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Friday,
July 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Hurriyat relevance recognised:
Bhat A TRIBUNE SPECIAL
J&K border fencing
to be ready by 2003 |
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Protesting yatris issued registration
slips One Amarnath
pilgrim dies
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Hurriyat relevance recognised:
Bhat Jammu, July 5 General Musharraf has, in fact, resurrected the APHC by stating in clear terms that they should be allowed to meet “me” and their involvement in the “dialogue process” at some stage was needed “because the solution is not possible without their wishes and desires being assessed.” When a week ago reports from Pakistan indicated that Islamabad would not insist on a meeting between APHC leaders and General Musharraf, if Delhi was opposed to it, an impression had gone round in Kashmir that even Pakistan had agreed to sideline the Hurriyat leaders. Two days back APHC Chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat told me that he did not “believe these reports” indicating that Pakistan and India have to talk to “us” at some stage. He, at the same time, gave an impression of being dismayed over the turn of events. However, the mood in the APHC camp was upbeat today. Prof Bhat could not conceal his delight and said that General Musharraf has “responded to our letter positively.” In reply to a question he said “We expect Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to follow suit.” He added “I am sure Mr Vajpayee cannot block the passage to sanity.” Prof Bhat said “When India has released all Pakistani prisoners as part of its confidence building exercise and General Musharraf has decided to offer a no-war pact there is no sense in denying us the right to be involved in the dialogue process.” When asked whether he expected some results from the summit after the two sides had adopted conciliatory postures, Prof Bhat said “I expect something to come out of the summit.” He hastened to add “we have to be involved in the parleys whether during the summit or at a later stage because the heads of the two nations are discussing our (peoples’) future.” The Hurriyat leaders are of the opinion that General Musharraf’s latest statement is an “endorsement of our stand” and the Pakistan President has “recognised our relevance and existence as the representatives of the people of Kashmir.” The Executive Committee of the APHC, which was slated to meet in Srinagar this morning, was delayed by four hours simply to enable Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a Senior party leader, to be present at the meeting. Mr Geelani is in Jammu. He had conveyed his willingness to attend the meeting in the light of the changed scenario. The APHC has, in fact, appreciated General Musharraf for having understood the ground realities in Kashmir by suggesting to India that the involvement of Hurriyat leaders in the dialogue process was necessary for the settlement of the Kashmir issue. On the other side Mr Geelani said in Jammu that he did not expect any major breakthrough from the
summit. He said the issue could be resolved through trilateral talks. |
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A TRIBUNE SPECIAL Srinagar, July 5 With the bonhomie of 1992, when these renegades worked with the Army as counter insurgents to crush terrorism, long over, the anti-militants today have no arms. There is a rising wave of frustration among the counter-insurgents who have no money to fend themselves and no future rehabilitation plans to look forward to. About 10 per cent of the surrendered militants have already reverted to terrorism. About 30 per cent have been killed in various counter-insurgency operations over the past eight years. The rest are sitting idle in safe hideouts. The Tribune visited some of the counter-insurgents to know about their present roles.. Papa Kishtawari, the dreaded operation chief of Doda for Harkat-ul-Ansar, now lives in Pampore with his group of 200 anti-militants. After the first surrender by Jalaludin Chaudhry of Al Barq in 1992, Papa Kishtawari, along with his 52 men, also surrendered in Hari Niwas Palace in Srinagar in 1992. He was joined by three other militant commanders: Kuka Pare of Al Jehad with his 400 men, Javed Shah with his 300 men and HM commander Ghulam Nabi with another about 80. The surrendered militants formed an organisation called Ikhwan-ul-Muslimoon. Ever since the renegades came to be known as Ikhwanis. Voicing the disgruntlement prevailing among Ikhwanis, Papa Kishtawari said that they had not been given what was promised to them. Earlier the plans were to treat the absorbed Ikhwanis at par with the Army jawans. In that case they were to get all benefits like TA, DA, uniform, arms for protection and insurance facilities in case of death during operations. Independent enquiries revealed that many Ikhwanis had not received the promised Rs 1500 per month since 1998. Bashir Ahmad, a surrendered militant, who was earlier the chief publicity officer with HM, now lives under police protection in Hotel Aziz on the Boulevard road. He is on the hit list of HM, which he quit in 1992. He told The Tribune,” Many of us don’t get the promised money. We can’t even work because we are under constant threat from active
