pakistan’s inclusion in the talks. The ceasefire was called off by the Hizbul on August 8.

Meanwhile, Mr Mohammad Yusuf Taragami, lone CPM MLA in Jammu and Kashmir, has termed yesterday’s killing of five persons at Kishtwar in Doda district as an attempt by certain vested interests to sabotage the peace process initiated by Mr Vajpayee.

He said certain vested interests, working on diktats from across the border, were making a last-ditch attempt to stall the process which could bring peace to the state.

In another development, leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir Nationalist Front today met the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and sought her party’s support to their demand for reorganisation of the border state with separate statehood to Jammu and UT status to Ladakh.

The team led by front convener Tilak Raj Sharma apprised Mrs Gandhi of the alleged discrimination faced by the people of Jammu and Ladakh and their “cultural and linguistic differences”. The members of the delegation also met other Congress leaders, including Mr Madhav Rao Scindia, Mr Ahmed Patel and Ms Ambika Soni.

Pak ‘ready to respond’

ISLAMABAD, Nov 25 (UNI) — Pakistan was prepared to respond to India’s offer to ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir during Ramzan if “India improves upon the steps it has earlier taken”.

This was the impression gathered by Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone, during his one-to-one talk with Pakistan’s Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf here today.

The meeting took place at the invitation of Gen Musharraf.

Significantly, Mr lone was reported to have earlier turned down an invitation by Pakistan’s Minister for Kashmir Affairs Sarfaraz Abbas to meet him.

Bhat gets 6-yr RI for kidnapping Soz’s daughter

NEW DELHI, Nov 25 — A designated CBI court in Jammu has convicted Mohammed Yasin Bhat for kidnapping Ms Nahida Imtiaz, daughter of the former MP, Mr Saifuddin Soz.

The court found Bhat guilty for offences under the Indian Penal Code and sections of TADA and sentenced him to six years of rigorous imprisonment.

The investigations by the CBI revealed that the accused had kidnapped Ms Imtiaz on February 27, 1991 and had demanded the release of five militants of the Jammu Kashmir Student Liberations Front (JKSLF).

The Chandra Shekhar Government had reportedly released a Pakistan trained secessionist Mushtaq Ahmed, in exchange for the release of Ms Imtiaz.

The kidnapping of Mr Soz’s daughter was the second major kidnapping involving the kin of Jammu and Kashmir politicians.

In December 1989, Ms Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Home Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was kidnapped by militants.

She was released six days later after the V.P. Singh Government released eight separatists, including Pakistan-trained Sher Khan, Noor Mohammed Kalwal, Altaf Ahmed and Javed Ahmed Jargar.

In the Soz’s daughter kidnapping case, the CBI was asked to investigate the case by the Jammu and Kashmir Government and the investigating agency filed the charge sheet on December 18, 1992, in the designated court.