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Saturday,
April 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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NEWS ANALYSIS 2 ultras killed; 50 hurt in blasts ASI to open museum in Jammu Offices close in Jammu for durbar move Army builds bridge over Jhelum |
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| Twelve killed in mishap Jammu, April 27 Twelve persons were killed and 22 others injured, six of them seriously, when a bus fell into a deep gorge in Udhampur district, the police said. 
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NEWS ANALYSIS Jammu, April 27 The APHC Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, swore by God while brushing aside rumours that Mr Geelani had come to the executive committee meeting in Srinagar yesterday with a brief from the Pakistan High Commissioner conveying to the APHC that it should reject bilateral talks. Professor Bhat said the decision to reject the offer for talks had been in fact taken days before the meeting of the working committee and the general council of the APHC. Notwithstanding Professor Bhat’s assertion Pakistan did not at all encourage the APHC to hold talks with Delhi because Islamabad had fears that if the parleys between the APHC and Delhi progressed, Pakistan may either get isolated or sidelined. And the Pakistani agencies had conveyed their opinion against bilateral talks by rejecting even the peace process initiated by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. They rejected the bilateral parleys in unambiguous terms and conveyed their opinion through escalated violence and statements. The APHC leadership had fully realised the complexities and inherent dangers in case it decided to accept the offer for talks without its team’s visit to Pakistan preceding the start of the parleys. When it saw the government was adamant on its refusal to allow the APHC team to visit Pakistan it had no other alternative but to find an escape route which the Government of India offered it by not conceding any of its demands or conditions laid down for the talks to begin. Those who blame the government for sabotaging its own peace process have stated there was no urgent need for Delhi to delay the issuance of passports to the five-member team for visiting Pakistan. They have said the sky would not have fallen if the APHC team had crossed over to Pakistan. In support of their argument they said in the recent past Maulvi Umar Farooq had visited several countries where he discussed the Kashmir issue in detail with the government functionaries and other religious and social organisations. The case was the same with Maulvi Abbas Ansari and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. In November last Mr Abdul Gani Lone had spent nearly three weeks in Pakistan and Pak-occupied Kashmir. Though he had gone there to get his son, Sajad Lone married to Asma, daughter of the JKLF chief, Mr Amanullah Khan, Mr Lone had a free and frank discussion on Kashmir, terrorism and the role of foreign mercenaries. These days Mr Mohd Yasin Malik is in the USA. He has gone there for medical treatment but he has attended several seminars and conferences where he has touched the Kashmir issue in detail. The People’s League Chairman, Sheikh Aziz Ahmed, is these days in Pakistan and will start a three-day tour of occupied Kashmir. He has met several separatist leaders, government functionaries and even the former ISI chief with whom he adopted a pro-Pakistan line. This way only one member of the APHC executive committee, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, is yet to move out of the country. Professor Bhat said he had excluded his name from the five-member team. He said the government had backed out of its commitment. He said the government and its emissaries had clearly assured “us” that the APHC leaders would be allowed to visit Pakistan before the commencement of the Hurriyat-Delhi dialogue. He had shown the path to peace and the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Professor Bhat said. He added the government failed to reciprocate “our sincerity.” He went to the extent of blaming the government for lack of “sincerity and seriousness.” Another APHC leader said, “we did not force the government or suggest to Delhi to hold talks with Kashmiri separatists living in Pakistan and occupied Kashmir, among whom people like Syed Salahuddin, Farooq Rehmani, Dr Ayub Thakur, Mushtaq Lattram matter. Instead we offered to visit Pakistan and discuss Kashmir and allied issues with these people and on our return hold talks with Mr K.C. Pant.” Besides these issues two other basic factors prevented the APHC from accepting the offer for talks on the pattern set by Delhi. The APHC wanted to receive preferential treatment from the Government of India. “We are not willing to join the crowd in a bus that reaches nowhere,” said Professor Bhat. Invitation to mainstream political leaders, trade union activists and those heading counter-insurgent groups proved an irritant to the APHC leadership which has claimed to be the genuine and only representative of “aspirations” of the people of Kashmir. Secondly, the APHC leaders were well aware of the fact that a durable settlement of the Kashmir issue was not possible without the involvement of Pakistan in the proposed talks. Professor Bhat had already stated that neither the Delhi Agreement of 1952 nor the Sheikh-Indira accord of 1974 nor the Rajiv-Farooq accord of 1986 resolved the core issue of Kashmir because Islamabad was not made a party to the dispute. The APHC leaders knew it better than anybody else that since the main militant groups were opposed to the peace process and bilateral parleys even the start of the talks could be a risky proposition. Hence they wanted to seek a signal, green or red, from Islamabad and those heading different separatist and militant groups. Another APHC leader said, “So long the issue of issuance of passport and the guidelines for the talks were in the hands of the PMO, especially Mr Brajesh Mishra, things were expected to move in the right direction.” He added, “We have reports the powers have moved to the Union Home Ministry which has acted as a main block.” When Professor Bhat was asked whether he would convey formally the APHC decision to Mr Pant’s formal invitation, he said, “There is no need for it. He would have come to know about our stand already.” This indicated the amount of anger he and his colleagues have over what he called the “delaying tactics” of the government. He is also bitter over the way the government continued to treat the Kashmir issue as an internal matter. Asked whether the APHC stand could force India to resume direct talks with Pakistan, a beginning likely to be made during the SAARC meeting where the two Foreign Secretaries are scheduled to meet, Professor Bhat said, “We will have no objection.” He added, “Let the talks begin from any side because we are for immediate settlement of the dispute and for the restoration of peace in Kashmir. The APHC has put the ball in the court of Delhi and it is now for Delhi to decide on the next move. Though the National Conference leadership has berated the APHC stand it seems to be happy over the way the proposed Hurriyat-Delhi talks have not materialised because in that case the ruling party could be made a scapegoat as Syed Mir Qasim was when the Sheikh-Indira accord was signed.
