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Friday,
September 6, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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‘Keep
off’ J&K poll, America tells Pak Pervez is
trying to backtrack
PM to meet
Bush, not Musharraf Bhutto
contests papers’ rejection 22 die in
Kabul bomb blast
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No
Chandrika nominee at talks Gripping
Partition images on British TV
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‘Keep off’ J&K poll, America tells Pak
Islamabad, September 5 “The USA feels that free and fair elections in the valley would be an expression of the will of the people and may help a movement forward. It has to be seen whether it gets broader participation,” US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a delegation of visiting Pakistani editors and other journalists in Washington yesterday. Also contrary to Pakistan’s perception of the elections, Mr Armitage said a major concern for the Washington was whether the poll in Jammu and Kashmir would be held free of violence. Mr Armitage’s comments appeared to be an indication to Pakistan to “keep off” from the poll so that the “process” could be moved forward in Kashmir, The News” daily said. Significantly, Mr Armitage also left little scope for speculation when he said President Pervez Musharraf himself believed that elections everywhere should be violence-free. He also echoed the sentiments expressed by US Secretary of State Colin Powell recently that the Kashmir issue figured on the international agenda like never before. Mr Armitage said there was a lot of concern in the world community to resolve the Kashmir issue. World “heavyweights” like Russia, the UK, Sweden, China and Germany have joined hands with the USA to create a “congenial atmosphere” for the resolution of the Kashmir problem, which should be finally sorted out by India and Pakistan themselves, he said. Asked about India’s “refusal” to allow international observers to monitor the poll, Mr Armitage said Indian officials had told him that New Delhi would welcome foreign diplomats based in the Capital to travel and observe the elections. When asked what would happen if India refused to permit foreign diplomats, he said if it happened, there would be “questions” asked about the process. Interpreting the prevalent mood among the Indian leadership, Mr Armitage said what New Delhi probably wanted to convey was that if the elections were held free of violence, it would be ready to resume the dialogue.
PTI |
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Pervez is trying to backtrack Gen Pervez Musharraf’s statements in the past three years betray a schizophrenic tendency in him: he makes one statement one day and says something just the opposite the next day. The list of his contradictory statements and action is long — rather unending. Note, for example his advice to “jehadi” groups on February 5, 2000, in Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. On this day he appealed to such groups, which launched militancy against Kashmir from the soil of Pakistan, to unite for action in Kashmir. As a result, the United Jehad Council of 15 Pakistan-based groups was formed with official blessings. After this, the cross-LoC activities of jehadi/terrorists increased in Kashmir. But after about 23 months, i.e. on January 12, he had an absolutely opposite warning for these jehadi groups. He said no Pakistani should involve himself in any Islamic movement beyond the borders of their own country. He very clearly said Pakistanis should not involve themselves in the affairs of Kashmir. To emphasise that he meant it, he banned the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the two organisations who always enjoyed Pakistan’s official patronage in their terrorist activities in Kashmir. Also, General Musharraf made a solemn pledge to the visiting US Secretary of State Colin Powell that he would completely stop cross-LoC infiltration into Kashmir from his country. But when Mr Powell made this pledge public and India welcomed it, Musharraf said he never gave any such undertaking. The US Government was shocked and puzzled. Soon Musharraf came out with another statement: “There is no cross-LoC infiltration.” India at once rejected this claim. The United States said the level of infiltration had gone down but it still continued. The Pakistan Government denied the US observation. Now the General decided to speak some truth. He told the French news agency AFP that Pakistan could not stop the infiltration completely. Subsequently, he told the BBC on August 29, that he had not given any time-frame to the international community to stop infiltration across the LoC in J&K. And the next day, Abd-ur-Rahman, a senior commander of the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen said in Muzafarrabad (PoK) that his organisation was still sending Mujahideens across the LoC. Musharraf’s three contradictory statements on cross-LoC infiltration will sound quite comic if we look at them from his very forceful assertion a day after the Agra Summit in July, 2001. At a breakfast press conference meant for selected Indian editors, he said there was no cross-border terrorism. He said the LoC was not a border. Kashmiris from one side of the LoC were going to the other side where a freedom movement was going on. He made it very clear that the LoC had no sanctity. Just imagine in July, 1999, when the Kargil war ended Pakistan had promised to maintain the sanctity of the LoC. The same promise is made in the Shimla Agreement, too. Musharraf’s contradictions have proved the costliest for the young people who had staked their careers for Islamic militancy allured by the Pakistani establishment’s funds and weapons. The very first organisation, which suffered almost annihilation because of Musharraf’s turn-around, was the Taliban. It is well known that Taliban were the product of madarsas in Pakistan and that they were joisted on Afghanistan by brutal force. On September 19, 2001, when Musharraf announced his country’s “unstinted” support