The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, December 20, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

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Clash rattles APHC leaders
Parleys on with opposing groups
Tribune News Service and agencies

JAMMU, Dec 19 — The clash between supporters and pro-Pakistan lobbyists outside the headquarters of the APHC in Srinagar has seemingly “rattled” senior leaders. During the past 36 hours, APHC leaders have been holding separate sessions with the two groups to bury the differences.

This morning the JKLF chief Mr Mohammad Yasin Malik, called on the APHC Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, at his residence. Informed sources said the two discussed the Sunday incidents and the strategy to be adopted during the next meeting of the executive committee of the APHC scheduled for Thursday.

Prof Bhat spent most of the day in the APHC headquarters meeting a cross-section of the Hurriyat supporters. Sources said the leaders have been informed that the ruckus created outside the APHC headquarters on Sunday had the patronage of activists belonging to the Muslim League and the Islamic Students League.

According to sources, the JKLF chief suspects the hand of these two organisations in creating a wedge between his organisation and the one headed by Syed Ali Shah. Inside reports say Islamic Student League President Shakeel Bakshi and Mr Yasin Malik have been opposing each other since the splint in the JKLF over four years ago.

At one stage, Mr Malik had demanded that representatives of these two organisations, who are members of the general council of the APHC, be expelled. However, the demand was not accepted and it is not known if Mr Malik will raise the demand again during the Thursday meeting.

The reason for the APHC leaders getting upset over the clashes is that in case of a ideological dispute between the JKLF, seeking ‘azadi’ for Kashmir, and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, favouring Kashmir’s “incorporation with Pakistan”, is taken to the streets, it can be easily exploited by foreign mercenaries.

These mercenaries, following a pro-Pakistan line, can attack those favouring ‘azadi’. If this happens, it could mean a serious setback to the peace process initiated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The APHC leaders have decided not to attach any importance to the incident. In fact, a decision has been

taken to project the APHC as a conglomerate of ‘one opinion and one principle’.

Prof Bhat has described the Sunday incident as nothing but a storm in a tea cup.

He has said if six or seven youths raise slogans, “it does not mean we are divided”.

Prof Bhat in a joint statement issued on Sunday said: “We have no differences.” He said it was up to the Government of India to grant permission to “us” for visiting Pakistan. He made it clear that the “visit to Pakistan for meeting militants is part of our programme to carry everybody with us in the crucial task of resolving the Kashmir dispute which held the key to peace and security in the South Asian region.”

He said the visit to Pakistan, if cleared by the Government of India, by releasing impounded passports of several APHC leaders, would be a “risky” one.

“We are prepared to take the risk in the interest of peace,” he added.

PM’s decision on ceasefire today

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (PTI) — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, will announce in Parliament tomorrow Centre’s decision on the issue of extension of Ramzan ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir even as he declared today that the government was ready to talk to anyone, including Pakistan, provided the situation in the state improved.

“Mai kal Parliament me kahoonga” (I would talk about it Parliament tomorrow), he told newspersons at an Iftar hosted by him when asked about reports that the government is considering extending the ceasefire.

However, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, who attended the Iftar, opposed the continuation of the ceasefire if the killings by militants did not stop. He said he had conveyed his views to the Prime Minister.

Informed sources said the Centre was considering extending the ceasefire.

Ultras’ response to ceasefire good: Army Chief
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 — Chief of Army Staff Gen S. Padmanabhan today said the response of the militant groups to the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir had been good and “we will move forward to other things”.

Asked whether the situation permitted any extension of the ceasefire beyond Ramzan, Gen Padmanabhan said: “In general terms the response has been good. It’s for the government to decide on any extension. I will advise the government when I am asked to”.

“These are unchartered areas,” the Army Chief said when asked what would be the next step as regards the ceasefire in the state.

He said some militant groups had not taken kindly to the idea of peace in Kashmir but he hoped that things might change. The Army had done everything well in time while setting the ground rules for the ceasefire.

One killed, 3 hurt in Doda blast
Tribune News Service and Agencies

JAMMU, Dec 19 — One person was killed and three injured when militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in a village of Doda district in Jammu division last evening, official sources said today.

The blast was triggered by militants at a roadside in Humble village through a remote control device, the sources said.

In another incident, the security forces averted a major tragedy by defusing a powerful IED, weighing 20 kg, at Khalsu nullah in Udhampur district, they said.

Two militants — Nooruddin and Tausif Mohammad — of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit surrendered before the Station House Officer at Thathri and handed over a pistol and three grenades yesterday, the sources said.

Militants also attacked two posts of India Reserve Battalion at Shagru and Khandasoli in Reasi town in Udhampur district.

The police retaliated but no one was injured, the sources added.

Meanwhile, a close relative of Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Works Sakeena Itoo succumbed to bullet injuries while five persons, including a Hizb militant were killed in separate militancy related incidents in Kashmir since yesterday, an official spokesman said today.

The minister’s uncle, Abdul Razak Itoo, who was critically wounded in a militant attack at Damhal Hanjipora in Anantnag district, died late last night, he said, adding that Razak was the second close relative of the minister who fell to the bullets of militants. Her father and former Speaker of the state Assembly Wali Mohammad Itoo was also killed by militants in 1994, he said.

In another incident, a Hizbul Mujahideen militant and a top counter-insurgent leader associated with the Ikhwan outfit were killed in a shootout between the two sides at Asham— Safapora in Baramula district last night, the spokesman said.