M A I N   N E W S

Hurriyat suspends ‘people’s movement’
11 militants, one jawan killed
Tribune News Service and PTI

Srinagar, June 10
The Hurriyat Conference, an amalgam of 23 parties spearheading the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir, today decided to temporarily suspend what it called “organised people’s movement against state terrorism” in view of the coming Vajpayee-Musharraf summit.

“The situation in which the people of Jammu and Kashmir find themselves demands an organised people’s movement, but in view of the proposed summit, the Hurriyat has decided to suspend the same for time being,” a Hurriyat statement said here.

The conglomerate wanted the summit between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf to succeed, the statement said, adding that the Hurriyat would not indulge in any act which would derail the peace dialogue.

Terming the summit as a “good beginning”, the Hurriyat demanded its inclusion in the proposed talks as a representative of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The statement alleged that several agencies got unnerved following the peace process set in motion by Mr Vajpayee and started engineering acts of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The gameplan is to defame militants in the eyes of the world and show that they are responsible for the killing of innocent civilians, including worshippers,” it said.

Reacting to Friday’s explosion at the Charar-e-Sharief shrine, the statement ruled out the hands of militants in the blast, adding that the “incident is part of a dangerous gameplan”.

Meanwhile, 11 militants and an Army jawan were among 13 persons killed since last night in Jammu and Kashmir, where security forces foiled an infiltration bid, an official spokesman said here today.

Three militants, including a self-styled district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen’s Peer Panchal regiment Panj Sher, were killed in a gunfight with security forces at Bala in Rajouri district today, he said.

With the death of the three militants, the total number of militants shot dead in the operation launched on Friday has risen to five. A big cache of arms and ammunition was seized from the killed ultras, he said. He said two foreign mercenaries were killed when they intruded into the Kernah sector of Kupwara district from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) last night.

An unidentified militant was killed when security forces raided a militant hideout at Sadha in the Kalakote sector of Rajouri today, he said.

He said security forces killed a foreign militant in a gunbattle in the Surankote area last night and seized a rifle and four grenades from him. An Army jawan was killed and two others were injured in an ambush by militants at Wachibal-Gushi in Kupwara district today. The troops fired back, but the militants escaped, the spokesman said.

A police spokesman said here that a top militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Badran village in Budgam district today. He was identified as Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, alias Shaheen, alias Mana, owing his allegiance to the Mustafa group of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Protesters teargassed
Charar death toll rises to seven
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 10
For the third consecutive day today, protest demonstrations were held in the holy township of Charar-e-Sharief where about a dozen protesters were apprehended for violation of prohibitory orders following the grenade explosion on Friday. The police lobbed tear gas shells and used batons to quell the demonstrators.

With the death of two more women who succumbed to their injuries in the hospital since yesterday, the death toll in the grenade explosion has gone up to seven. The police, however, claimed that the toll was only six, all of them women. Earlier reports had said that one person, Ghulam Nabi Hajam died on the spot.

Those killed in the hospital since yesterday included Noora Begum, wife of Noor Mohammad of Haft Chinar, and Hajra, wife of Bashir Ahmad of B.K. Pora, both in Srinagar.

A police spokesman said four persons, including Ghulam Nabi Hubbi, were taken into preventive custody in the town today. “The arrests were made as these individuals were involved in incidents of violence and stone-pelting at Charar-e-Sharief during the past couple of days,” the spokesman said. Hubbi is a close associate of the People’s Conference chief and senior executive members of the Hurriyat Conference, Mr Abdul Ghani Lone.

Mr Lone, who was on way to Charar town this morning, was prevented from proceeding ahead along with a group of his supporters. Some other Hurriyat Conference leaders visited the holy township yesterday, to express solidarity with the people of the area.

Traders of the holy township and members of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association have called for a general strike tomorrow. The Deputy Commissioner of Budgam, Mr Rohit Kansal, who has been appointed to probe the incident of the grenade explosion on Friday, will start the investigations within a couple of days. No time-frame has been fixed for the completion of the probe.

The Minister of State for Home, Mr Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, who along with the Revenue Minister and senior police and civil administration officers, visited the town on Friday immediately after the incident, directed the Divisional Commissioner to appoint Mr Rohit Kansal, District Magistrate of Budgam, to probe the incident. The residents of the area have been blaming the police for the incident, which, however, is being denied by the police.