militants. You can well imagine how we sustain ourselves and our families.” Pervez Amhad Shamshed, another Ikhwani, was injured during an operation about two years back. He did not get any relief. He has also not seen his family for over two years now. Some others are — Maruf Khan (earlier with Al Barq), Ali Mohd Shah (earlier with HM) and Mushtaq Lone (earlier with Al Jehad). They are all sitting idle now. In 1998, the Army had announced these scales for Ikhwanis: Rs 3000 for a sipahi, Rs 5500 for section commander (leading 10 boys), Rs 7000 for paltan commander (leading 33 boys), Rs 9000 for battalion commander (leading three paltans), Rs 12000 for district and Rs 17500 for supreme commander. Many Ikhwanis contacted, however, showed their bank balances, which indicated that the disbursement had not been made since 1998. Lack of insurance cover also bothers them a lot. Recently three commanders were killed, but no relief was reportedly given to their families. Those killed were Fayyaz Nawabadi (earlier with Student Liberation Front), Ghulam Nabi (earlier with HM) and Wafadar Khan. The Army sources, when contacted, expressed ignorance about the state of affairs, while the police officials had a clear-cut answer. “We will not use counter-militants for any operation. They are welcome to provide tip-offs. But we cannot bear the risk of providing a civilian with a gun,” said Mr K. Rajendera, DIG, Kashmir Range. |
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J&K border fencing
to be ready by 2003 Udhampur, July 5 He said firing at the Line of Control (LoC) had decreased while it had increased at the International Border. However, security measures had been stepped up to control infiltration. An impressive attestation-cum-passing out parade was held here yesterday in which 205 recruits participated. They belonged to Madhya Pradesh (160), Andhra Pradesh (9), Gujarat (3), Bihar (1), Rajasthan (2), Haryana (1), UP (2), Uttaranchal (4), Punjab (2) and Chhattisgarh (21). Senior officials from the Army, the Air Force, the police and civil administration were also present on the occasion. |
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Amarnath Yatra formally
begins Pahalgam, July 5 With this, the pilgrimage has formally started. The first batch of pilgrims, who had left Jammu on Monday had darshan of the holy ice “lingam” of Lord Shiva in the holy cave, 48 km from Pahalgam. During the past two days, the first batch passed through a 16-km road link to Chandanwari. The pilgrimage will continue till August 4 on the occasion of shrawan Purnima which coincides with Raksha Bandhan. The mahant also held “dhwajarohan” ceremony at Martand Temple, Mattan, near Anantnag. the holy mace which was carried from Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar, was later brought back to Srinagar. Speaking on the occasion, the mahant said people of Kashmir, irrespective of caste, creed or religion had been cooperating, assisting and encouraging pilgrims and sadhus who come here for pilgrimage. He appealed to all to preserve the age-old tradition of communal harmony. He also thanked the government for the security arrangements. Meanwhile, at least 9100 pilgrims have already had darshan of the ice “lingam” during the past two days, an official spokesman said in Srinagar. About 3,700 pilgrims have returned via Baltal route. A fresh batch of 3,511 yatris in 177 vehicles from Jammu reached here this evening. Over 20,000 pilgrims have so far reached the valley. |
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Protesting yatris issued registration
slips Jammu, July 5 Official reports said that since last evening, more than 300 yatris were given the registration slips. Others were sent without the registration and a list of these unregistered pilgrims, numbering nearly 1,000 was prepared and sent with the police escort party. It was because of this concession that yesterday 4,732 pilgrims left for Pahalgam against the established norm of permitting not more than 3,500 yatris to leave Jammu to Pahalgam per day. According to reports, the Lakhanpur barrier near Pathankot presented a chaotic look with several hundred pilgrims jostling with the police for permission to enter Jammu. They were later allowed to proceed to Jammu when they informed the police that they had come to visit the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. Reports said that more than 500 pilgrims, keen to visit the Amarnath cave, had no other alternative but to visit Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. Those travelling by cars and chartered buses dodged the police in Jammu by informing them that they were Vaishno Devi yatris. However, they were stopped near the check-post beyond Domel in Udhampur. It was after great persuasion that they were allowed to travel to Pahalgam on their own risk. Today 3511 pilgrims, including 601 women and 37 children, left Jammu for Pahalgam under tight security cover. As many as 164 Sadhus are also being sent in batches for five to seven in each bus. |
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One Amarnath
pilgrim dies Srinagar, July 5 The pilgrim, identified as S. Janardhan, hailing from Sikandarabad of Andhra Pradesh, died before the authorities could provide him with medical aid. Priya Gupta from Punjab, who was injured after falling from a pony at Nageena Pather yesterday, is recovering, they said. Meanwhile, more than 9,100 pilgrims have had ‘darshan’ of the ice lingam at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath situated at the
altitude of 3,880 metres in South Kashmir Himalayas till this morning, an official spokesman said. Of these, 3,700 have returned via the Baltal route. |
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Ghulam Mohammad Lone alias Papa Kishtwari (centre), leader of Ikhwanul Muslimoon (now a counter-insurgent group) now turned
politician and chief of "Tehreek-e Wattan" is escorted by the 'friendly militants'of Ikhwanul-Muslimoon near his residence at Pampore, 14
km south of
Srinagar.
