J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

APHC yet to finalise agenda
SRINAGAR, Jan 7 — With only a week left for Hurriyat leaders’ proposed visit to Pakistan it is yet to finalise its agenda while awaiting travel documents to facilitate their visit to the neighbouring country. The APHC is yet to select its team, even though its Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, was authorised by the seven-member executive council on Tuesday to finalise the same.

APHC team to speak in one voice: Bhat
NEW DELHI, Jan 7 — In the wake of divergent views expressed by a few Hurriyat conference leaders and some militant outfits, chairman of the amalgam Abdul Gani Bhat has said the delegation visiting Pakistan will speak in one voice as the stakes are very high this time.

Pandits oppose Hurriyat’s Pak trip
NEW DELHI, Jan 7  — Insisting that the Hurriyat Conference was not a “true representative” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits have opposed the proposed visit by its delegation to Pakistan on January 15 and demanded that the “separatist conglomerate” specify its agenda before the trip.

Mahajan’s “Mission Kashmir”
IT can crush militancy in state
SRINAGAR, Jan 7 — Union Minister for Information Technology Pramod Mahajan yesterday dispelled fears that the establishment of a software technology park in Srinagar will give a fillip to militancy and said IT was the best weapon to crush militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ultras say they stormed airport, police denies
SRINAGAR, Jan 7 — The Lashkar-e-Toiba today claimed that its five cadres stormed the Srinagar airport but the police dismissed it as a rumour, though a manhunt was on in the area to nab five armed men who tried to gain entry into the high-security airport using a stolen vehicle.

29 sarpanches elected in Poonch
JAMMU, Jan 7 — As many as 29 sarpanches and 510 panches have been declared elected unopposed against 115 and 1,028 seats respectively, in five blocks of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir so far, according to District Panchayat Election Officer Khalid Hussain.

APHC yet to finalise agenda
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Jan 7 — With only a week left for Hurriyat leaders’ proposed visit to Pakistan it is yet to finalise its agenda while awaiting travel documents to facilitate their visit to the neighbouring country.

The APHC is yet to select its team, even though its Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, was authorised by the seven-member executive council on Tuesday to finalise the same.

Three top leaders of the Hurriyat Conference, including its Chairman, have rushed to the Union Capital. However, the agenda of their Delhi visit has not been disclosed.

The Chairman reportedly met the Delhi-based Pakistan High Commission, Mr Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, on Friday. The people’s Conference leader and a senior member of the All-Party Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, Mr Abdul Gani Lone, is in Delhi reportedly for a medical check-up. The JKLF leader, Mr Mohammed Yaseen Malik, is on his way to Kolkata to attend an international conference on Kashmir organised by the Subhas Chandar Bose Foundation.

The former APHC Chairman and senior Jammat-e-Islami leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said at a Friday gathering here last week that the agenda of the APHC delegation would be the “sacrifices of 80,000 people and the honour of our mothers and sisters”.

He pointed out that the APHC delegation would be going to Pakistan not with an “Indian agenda” but an agenda of its own. It may be mentioned here that some separatist organisations here had expressed apprehension that the Hurriyat Conference would be going to Pakistan ‘with an Indian agenda” as travel documents to only four of the seven-member executive committee members had been made available.

Meanwhile, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Syed has spoken to the Jamaat leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and conveyed to him that the APHC must clarify its agenda before visiting Pakistan on January 15. A local news agency reported that the latter told Mr Geelani that the Hurriyat leaders must come to Pakistan “with a clear agenda to be announced by them (APHC) before travelling to Pakistan”.

The front-ranking militant organisation, the Hizbul Mujahideen, which had announced a similar unilateral ceasefire in July last year, has expressed concern over the recent remarks made by the chief of the underground women’s outfit, Dukhtaran-e-Millat.

According to a spokesman of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Commander Masood, the remarks of the Dukhtaran chief have been resented by its cadres. Ms Asiya Andrabi had last week at a press conference expressed “doubts” over the role of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

She had flayed the remarks made by senior APHC leader Abdul Gani Lone on foreign militants in Kashmir.

The Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief had alleged that the Hurriyat Conference delegation was going to Pakistan “with an agenda of the Government of India.”

Any decision regarding the APHC delegation would be taken only after all seven members of the executive council of the APHC are provided with travel documents, as already indicated by the Hurriyat Conference executive at its meeting here on January 2.

The proposed visit of the APHC leaders to Pakistan came in the wake of the ceasefire announced by the Prime Minister beginning the month of Ramzan.

