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| Thursday,
July 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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PoK bone
of contention: Farooq Abdullah Carnages
aimed at ‘ethnic cleansing’ Gujjars,
Bakerwals barred from Suru valley |
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PoK bone of contention: Farooq Abdullah Jammu, July 25 He told a group of newspersons here that the state’s accession with India in 1948 had settled the issue of Kashmir and what was to be resolved was that part of Kashmir which was under Pakistan’s occupation. He said President Pervez Musharraf had stated that he was the first Pakistan President who had taken a firm stand on Kashmir in Agra, adding that the military ruler would in the near future realise his folly because people in PoK wanted liberation. The Chief Minister made it clear that “the liberation” of PoK will resolve the Kashmir issue once for all and Pakistan should get ready to face the reality. Dr Abdullah said, “We want people on either side of the border to meet each other. It would allow those living across the LoC a chance to see the pace of development in our Kashmir”. He added that Pakistan did not respond to it and simply adopted belligerent postures by declaring the activities of the militants as jehad. He wanted to know from the Pakistan rulers whether killing of innocent people, as witnessed in Kishtwar and at Sheshnag recently, was jehad. Dr Abdullah said there should be no resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue unless Islamabad stopped aiding cross-border terrorism. He said foreign mercenaries operating in Jammu and Kashmir were simply spilling blood of innocent people and thereby destabilising peace. “We have decided to kill all of them and send their bodies across the border”, he said. In reply to a question, the Chief Minister said the restoration of greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir would not only prove beneficial to the people of the state but also blunt the anti-India campaign launched by Pakistan. He claimed that people were for greater autonomy except those like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, whose only desire was to “see merger of Kashmir with Pakistan and (Geelani) would never be able to see his wish fulfilled”. The Chief Minister asked Pakistan to reciprocate India’s confidence-building measures and stop aiding and encouraging terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Later, Dr Abdullah inaugurated latest medicare facilities at government medical college and at Batra Medical College at Sidhra. In government medical college three sophisticated gadgets at a cost of Rs 14 crore was installed for carrying out MIR, CT scan and cath lab tests. At Batra hospital a new heartcare centre has been set up. |
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Carnages
aimed at ‘ethnic cleansing’ Jammu, July 25 Mr D.K. Kotwal and Dr Nirmal Singh president and general secretary, respectively, of the state unit of the BJP comprised the two-member team. They visited Kishtwar area where in two massacres 12 Hindus had been killed. Mr Kotwal told newspersons here today the separatists and the militants had initiated measures for driving the minority community members out of the Muslim dominated Doda district on the pattern of the Kishtwar valley where in 1990 over 3.50 lakh Hindus were forced to migrate to the plains. The BJP chief said the militants would achieve success in their plan if direct and indirect “support and patronage” from the police and the ruling National Conference leaders continued to be available to the rebels.. Coming down heavily on the style of functioning of the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Mr Kotwal demanded he should immediately resign as “he has lost the moral right to be in office” following his failure to check the massacre of Hindus in Doda and elsewhere. He said if the Chief Minister was unwilling to quit the Centre should step in by imposing Governor’s rule in the state. He said the team was informed by the people that the local police not only gave shelter and aid to the militants but kept on “harassing” those who voiced resentment against the designs of the police. The team, Mr Kotwal said, was also told in clear terms that members of the village defence committees were “teased and harassed” by the police and they were being denied sophisticated weapons. He said even the ammunition for the .303 guns was being delayed. Mr Kotwal said if the government, whether in Srinagar or in Delhi, wanted normalcy to return to Doda district the entire district be “handed over to the Army” and the security forces be given a free hand to tackle the situation. He said the minorities were opposed to migration and they wanted better weapons so that could defend themselves but that too under overall control of the Army and not the state police. |
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Gujjars, Bakerwals barred from Suru valley Jammu, July 25 Several Gujjar leaders, including Haji Buland Khan, MLC and Vice-Chairman, Gujjar Welfare Board, has had several meetings with the Governor, Mr G.C Saxena, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, the Army commander and other functionaries but his efforts have not borne any results. It is for the first time in the past 50 years that this tribe has been refused permission to enter the Suru valley in Zanskar for allowing their cattle to graze on mountain pastures. They have moved with their cattle from Jammu and Kathua districts but have been stopped for security reasons. The Army authorities said since militants had picked up Bakerwal dialect they could sneak into the Suru valley in the guise of shepherds and create major law and order problems. They also cited last year’s example when three Buddhist monks and a German tourist were killed by the militants on the Zanskar road. Haji Buland Khan was upset when he was informed that 3,000 cattle heads had perished because of starvation. He immediately met the Governor and the Chief Minister. In his latest meeting with the Chief Minister, he Haji Nizamuddin, Haji Ghulam Mohammad and others told Dr Abdullah that the Army was trying to “create a wedge between the nomadic tribes and the local population in the Ladakh region.” They also told the Chief Minister that since the border was 260 km away from Suru, the Army should have no role in giving permission. The Chief Minister informed them that he had been briefed on the matter by the Governor who was keen to grant permission to the Gujjar and Bakerwal tribes to enter Suru. He had already taken up the issue with the Army. The Gujjar leaders were angry because the assurances given to them by the Army commander had not been implemented. Their anger also stems from their apprehension that the Ladakh Buddhist Association had been “goaded” by the Army authorities to give government’s move to withdraw the Army from Zanskar and against the steps being taken to allow Gujjars and Bakerwals to take their cattle for grazing to Suru. Haji Buland Khan said: “We have nothing to do whether the Army is retained in Zanskar or withdrawn. We simply want the nomadic tribes to enter into Suru for grazing purposes and after the grazing season is over they would be back to Jammu and Kathua.” They have fears that if grazing was not allowed soon, several thousands of cattle would perish and there may be starvation deaths. He said when the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner visited Ladakh, the Buddhist association protested on the plea that he had come to arrange for the withdrawal of the Army from Zanskar which was not true. He said the Division Commissioner had gone there to sort out the problem of the grazers with the Army authorities. The Haji has appealed to the Chief Minister, the Governor, the Defence Minister and the Prime Minister to intervene and save the lives of Gujjars and Bakerwals who survive on animal husbandry alone. |
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