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2 ultras killed; 50 hurt in blasts Srinagar, April 27 The police here today claimed to have achieved a major success by killing two top militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Al-Badre on the outskirts of Srinagar city last evening. They were identified as Haziz Usana Ghazali code Jabir code Wasim code Hasib, district commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, and Billa, alias Mutasin, alias Captain Irfan, alias Sher Khan, from Peshawar in Pakistan, a deputy district commander of the Al-Badre outfit. A police spokesman said here the militants were part of a joint group of Lashkar and Al-Badre who were planning to carry out incidents in Srinagar, including targeting of vital installations. One UMG, one UMG belt with 53 rounds, one disposable rocket, a wireless set, 15 hand grenades and an IED fitted in a pipe weighing 5 kg were seized from the site of the encounter. Two pedestrians were killed and 30 others, including two police personnel, were injured when unidentified militants hurled a grenade at Chadura Chowk in Budgam district this morning. The grenade, targeted at a vehicle of the security forces, missed the intended target and exploded on the road, the police said. In another grenade explosion at least 20 persons were injured near the Central Telegraph Office here this morning. The explosion which took place at 11.25 a.m. caused heavy damage to two vehicles on the M.A. Road. Those injured included 14 civilians, three CRPF personnel, two police personnel and one traffic cop. The condition of one of the police personnel was stated to be critical. Unidentified militants shot dead a woman, Mst Hajra when they intruded into her house at Batakote, Handwara, in Kupwara district last night. Minor damage was caused to the house of Ghulam Qadir and a mosque in an IED explosion at Aishmuqam on the Pehalgam road in Anantnag district this morning, the police here said. |
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ASI to open museum in Jammu Jammu, April 27 “This was stated by the Director-General, ASI, Ms Komal Anand, at a news conference here yesterday. She said during the past year an amount of Rs 60 lakh had been spent for the preservation and maintenance of various archaeological sites and during the current year the allocation would be raised to Rs 75
lakh. Two museums, one at Ramnagar Palace in Jammu and the other at Leh Palace, would be opened. The ASI, she said, had sent a proposal to the government to continue excavations at Ambaran in Akhnoor and Sudh Mahadev in Udhampur. Another proposal was to carry out excavations in Pampore where last year an elephant skeleton of ancient period was found. |
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Offices close in Jammu for durbar move Jammu, April 27 The offices will reopen in the summer capital of the state on May 7, an official spokesman said. Nearly 5000 employees and 29 offices will shift from Jammu to Srinagar under the durbar move, a tradition followed from the times of Maharajas. Over 100 vehicles would be pressed into service to shift the official records, the spokesman said and added that a travelling allowance of Rs 2300 to each employee has been paid for the move. The durbar move would cost the state exchequer Rs 1.50 crore. The state Capital remains in both the cities for six months each. During winter from November to April, the government functions from Jammu for six months and from May to October, it remains in Srinagar.
UNI |
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Army builds bridge over Jhelum Srinagar, April 27 “The construction of the bridge was a long-standing demand of the residents of Udipora, Barsux and the surrounding villages,” a defence spokesman said. He said the construction was part of Operation Sadbhavana undertaken by the Army in the Kashmir valley.
PTI |
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Twelve killed in mishap Jammu, April 27 The accident, which occurred yesterday between Mahore and Reasi, about 87 km from here, was probably due to overspeeding, they added. Ten injured were admitted in a sub-district hospital in Reasi, while 12 others were brought to Jammu Medical College hospital for specialised treatment.
PTI |
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