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Tuesday,
March 25, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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‘Attack result of Centre’s apathy’ Advani to visit massacre site Massacre an eye-opener: Omar Link between Dar, Pandits' killings |
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BJP, CPM condemn killings New Delhi, March 24 Expressing shock at the massacre of 24 Kashmiri Pandits at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP today asked the Centre to exercise its “constitutional options”, if the state government “continued to be soft on terrorists”. Date for temple construction today Muslims demand ban
on excavation Indians in Kuwait safe: envoy Naval chief presents gallantry medals
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‘Attack result of Centre’s apathy’ New Delhi, March 24 “The attack is the direct result of the Centre’s apathy to the real issues in Kashmir. The entire community is dismayed and appalled at the magnitude of the gruesome incident”, said former bureaucrat and President of the All- India Kashmiri Samaj, Mr M.K. Kaw. These leaders of various factions were unanimous in demanding stringent action against those involved. “India has to take proactive steps against Pakistan. The international regime has now accepted offensive steps in defence. Taking cue from US stand against Iraq, India, too, should follow suit”, pointed out Mr Kaw. Leaders of 10 Kashmiri Pandit organisations were joined by members of the minority community to protest against the killing of 24 persons including 11 women and two children, at Nadimarg Shopian in south Kashmir district of Pulwama. “Both the Centre and the state government should now take the interest of Kashmiri Pandits into consideration. It is ridiculous that they have envisaged a so-called rehabilitation programme for the community without even consulting one leader or community member”, said the President of the Kashmiri Samiti, Mr Sunil Shakdher. He went on to add: “We want the government to shift all Pandits who are still in the valley to Delhi, help in their rehabilitation and before they announce any plan of action, they should consult the community leaders”. The Pandit leaders have also decided to stage a nationwide protest later this month. “ The details are yet to be finalised, but we have decided to stage demonstration across the country on a particular day and register our protest”, added Shakdher. The community leaders also blamed the Mufti led government in the state for having failed to cater to the needs of the minority community. “Despite repeated requests, he has filed to meet the leaders of the community to draw up a plan for the rehabilitation and return of the Pandits”, pointed out Shakdher. Meanwhile in a statement issued here, Majlis President Syed Shahabuddin said the cold-blooded massacre of innocent men, women and children around midnight last night, was an act of cowardice. |
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Advani to visit massacre site New Delhi, March 24 The Deputy Prime Minister during his day-long visit will make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and then report back to the CCS which is again expected to meet late tomorrow. Briefing newsmen after the 90-minute emergency meeting of the CCS, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said “We will keep the situation under review and take whatever steps are necessary to meet such challenges. The CCS meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The Prime Minister has expressed his sorrow and grief over the massacre and loss of innocent lives, Mr Sinha said. “The Government of India condemns the incident in strongest possible terms” he said, adding that the Government would keep the situation under review and take whatever steps necessary to meet it. Army Chief N.C. Vij and top officials of the intelligence agencies briefed the CCS on the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the massacre. Mr Sinha refused to take questions on who could be behind the massacre. The CCS also reviewed the situation in Iraq, Mr Sinha said. The meeting was attended among others by Defence Minister George Fernandes, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande, Home Secretary N Gopalaswamy and top intelligence officials. “It was an emergency meeting of the CCS to review situation both in Iraq as well as the one arising from the massacre in Jammu and Kashmir,” the External Affairs Minister said. Asked if the government had identified those behind the terrorist attack, Mr Sinha said “we are making an assessment”. |
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Massacre an eye-opener: Omar New Delhi, March 24 Mr Omar, who met Defence Minister George Fernandes today, said while “healing touch’’ policy of the state government was welcome, one had to ensure that “it did not leave more deep and painful wounds on the people of Jammu and Kashmir.’’ The NC chief, who will visit the massacre site tomorrow, said the incident was an “eye-opener” for the state government which was planning to bring in Kashmiri Pandits back to the valley. The state government plans to rehabilitate them in Mattan and Khirbhawani, leaving them an easy prey for the militants, Mr Omar said. He alleged that the Chief Minister had “neglected” the security concerns of the minority community which remained on the top of agenda of the previous Farooq Abdullah government. The NC government could have also brought them back. “But we have to see whether we are in a position to provide them with cent per cent security or not,’’ Omar added. About his meeting with Mr Fernandes, Mr Omar said he had raised the issue of security for the minority community with the Defence Minister. Condemning the incident, he said “those doing such barbaric act do not belong to any religion. Congress President Sonia Gandhi had expressed her deep shock and anguish at the brutal terrorist attack in which 24 Kashmiri Pandits were murdered. “I condemn this inhuman depravity in the strongest possible terms. Anti-India elements were bent upon frustrating attempts to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. In this hour of agony and sorrow, all my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families,’’ Mrs Gandhi said in a statement. Party chief spokesman Jaipal Reddy said innocent people were killed in cold-blood to derail the normalisation process of the Mufti government in the state. Accusing the BJP of trying to draw political mileage from the incident, Mr Reddy said the BJP had chosen to politicise the issue even before details were known. He said that after the Chattisingpora massacre, a Congress team led by Dr Manmohan Singh had sought the deployment of paramilitary forces in villages where the Hindus were in a minority. Seeking a probe into the massacre, Mr Reddy said the massacre was an act of “anti-India elements.’’ He said that it was Centre’s responsibility to take care of cross-border terrorism. Responding to a question about the Congress-PDP government’s performance, Mr Reddy said it was difficult to expect dramatic improvements from the state government in four months,’’ Terming the killing of Kashmiri Pandits as desperate attempt by Pakistan to whip up communal tension in Jammu and Kashmir, state governer G C Saxena today said the government was geared up to face any challenges thrown from across the border. |
