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Wednesday,
June 13, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Keep off shrines, Lone
asks ultras Geelani clarifies stand on stir Contest poll, Omar dares Hurriyat 110 ultras serving J&K Govt: MLC |
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Keep off shrines, Lone
asks ultras Srinagar, June 12 “It is a tragedy that mosques are being desecrated at the hands of the security forces....militants also should keep out of such places,” Mr Lone said at a press conference here this afternoon. He condemned the action of the security forces at Shangus in Anantnag district of south Kashmir, where a local mosque was damaged in a 36-hour operation last night. Mr Lone reiterated that the Hurriyat Conference would take every step so as not to create hurdles in the forthcoming talks between the leaders of India and Pakistan. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf, are scheduled to meet in New Delhi next month. Appreciating the initiative taken by the Prime Minister, by inviting the Pakistan military ruler, the Hurriyat Conference leader said “whatever is possible” would be done to make the talks fruitful. He, however, said talks without the true representatives of Kashmir, the Hurriyat Conference, would not yield any results. “Without the Hurriyat Conference, the talks cannot be fruitful”, Mr Lone said in reply to questions. He was replying questions on the Hurriyat stand on the suspension of its activities “in the interest of the forthcoming talks between the leaders of India and Pakistan”. He clarified that the Hurriyat Conference did not give a bandh call in protest against the
grenade explosion at Chrar-e-Sharief on Friday last in which at least seven persons, six of them women, were killed. He expressed concern over the atrocities being committed by the Special Task Force (STF) or the SOG of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Blaming the Task Force squarely for the grenade explosion, Mr Lone said due to delay in action by the police, the situation had worsened. He demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. Claiming that vested interests were bent upon creating hurdles in the forthcoming talks, the Hurriyat leader said it would “like to meet Musharraf” in Delhi. He said the process had been derailed by the untimely statements of Indian leaders. So far there was no signal from the Pakistan side viz-a-viz a meeting with the Hurriyat leaders with the Pakistan Chief Executive in New Delhi. He referred to various hurdles created by the Central Government regarding the solution of the Kashmir problem. In this connection he referred to the uncertainty about the Hurriyat leaders’ visit to Pakistan. |
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Geelani clarifies stand on stir Jammu, June 12 According to Mr Syed Shah Geelani, a senior Hurriyat leader, the statement was not prepared after a meeting of the executive committee of the APHC. He dissociated himself from the statement, saying that in the light of increase in “state terrorism,” there was no question of suspending the agitation. The spokesman for the APHC had yesterday clarified that the stir had been postponed in view of the people’s protest rallies at Chrar-e-Sharif, where six civilians had been killed in a grenade blast. The Chairman of the APHC, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, said the statement had made it clear that the stir had been “postponed” and not “suspended.” Without disowning the statement, Professor Bhatt said the stir and calls for strike had been deferred on two grounds. First, people were charged over what he called spurt in “state terrorism.” He alleged that at several places, including Langet, Kupwara, Srinagar and Charar-e-Sharif, grenades had been hurled by the security forces or by the renegade militants. He said the APHC feared that there might be a civilian outburst against such acts of state terrorism. “We, therefore, wanted to avoid igniting people’s wrath,” he said. Professor Bhat said secondly, the stir had been postponed so that there was no turmoil in Kashmir which could cast its shadows on the proposed Indo-Pak summit. He said if there was turmoil, “We would be blamed for having sabotaged the proposed talks.” Informed sources said that the statement had the support of Professor Bhat, who, in fact, had authored it. But his opponents within the APHC have criticised the statement. Mr Geelani said there was no question of suspending the agitation when “excesses by the security forces are on the rise. Professor Bhat said: “We have not stated that the stir has been postponed for an indefinite period.” It can be restarted at any time. According to informed sources, even a moderate leader like Mr Abdul Gani Lone has preferred to be non-commital on the statement of the APHC. He has suggested General Musharraf to meet the Hurriyat leaders on the plea that for carrying the Indo-Pak talks to some logical conclusion the involvement of the APHC in the proposed parleys was necessary. |