APHC team to speak in one voice: Bhat

NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (PTI) — In the wake of divergent views expressed by a few Hurriyat conference leaders and some militant outfits, chairman of the amalgam Abdul Gani Bhat has said the delegation visiting Pakistan will speak in one voice as the stakes are very high this time.

“The Hurriyat has to speak in one voice and any discord is unexpectable, particularly when the stakes are high,” Mr Bhat, who is in the capital, told PTI.

Stressing that the delegation would do its best to ensure that the peace process initiated by India and Pakistan was not derailed, Mr Bhat said “we (Hurriyat) have to agree on a non-reduceable minimum programme.”

The views of Mr Bhat came close on the heels of some Hurriyat leaders expressing their reservation over the outcome of the visit and even going to the extent of remarking that if they went to Pakistan, they would “pat militants on their back and return.”

Some militant outfits have reportedly said Hurriyat delegation will have to spell out its agenda before coming to Pakistan.

“We have to be up and doing — up with a deep sense of sensitivity and doing with a subtle sense of responsibility,” Mr Bhat said.

the Hurriyat chairman said “all of us in India and Pakistan will have to understand that now is the time to address issues fairly effectively and leave behind a legacy of harmony and goodwill with no problem to disturb it.”

He has not lost hope like some other amalgam leaders and is still optimistic about the release of travel documents to all executive members.

“In my opinion when you deal with a sensitive issue (like Kashmir), procedural requirements should create no problem. The passports should be issued in favour of all seven executive members and i trust the government will do it,” Mr Bhat said.

Asked about the composition of the team that would be travelling to Pakistan for holding talks with militant leaders and other Pakistani officials, Mr Bhat said “till now i have not done it. I will be doing it at the most opportune time before January 15. I would have to make it abundantly clear that whoever goes and whatever the number be, the delegation would represent Hurriyat.”

With consensus elusive on the composition of the team, Mr Bhat was authorised to nominate the team.

Insiders say Mr Bhat will have to do a tight ropewalk as it will be difficult for him to choose a team in the wake of statements by pro-Pakistan Hizbul mujahideen asking them to include fire brand jamaat-e-islamia leader Syed Ali shah Geelani in the team.

in a veiled warning to some leaders within the Hurriyat conference, who have been pushing their own agenda and trying to cause ripples in the 23-party conglomerate, Mr Bhat said “discordance is unexpectable.”

About the purpose of his recent visit to the capital, the Hurriyat chairman said he had come to Delhi to be in touch with the developments taking shape in the wake of publication of “musings” by prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“We have to be abreast with the situation. I think a political forum like the one we are, has to have a working knowledge of what happens around,” he said.

“You do not lose if you visit such a place like Delhi, which is the seat of power as well as the abode of diplomats from across the world,” Mr Bhat added.

Pandits oppose Hurriyat’s Pak trip

NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (PTI) — Insisting that the Hurriyat Conference was not a “true representative” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits have opposed the proposed visit by its delegation to Pakistan on January 15 and demanded that the “separatist conglomerate” specify its agenda before the trip.

Leaders of the Kashmiri Samiti, the Panun Kashmir, the Kashmiri Pandits United Forum (KPUF) and the Kashmiri Displaced Employees Forum (KDEF) also attacked the Centre for declaring unilateral ceasefire, terming it as “unilateral surrender which would enable militants to regroup.”

Stressing that the Pandits were not against restoration of peace in the militancy-torn state, Panun Kashmir chairperson Dr Shakti Bhan said: “We are against the ceasefire which has been rejected by militant groups. The ceasefire will only help the militants to regroup and stockpile arms.”

“We believe that the government’s unilateral ceasefire is a unilateral surrender,” said Dr Ramesh Raina of the KPUF, questioning the government’s move to hold talks with militants.

Opposing the proposed visit by a Hurriyat delegation to Pakistan, Dr Raina said it was not the true representative of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “It does not have any representation from the people of Jammu or Ladakh regions. Neither is there any representation of Kashmiri Pandits,” he said.

Kashmiri Samiti vice-president Sunil Shakdar questioned what the Hurriyat leaders were going to discuss in Pakistan. “What is their agenda? They have not specified it as yet. It all looks fishy,” he said.

Describing the Hurriyat Conference as a “divided amalgam, some of whose leaders favour merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan and others demand independence”, KPUF president B.L. Khachroo said: “they (Hurriyat leaders) will become wiser and more forceful after their Pakistan visit.”