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Link between Dar, Pandits' killings New Delhi, March 24 Intelligence sources here point to the possible link between the two incidents which are bound to foment trouble in Jammu and Kashmir besides again giving an upper hand to the Pakistan-backed terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir. Reports suggest that the Pakistan-backed terrorist groups taking advantage of the US pre-occupation in the Iraq war have chosen to strike again in Jammu and Kashmir. And more importantly it is suspected that the same group was involved in the two incidents. The foreign mercenaries have apparently made an attempt to kill two birds with the same stone as not only will the killing of Abdul Majid Dar be a setback in bringing back the Kashmiri youth into the mainstream, but the massacre of the Kashmiri Pandits will be a big blow to the efforts of the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed government to resettle the Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir. While Abdul Majid Dar had been talking of peace in Jammu and Kashmir and was all set to even go to the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to bring back the Kashmiri youth who have been against the policies of the other Hizb-ul commander and Pakistan-based Syed Salauddin. The massacre of the Kashmiri Pandits will bring to nought all the efforts put in by the Special Operations Group (SoG) to instill confidence in this minority community. Intercepts by the intelligence agencies point out that there was a possible involvement of the Lashkar and the Jaish-e-Mohammed groups which have been operating the Shupian area. An intercept clearly says that 24 Kashmiri Pandits had been killed in “barbarta wala kaam” (heinous crime) in Nandimarg which again is in the Shupiyan area. This, the sources point out, is not the language generally used by the local militants. Besides eye-witnesses at the massacre area also said the killers did not speak Kashmiri language. It is a clear attempt by Pakistan to foment trouble in Jammu and Kashmir again, specially since the state was on its way to normalcy after the
successful conduct of elections. Government sources here have in fact expressed surprise at the easy disarming of the policemen at the police post at Nandimarg and delay in reaching of
reinforcements at the massacre spot. Sources point out that there were nine policemen at the police post, some armed with automatic weapons, and were disarmed without any resistance. |
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BJP, CPM condemn killings New Delhi, March 24 BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told newspersons that the wrong policies of the People’s Democratic Party and the Congress were responsible for the barbaric and unabated killing of innocent people. The Home Ministry should advise the state government not to take actions that would restrain the operations of the security forces. If the state government insists, than the government would exercise options like issuing directions to the state administration and take “stronger actions” like dissolution and dismissal of the state government under Article 356 of the Constitution, Mr Malhotra said. He said it was the soft “healing touch” policy pursued by the PDP and the Congress and curtailing the security force’s power that had emboldened terrorists. Meanwhile, the CPM said the massacre of Kashmiri Pandits was aimed at thwarting the chances of restoration of peace in the valley and demanded an inquiry in to the role of the police posted in the village where the incident took place. "This inhuman act has been deliberately done to spoil the chances of restoring peace and allowing the minority community to live peacefully in the valley," a statement issued by the party politbureau said. It said there were reports that the police posted in Nadimarg village, where 24 Kashmiri Pandits were killed, did not take action to protect the families which were targeted and demanded an inquiry into their role and prompt action.
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Sack Mufti govt: AIATF New Delhi, March 24 Expressing revulsion against the killing of Kashmiri Pandits AIATF president M.S. Bitta said the Mufti government had embarked upon a healing touch policy of releasing the militants, which was providing fillip to the terrorism in J&K. |
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Blackwill condemns killings New Delhi, March 24 |
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Date for temple construction today Allahabad, March 24 VHP sources said today that the organisation’s working president Ashok Singhal and general secretary Pravin Bhai Togadia, Bajrang Dal national convener Prakash Sharma and the president of Durga Vahini would participate in the two functions tomorrow and address their activists. They said the leaders would announce the future course of action of the organisations on various issues, including the construction date of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
UNI |
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Muslims demand ban
on excavation Lucknow, March 24 Mr M.A.
Hashmi, main plaintiff in the case, in his petition to the high court here said Muslims had offered namaz at the site where once stood a mosque. "Digging at that place, where our ancestors had offered prayers, is against Islam," he told reporters after filing his petition. |
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Indians in Kuwait safe: envoy New Delhi, March 24 Mr Al Murad made it clear that there was no question of terminating contracts of Indians and said though there was some anxiety among the 3.5 lakh-strong Indian community in Kuwait and some of the workers had sent their families back but now there was no panic among them. He informed that Civil Aviation Secretary Roy Paul was currently in Kuwait to see whether additional flights were required to clear the rush of the Indians. Addressing a press conference here, the Ambassador indicated that the Iraq war may not last one month when he pointed out that there was no Iraqi diplomatic mission in Kuwait and remarked: “We hope to see with in one month diplomatic missions of Kuwait and Iraq being reopened in the two countries”. |
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Naval chief presents gallantry medals Visakhapatnam, March 24 A special ceremonial division with full-scale decorum and elan, characteristic of the armed forces, was held at the command parade ground. Vice-Admiral Raman Puri, the flag officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, and other flag officers in station were present at the ceremony. The NAO sena medals (gallantry) given in recognition of individual acts of exceptional courage in Naval operations were awarded to nine officers and sailors. Capt Rajesh Sarin of Western Naval Command topped the recipients list.
UNI |
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Iranian ship seized
Porbander |
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