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| Friday,
August 3, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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APHC
showing renewed interest in talks Post-Agra
scenario reviewed Did DSP
die of lack of medical aid? Mortar
attack on security camp |
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‘Chhari
Mubarak’ reaches Sheshnag 14
teenagers saved from joining ultras
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APHC showing renewed interest in talks Jammu, August 2 In a bid to emerge out of the sidelines, the Hurriyat leaders have now started favouring talks with the government. On being marginalised by the Government of India, the Hurriyat leaders had announced that they would be interacting with Opposition leaders in Delhi. Now there is a sudden shift and not only Mr Abdul Gani Lone and Molvi Umar Farooq, but even hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani have begun saying that the doors for dialogue with the government had not been shut. However, the tone and tenor of their statements differ. While Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said that the APHC is willing to enter into a dialogue with the Centre but right to self-determination is the most suitable way of resolving the Kashmir “dispute”, Mr Lone and Molvi Umar Farooq have not placed any rider on their preparedness to start talks with Delhi. Chairman of the APHC Abdul Gani Bhat said: “We never closed the door for dialogue, emphasising that the APHC was for tripartite talks. He said: “We want our team to hold talks with Islamabad and Delhi so that a viable formula is evolved for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.” He said the APHC had written to the Prime Minister and General Musharraf. “General Musharraf responded to our letter and invited us to talks in Delhi, but there has been no word from the Government of India.” When reminded about the contradictory stand being taken by the APHC leaders, Prof Bhat said: “These contradictions have sustained the Hurriyat Conference”, adding that “there are ideological differences among some Hurriyat leaders but they are not so serious that the conglomerate can break.” However, supporters of the APHC assume significance to the decision of the JKLF, which is a constituent of the conglomerate, to carry out reorganisation of the front and make it broadbased in the light of the rift the JKLF chief, Mr Mohammad Yasin Malik, has had with those Hurriyat leaders who had accepted the invitation for tea by the Pakistan High Commissioner in honour of General Musharraf’s visit to Delhi. Presumably, Mr Malik did not want to interact with the General during the tea party but had favoured a separate discussion between the two sides. Mr Malik and his associates did not conceal their anger against the APHC leaders and when Mr Malik reached Srinagar from London, where he had gone for medical treatment, rumours went round that the JKLF may walkout of the Hurriyat Conference. Those who have such fears argue that since Mr Malik and Syed Ali Shah Geelani have fallen apart, the JKLF will demand replacing Mr Geelani with any other Jamait-e-Islami leader as Jamaat’s representative in the Executive Committee of the APHC. But Prof Bhat has ridiculed these rumours, saying that the Hurriyat will not disintegrate. Reports said when Mr Mohammad Yasin Malik held a series of discussions with the front leaders and supporters in London, in which many from the USA, Canada and European countries participated, he was advised to pull out of the APHC and broadbase the JKLF by including members from the Jammu region, Ladakh and other minority communities. These reports said Mr Malik was busy these days in finalising his future strategy because pulling out of the APHC conglomerate was not going to be an easy step. Mr Malik’s slogan for “azadi” has greater public acceptability than the demand for merger of Kashmir with Pakistan. But this may not carry him far. Pro-Pakistan militants could create problems for him and his supporters in the state. Another fear among the APHC leaders is the plan of the National Conference to go in for early Assembly poll. They fear that in case the National Conference wins the poll, it will be in the seat of power for another six years. Hence, the APHC leaders have started showing interest in holding talks with Delhi. By doing so, they plan to delay the poll process and be able to register their presence and influence the voters. The Hurriyat leaders have hopes that by engaging the government in talks, the poll exercise can be delayed. For the time-being, the APHC leaders prefer to adopt a wait and watch policy as they are keen to see the outcome of the second round of the Indo-Pakistan summit proposed to be held in Islamabad. Islamabad, according to reports, is also in favour of the APHC keeping Delhi engaged in a dialogue. There are indications that when the government negotiator, Mr K.C. Pant, visits Srinagar again the APHC may not boycott his visit. |
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Post-Agra
scenario reviewed New Delhi, August 2 Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and
Governor G.C. Saxena attended a top-level security meeting in the
state last week where the three Corps Commanders of the Indian Army
gave a detailed assessment of the ground situation, the recent
successes of the security forces and the imminent challenges before
them, well-placed sources told The Tribune here today. Mr Abdullah
and Mr Saxena, in turn, first briefed Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee and then Union Home Minister L K Advani earlier this week
about the corps commanders’ briefing to them. The Chief Minister
and the Governor briefed the PM and the Home Minister
separately. The corps commanders briefing to the Chief Minister and
the Governor assumes importance as it took place following the
failed Indo-Pakistan summit in Agra and the spurt in the violent
activities of Pakistan-aided militants. The corps commanders — Lt
Gen Arjun Ray of the Leh-based 14 Corps, Lt-Gen J Mukherjee of the
Srinagar-based 15 Corps and Lt-Gen K.B.S. Yadav of the Nagrota (near
Jammu)-based 16 Corps — briefed Mr Abdullah and the Governor of
the security forces’ successes eversince the Centre’s May 23
announcement of withdrawing its unilateral
ceasefire. Significantly, the corps commanders’ briefing came in
the wake of the Hizbul Mujahideen holding a meeting of its so-called
divisional commanders in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) where it