Wondering what the government would achieve by allowing the Hurriyat leaders to travel to Pakistan, Mr Khachroo said the conglomerate of 23 separatist organisations “cannot decide the fate of the people of the entire Jammu and Kashmir.”

The Pandit leaders demanded that their community to be involved in any talks on the future of Kashmir.

The Pandits expressed scepticism over the success of the government’s peace initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that the five-lakh strong minority community of Kashmir would not remain a silent spectator if it was not involved in talks on the future of the valley.

Mahajan’s “Mission Kashmir”
IT can crush militancy in state

SRINAGAR, Jan 7 (PTI) — Union Minister for Information Technology Pramod Mahajan yesterday dispelled fears that the establishment of a software technology park (STP) in Srinagar will give a fillip to militancy and said IT was the best weapon to crush militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

The promotion of information technology in the state was his “Mission Kashmir”, he said presiding over a function to inaugurate the state’s first STP at Rengleth here yesterday.

India’s security lay more in information technology, he said, adding if Kashmir became India’s IT showcase, nobody need to say that it was an integral part of the country.

“IT connects India with the globe and if it is connected through Kashmir you don’t have to tell it is a part of India,” the minister said.

Stressing that his “Mission Kashmir” had nothing to do with bombs but “is all about mobiles”, Mr Mahajan said mobile phone facility would be available in the state. He dismissed suggestions it would adversely affect the state’s security.

He said he had discussed this with the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Defence Minister who had all agreed to his suggestion of extending mobile facility in the state.

Contrary to the belief of risk to security, mobile facilities would help in tracking down the militants, he said.

Disclosing that the STP in Kashmir was part of his mission, Mr Mahajan offered to set up an STP in Jammu where similar infrastructure could be raised.

He welcomed the suggestion of community information centres in the state at the block level, saying it was a good idea which had first come from the northeastern states.

Mr Mahajan said both he and Union Minister of State for Industry and Commerce Omar Abdullah were working on extending this facility to Jammu and Kashmir.

It would require about Rs 50 crore, he said adding he would persuade the Union Finance Minister to allocate money for it.

He said a decade ago Indian IT exports were worth Rs 200 crore which had now grown to Rs 20,000 crore and hoped that in next 10 years IT export would touch Rs 2,50,000 crore.

Describing the setting up of the STP as a dream come true, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said with this a new phase of development would start in the state.

He said a large number of educated and trained youth were unemployed who could benefit from the new technology.

Switching over to IT would eventually lead to less dependence on government jobs and consequently reduce the burden on the state exchequer.

The Chief Minister said the government would explore the possibility of starting the IT section at the Regional Engineering College, Srinagar and that it would also be a part of the curriculum at the Mata Vaishnodevi Technology University coming up at Jammu. 

Ultras say they stormed airport, police denies

SRINAGAR, Jan 7 (UNI) — The Lashkar-e-Toiba today claimed that its five cadres stormed the Srinagar airport but the police dismissed it as a rumour, though a manhunt was on in the area to nab five armed men who tried to gain entry into the high-security airport using a stolen vehicle.

The situation was normal in the airport area, the police added. 

64 police officers killed in 2000: IGP

SRINAGAR, Jan 7 (UNI) — Although the gruesome battle against militancy in Jammu and Kashmir claimed the lives of 64 state police officers in 2000, open support from the public and close coordination between various security agencies resulted in the year proving costly for foreign militants in the Kashmir valley, according to Dr Ashok Bhan, IGP.

The number of foreign militants “neutralised” across the valley in 2000 had doubled compared to the 1999 figures, Dr Bhan told UNI.

Dr Bhan admitted that militants had of late altered their strategy and there was an increase in the number of blasts of improvised explosive devices but a marked decrease in the incidence of firing of rocketfire and arson. There were 1,194 militancy-related incidents in the valley during 2000, he said.

The security forces also seized 1,249 weapons, including 874 rifles, 2,370 kg of explosives, 274 remote-controlled devices, 2,071 detonators, 4,246 grenades and 208 wireless sets. 

29 sarpanches elected in Poonch

JAMMU, Jan 7 (PTI) — As many as 29 sarpanches and 510 panches have been declared elected unopposed against 115 and 1,028 seats respectively, in five blocks of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir so far, according to District Panchayat Election Officer Khalid Hussain.

Mr Hussain said training to the staff deployed on election duty would be imparted on January 9 and January 14, in Poonch and Mandi blocks, respectively, and on January 10 in Surankot block. Tight security arrangements had been made by the administration for the elections, he added.