J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Truce gives cops time to tackle crime
SRINAGAR, Dec 24 — With the suspension of “active operations” against militants after the unilateral ceasefire, pending crime cases in Jammu and Kashmir have got more attention of the police.

RSS for J & K trifurcation
JAMMU, Dec 24 — The most powerful wing of the Sangh Parvar, the RSS, has supported the demand for the trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. It has gone a step further by favouring a separate homeland for the Kashmiri Pandits within the valley.

Truce gives cops time to tackle crime
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Dec 24 — With the suspension of “active operations” against militants after the unilateral ceasefire, pending crime cases in Jammu and Kashmir have got more attention of the police.

Even as the state police is on the defensive mode since the beginning of the ceasefire last month, its duties and responsibilities have not ended, according to Dr Ashok Bhan, Inspector-General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir. “The police is doing a lot of work,” he said adding that the process of investigations into crime cases continues with more attention. “The role of the police has been same as before, minus the active operations”, said another senior police officer. According to officials 50 per cent of the total crime is related to militancy in Kashmir. “We are doing better law and order duty, and the policemen feel happy”, said an official in Baramula.

The police had virtually turned defunct with the eruption of militancy over a decade ago. “That was the reason that many massacres were witnessed in the valley in the beginning of militancy”, a senior police officer here said. These massacres included the killing of at least 22 civilian demonstrators at Gowkadal in February, 1990, massacre of at least 57 mourners carrying the body of Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq at Hawal on May 21, 1990, and the killing of 45 at Beijbehara in October, 1993. Due to lack of adequate manpower and logistic support, the police was not able to handle the situation in the militancy-hit state.

The Task Force or the Special Operation Group (SOG) was carved out of the police to fight militants. A number of schemes for the improvement of the police force by way of manpower and logistic support during the recent years enabled the police to “be in the forefront of the anti-militancy operations and today it can even take up the challenge independently,” said an official. The new schemes included a modernisation plan and an action plan worth Rs 222 crore, funded by the Union Home Ministry.

To provide specialised training to the police personnel, additional training centres have been established at Kathua, Vijaypur and Reasi in the Jammu region and Sheeri (Baramula) and Manigam in the Kashmir division.

Some policemen have also become the target of the militants in Kashmir. At least seven policemen on patrol duty here were shot dead by militants at three places in quick succession within minutes on December 14, last year. A suicide squad of militants forced its entry into the headquarters of the SOG here on December 27, last year, killing over a dozen personnel.

An amount of Rs 950 crore has been sanctioned as ex-gratia relief to the families of serving police officers who were killed in militancy operations during the past four years.

RSS for J & K trifurcation
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 24 — The most powerful wing of the Sangh Parvar, the RSS, has supported the demand for the trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. It has gone a step further by favouring a separate homeland for the Kashmiri Pandits within the valley.

A spokesman of the RSS, Mr M.C. Vaidya, told newsmen here today that trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir would not harm the “secular character” of the state. It would, instead, end the prolonged regional discrimination.

Supporting the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, for having first announced one-month ceasefire and then extending its period by another month, Mr Vaidya said this was likely to help the people in Kashmir in the realisation of their dream of enjoying peace and normalcy.

He said that possibility of resumption of Indo-Pak talks were bright if Islamabad reciprocated India’s ceasefire offer and stopped aiding and encouraging militants operating in the valley.

In reply to a question he said the RSS would not oppose the visit of leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference to Pakistan. “If the APHC delegation wants to talk to their godfather, we have no objection,” he said. He stated that the conversion of the LoC into a permanent border could be explored as one of the solutions to the ongoing turmoil. He, however, hastened to add that “we are for liberation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as has been provided in a resolution adopted by Parliament over two years.”

He said that while the peace process initiated by Mr Vajpayee was the right step, the government should ensure that militants did not attack security camps and soft targets.

Mr Vaidya made it clear that the solution of the Kashmir issue lay within India. He said that if Article 370 which provides for a special status to the state within the Constitution was abrogated and the state was divided into three, the Kashmir issue would find a durable solution.

He said that the RSS has already announced its support to the people of Jammu and Ladakh who want a separate state and a Union Territory status, respectively. He said several ethnic and linguistic groups reside in Jammu and Kashmir regions and, hence, division of the state should not be treated as communal.

He also supported the demand of the Ladakh Buddhist Association President, Mr T. Samphel, for a separate state with union territory status. The RSS spokesman said that people in Ladakh had been given a raw deal by the valley-dominated political leadership and bureaucracy during the past five decades.