had finalised the names of new divisional commanders for renewed
mayhem in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said Mr Vajpayee and Mr
Advani have been told by Mr Abdullah and Mr Saxena that the security
forces had, by and large, achieved an overall degree of dominance
over terrorist groups eversince the revocation of the Non-
Initiation of Combat Operations (NICO), better known as the
ceasefire. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Army alone has killed as many
as 219 terrorists in the month of June and 230 terrorists in July
this year — the highest-ever figure for a two-month period in the
past 11 years of Pakistan’s proxy war. One important feature
highlighted to the government was that of the total number of
militants operating currently in Jammu and Kashmir, the percentage
of foreign mercenaries has consistently been rising and the number
of locals has been showing a declining trend. Different agencies
have different statistics regarding the number of militants
operating in Jammu and Kashmir. It is understood that about 5,000
militants are currently active in Jammu and Kashmir, of which only
about 700 are hardcore. Eighty to 90 per cent of these hardcore
militants are foreigners bringing to the fore that Kashmiris are
increasingly getting disenchanted with militancy and the so-called
“freedom movement” has been hijacked by foreign mercenaries at
the behest of Pakistan. |
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Did DSP die of lack of medical aid? Jammu, August 2 There is no response. Again the voice beeps through the wireless set: “Yankee seven calling, Yankee seven calling. DSP injured. Rush help.” By the time the rescue team starts to move to the incident site the area has been cordoned off or sealed by the Army. Nobody is allowed to move towards the blast site and the rescue party is told that a chopper can be flown when the sun peeps out from the mountains the following morning. The DSP Mr Praveen Kumar, lays helpless with a bullet wound on his thigh. He is left bleeding and when four other wounded fall on him, he succumbs to his injuries. This was on July 20 when militants carried out a bomb blast. Praveen Kumar was the first to reach the site within 10 minutes. As he was trying to rescue the injured, another blast took place a few feet away. A security guard accompanying the DSP switched on a torch. The light fell on the lower body of the DSP and other pilgrims. The militants opened fire, hitting the DSP and others on their legs and thighs. According to eyewitness accounts, had medical aid been available on time, Praveen Kumar would have survived because those who performed the last rites in Jammu said except for a bullet wound on his thigh, there was no other injury. Praveen Kumar had died of loss of blood, suffocation and cold. Had not eyewitness accounts been available people would have believed that he and others had been victims of a rivalry between the CRPF and the police. |
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Mortar attack on security camp Srinagar, August 2 Elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir, five militants and two women were among 11 persons killed while the security forces captured four ultras, including a self-styled group commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen during the past 24 hours. An official spokesman said militants fired mortars and resorted to heavy firing with automatic weapons on a security force camp at Nageen forest in Kupwara district this morning. The mortars, however, exploded without causing any damage. The spokesman said troops had sealed the entire forest area and launched a massive hunt to nab the militants. The security forces gunned down five militants in an encounter at Detgali near Sonaland in the same district last evening. Three AK rifles and some explosives were recovered from them. The body of Mohammad Muzaffar Lone, who was abducted by militants from his Surigam house was recovered at Lolab on Thursday while ultras shot and wounded a shopkeeper Mohammad Ayub at Bandipora last night. Later, the security forces captured two militants in the same area. The body of Mohammad Shabir, who was kidnapped by militants along with his father Mohammad Shafi Bhat, was recovered at upper Shahdara Sharief this morning. His father was let off unharmed. Militants entered the house of Javed Ahmad at Zadan and shot him dead while two women Irshada Begum and Amina Begum were killed at Basantgarh in Udhampur district late last night. The spokesman said two daughters of Partap Singh were injured when militants fired towards their house at Pathie Mahore in the same district last night. Ultras shot dead Mohammad Shafi Bhat near his Hayatpora Tangmarg house late last night while Mukhtar Ahmad was shot and wounded by militants at Janglat Mandi in Anantnag district. Self-styled group commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Mohammad Ashraf Ahenger alias Hilal, was arrested by the Special Operations Group of the local police at Naikbagh-Natipora in Badgam district today. Ashraf, a close associate of recently killed Hizb-ul battalion commander Mustafa Khan, was involved in various militancy-related incidents. BSF apprehended a militant Nazir Ahmad Dar, alias Umar Farooq, with a rifle, 90 rounds and a grenade from Cherwani area of Chrar-e-Sharief in Badgam district last night, he said. Two militant hideouts were smashed by the BSF during raids at Sangrama in Baramula and Chaterhama-Zakoora in Srinagar today.
UNI, PTI |
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‘Chhari Mubarak’ reaches Sheshnag Srinagar, August 2 The yatra will culminate on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 4 when the Chhari Mubarik will be taken to the cave shrine for worship.
UNI |
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14 teenagers
saved from joining ultras Srinagar, August 2 The boys belonging to Sopore and Tujar areas of Baramula district were handed over to their parents with an advise to take care of their wards, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, G.M. Dar told PTI today. He said the boys were lured by the militants and were being taken for arms training when the police intercepted them and took them into custody yesterday. “We advised the parents of the boys to take proper care of their wards and give them adequate education so that they are not misled again in future,” Dar said adding that the parents of the released boys expressed gratitude for saving their wards.
PTI |
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