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Contest poll, Omar dares Hurriyat New Delhi, June 12 “Their claims of being the true representatives of the people of the state have not been tested so far....Let them prove it,” Mr Abdullah told UNI at a book release function here last night. On the separatist alliance’s decision to temporarily suspend its general strike programmes in the strife-torn state in view of the coming India-Pakistan summit, he said the amalgam was trying to find its feet after the Centre’s latest move to resolve the vexed Kashmir issue. Even the Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi had indicated that the Hurriyat leaders would not be granted an audience with Chief Executive General Musharraf when he visits India in July for the summit meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the minister said, adding that the decision showed that Islamabad wanted that the peace talks should not fail. He said the Hurriyat leaders were now finding themselves rudderless. “They have done nothing for the people. In fact, they are responsible for bringing miseries to the people of the state,” he added. About the outcome of talks, Mr Abdullah said, “Let the negotiations start first. One can only be optimistic. The outstanding issues between the two countries cannot be resolved in one meeting only. The dialogue is a beginning of a long process”. The negotiations could be termed as successful if the two leaders come out with a joint declaration and with an intention to meet again, he added. Welcoming General Musharraf’s advice to Islamic clergy in his country to stop making irresponsible statements against India, the minister said the military ruler does not want Pakistan to be a pariah or a terrorist state equated with Libya or Afghanistan. “One can realise the direction General Musharraf intends to take Pakistan,” he added. Describing as baseless the APHC accusation that the Charar-e-Sharief incident was the handiwork of the state police, Mr Abdullah said the conglomerate needed to be reminded that militants also came dressed in police uniforms and Army fatigues in their operations. “An inquiry has been ordered into the incident and the truth will be made public soon,” he added. Four women worshippers were killed and more than 60 injured when unidentified persons triggered a grenade blast in the shrine of Sheikh Noorud-din Noorani at Charar-e-Sharief in Badgam district on June 8. “Even I was attacked in Kashmir recently,” the minister said. Mr Abdullah escaped unhurt in a militant attack on a school in Srinagar where he had gone to inaugurate lab facilities. Many girls were injured in the mortar attack. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah could be holidaying in London to silence his detractors who have accused him on several occasions of sabotaging peace efforts, his son Omar Abdullah said. “He is on a month-long vacation in London to prove his critics wrong,” Mr Abdullah said. He said Dr Abdullah had many a time been accused of sabotaging the peace process in the state. The Chief Minister’s holidaying in London at a time when efforts to find a permanent solution to the Kashmir imbroglio were gaining momentum had drawn criticism from several quarters.
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110 ultras serving J&K Govt: MLC New Delhi, June 12 Shah, a militant-turned-democrat, had furnished a list of the 110 employees who were allegedly arrested or detained for involvement in militant activities, but on release resumed working in government or were provided with such employment. Worse was that they maintained their militant links, he alleged. Of them, at least 11 were in the Police Department and one was in the Military Engineering Service (MES) while many others were serving in other departments, including Education, Public Health Engineering and Health, Shah said. One of them was a newscaster at Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar, he claimed. While some of them have retained their jobs even after crossing over to Pakistan and participating in militant activities, many others managed to get government jobs after serving jail terms for involvement in militant activities, Shah, who had been associated with the Ikhwan militant group, alleged. “Many of them have served jail terms but were released and paid wage arrears and allowed to continue in service,” the ruling National Conference MLC charged. Naming a few alleged militants in the Police Department, Shah said Mohammad Amin Bhat of Kupwara district of Kashmir was self-styled ‘district commander’ of the Jamiat-Ul Mujahideen outfit. He was arrested, released and than appointed in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, he said. Hussain Lone of Alachibagh, Kupwara, “company commander” of the Hizbul Mujahideen, was arrested twice and after his release appointed in the state police. Riyaz Ahmed of Rafiabad, working in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, was arrested and after his release continues to be in service. Nisar Ahmed Sheikh of Sumbal Sonawari managed to get a job in the state police as driver even after having been trained in Pakistan. Showkat Ali Khan of Halmatpora in Kupwara, working in the Police Department as a constable, was arrested and released and continues to be in service.
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Shangus, where six militants were killed after a 36-hour operation, senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone today asked the militants to keep away from mosques and shrines.
