J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Motivate fidayeen, ISI tells militants
JAMMU, Dec 25 — Pakistani agencies are said to have asked leaders of various militant outfits to motivate fidayeen to carry out a series of attacks on camps and convoys of the security forces to create a situation in which the peace process initiated by the Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is sabotaged.

Ultras intensify violence after ceasefire extension
NEW DELHI, Dec 25 — In a clear intensification of militant operations, over 50 persons, including six security force personnel, have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir and in the capital in different incidents since December 20 when the government announced extension of the unilateral ceasefire to Republic Day.

Anti-national forces ‘maligning’ Panun
JAMMU, Dec 25 — The working group of Panun Kashmir, a premier organisation of Pandits and led by Dr Agnishekhar, has expressed concern over the machinations of anti-national elements by trying to malign the name of the organisation.

Motivate fidayeen, ISI tells militants
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 25 — Pakistani agencies are said to have asked leaders of various militant outfits to motivate fidayeen to carry out a series of attacks on camps and convoys of the security forces to create a situation in which the peace process initiated by the Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is sabotaged.

Reports with various security agencies reveal that there are about 160 fidayeen in the state at the moment. The agencies across the border have assured leaders of various outfits, dominated by foreign mercenaries, that more fidayeen groups be pushed into the state in the near future to kick up violence. These mercenaries have been asked to cultivate some local youths, belonging to poor families, and promise them large amount of money so that they could be trained as fidayeen.

Though Pakistan has welcomed the Hurriyat Conference leaders’ plan to visit Islamabad and occupied Kashmir for holding talks with different militant leaders and politicians, several Pak agencies are totally opposed to talks which were meant to find a solution to the ongoing militancy-related violence. They want incorporation of Kashmir with Pakistan. It is in this context that groups of militants have been guided to create scare among those separatist and political leaders who either favour an independent and sovereign state for Kashmir or full accession with India.

One group of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit, which owes loyalty to Pakistan, recently displayed its strategy by firing several warning shots in the air outside the historic Jamia Masjid. This was done to convey to Hurriyat Conference leaders that nothing short of Kashmir’s accession with Pakistan would prove a durable and meaningful solution to the dispute. And the Hurriyat leaders obliged the group, some directly and others indirectly.

These agencies, reports said, are keen to provoke the Indian, troops and men of the paramilitary forces, deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, so that the basic purpose of the ceasefire is defeated. They want the fidayeen to sneak into the Army camps for carrying out attacks which may force the Indian Government to withdraw the ceasefire.

Rebel leaders have also been advised to send these fidayeen in the Army uniform. One report said the agencies and their agents in the state have stocked uniforms of the Indian Army, the Air Force, the CRPF and the police. Emphasis is being laid on the stitching of Army uniforms on the plea that men of the police and paramilitary forces will dare to stop those wearing Army uniforms.

Besides this, the Pak agents have also procured and purchased rank strips from different tailors and designers in the Kashmir valley. The fidayeen in Army uniform wearing rank strips could cause momentary confusion. This is what the fidayeen want as once they go nearer the gate they could strike. They have done it at several places in the state in the past one year.

Activists of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jash-e-Mohammed and Al-Badr have opposed the peace process. They have been moving from one village to the other telling people that the ceasefire and the proposed peace process was a “fraud”. They have gone to the extent of accusing the Hurriyat Conference leaders of a secret deal with the Indian Government which may result in a sellout.

This campaign is said to have unnerved some of the Hurriyat Conference leaders and hence they have insisted on visiting Pakistan where they could seek clear guidance on the strategy they have to adopt on their return to Delhi.

In the light of these developments the Director General BSF Mr Gurbachan Jagat, visited several areas in the state recently to interact with the field commanders and the Jawans. 

Ultras intensify violence after ceasefire extension

NEW DELHI, Dec 25 (UNI) — In a clear intensification of militant operations, over 50 persons, including six security force personnel, have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir and in the capital in different incidents since December 20 when the government announced extension of the unilateral ceasefire to Republic Day.

Earlier, Home Ministry sources said that a total of 63 civilians, including 55 Muslims and 11 security force personnel, had been killed in the first 20 days of the ceasefire between November 28 and December 17. According to reports received from the J and K government, there were 149 incidents and a total of 183 civilians were injured.

Even as the sources admitted that the United Jehad Council based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) had rejected the peace initiative and called upon the militant ‘tanzeems’ to continue with their violent actions, it was claimed that there had been a 35 per cent decline in the violence compared to the 15 days prior to November 28. However, injuries to security personnel had more than doubled in the 15 days after the announcement of ceasefire partly because of use of improvised explosive devices.

Meanwhile, Home Minister L. K. Advani has asked militant groups to lay down arms and come to the negotiating table. He has also not ruled out the possibility of a dialogue with Pakistan after an “assessment” of its behaviour during the extended ceasefire peace initiative in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the Home Ministry, a total of 3,188 personnel have been killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two years till October, 2000. Of this, a total of 610 security personnel, including 461 from the Army, were killed and 2,034, including 1,403 from the Army, were injured between November 1 last year and October 31 this year. About 700 civilians were killed.

In the same period, 1,499 terrorists were killed and 299 apprehended, the ministry sources added.

Of the incidents in the past five days since November 20 when the extension was announced, the most major have been the suicide bomb blast today near the main gate of the 15 Corps headquarters at the high security Batwara in which at least eight persons, including five Armymen, were killed and many injured, and the three persons killed when suspected terrorists on December 23 attacked an Army camp in the Red Fort in Central Delhi.

Meanwhile, the government has claimed that for the Ramzan and the extended ceasefire period, security personnel have worked out a strategy which includes continued anti-infiltration operations at the international border and the Line of Control, protection of minorities, scattered and remote populations, protection of vital installations, and security camps. At the same time, the security forces are refraining from the initiation of combat operations in the hinterland.

Anti-national forces ‘maligning’ Panun
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 25 — The working group of Panun Kashmir, a premier organisation of Pandits and led by Dr Agnishekhar, has expressed concern over the machinations of anti-national elements by trying to malign the name of the organisation.

The working group, at its meeting here today, adopted a resolution urging the community members to be vigilant against the gameplan of such elements who had started undermining the role Panun Kashmir played in bringing about the global awareness regarding the plight of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The resolution said the displaced community was on the thresh hold of having its geopolitical share in the present imbroglio and it was unfortunate that at this crucial juncture some opponents, including enemies within the organisation, were trying to belittle the importance and relevance of the Panun Kashmir.

The resolution affirmed full faith in the leadership of Dr Agnishekhar whose untiring “efforts” had given relevance to the organisation and prevented other bodies to either overshadow it or destroy its strength by merging it with their organisations.

The working group named a couple of community leaders who had, from time to time, harmed the interests of the community