to the US-led international coalition against global terrorism, he claimed the Taliban administration would not be replaced by the Northern Alliance. It was India’s effort to see the Alliance installed in power in Afghanistan, he alleged. On September 30, 2001 in an interview with a television channel, Musharraf defended Al Rashid Trust saying it had nothing to do with terrorism and that Harkat-ul-Mujahideen operated from Kashmir and not Pakistan. Two days before this announcement the Pakistan government had frozen the accounts of Al Rashid Trust and that of Harkat-ul-Ansar bowing to international pressure. He also stated that there were no terrorists in Pakistan and Islamabad’s initial support to Kabul was in the national interest. But soon he became party to the bombing out of the Taliban regime. One may also note that while he declared his country’s support to the coalition against global terrorism, his government allowed thousands of young Pakistani boys to go to Afghanistan with truckloads of ration, medicines, blankets and weapons. But when the US bombing started showing the desired results, the government turned against those Pakistanis who managed to escape back. They were charged with leaving the country without proper documents. It is true that for the world at large the word jehad has come to mean terrorism, but those young people from villages who have thoroughly been brainwashed into believing that killing in the name of jehad is justified, need sympathies. Vested political interests have turned them human robots in the name of Islam. It is an irony that General Musharraf still does not realise that his support to Kashmir terrorism will encourage those very groups who are creating trouble within Pakistan. If he is really sincere and desirous on this issue, let him take action against the JuM chief and cadres and arrest Syed Salamuddin, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed etc. who have been making public statements in favour of ‘Jehad’ and for disrupting elections in J&K. By saying that he has not given any time-frame to stop infiltration, Musharraf is encouraging trans-border activities. |
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PM to meet Bush, not Musharraf
Washington, September 5 “I don’t think there is any likelihood of a bilateral meeting with President Musharraf,” Mr Mansingh said. Besides Mr Bush, Mr Vajpayee will meet several other heads of state and government during his five-day stay in New York starting September 10. Along with other special invitees, the Prime Minister will light a candle at a memorial for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Around 220 persons of the Indian origin, including 17 to 20 Indian passport-holders, died in the terrorist strikes, Mr Mansingh said. On September 13, he will address the General Assembly. The next day, Mr Vajpayee is expected to meet Senators and Congressmen of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. On September 15, the Prime Minister will hold more bilateral meetings and probably address a press conference before he leaves New York.
PTI |
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Bhutto contests papers’ rejection
Karachi, September 5 Attorney Farooq Naik said he filed the appeal with a two-member election tribunal here, a stronghold of Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party. He would file further appeals later today against two other rejections of Ms Bhutto’s nominations in rural seats of Sindh province of which Karachi is capital. “I am going to Sukkur to file appeals against the rejections of her nominations in two other seats,” Mr Naik said. Seven election tribunals have been set up across Pakistan to hear appeals against the acceptance or rejection of candidates by the state Election Commission until tomorrow. The tribunals have until September 13 to decide on the appeals, and the final list of candidates will be published on September 15. The case is next due to be heard on September 11.
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22 die in Kabul bomb blast
Kabul, September 5 Emergency vehicles and armoured personnel carriers from the international peace-keeping force rushed to the scene in near the Ministry of Information. Witnesses said a smaller explosion had drawn crowds to the area when the car bomb — apparently a taxi — exploded in front of a building containing shops selling televisions and satellite dishes — all forbidden during the hardline Taliban rule. The second floor of the building housed a small hotel. Mr Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, former PM, had issued a call for jehad, or holy war, this week to drive the US and foreign troops, including international peacekeepers from Afghanistan.
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Murder bid on Karzai Kandahar, September 5 The Kandahar Governor, Mr Gul Agha Sherzai, was injured and three persons were killed in the melee when Mr Karzai’s American bodyguards opened fire.
AP |
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No Chandrika nominee at talks Colombo, September 5 Cabinet spokesman G.L. Peiris told reporters here that the government had already finalised a four-man delegation for the talks, set to begin in Thailand on September 16. Peiris, Economic Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda, Ports and Shipping Minister Rauff Hakeem and head of the peace secretariat Bernard Goonatilleke form the government
delegation. The talks would go on for six hours on the first two days and three hours on the third day. Meanwhile, the government today brushed aside President Kumaratunga’s reservations about the removal of the domestic ban on the LTTE, saying she had no legal avenues available to question or rescind the action.”
PTI |
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Gripping
Partition images on British TV London, September 5 Britain’s ITV network is now to screen The British Empire in colour. The three-part television series, broadcast later this month will feature unseen colour sequences from Africa, Australia, Canada and the West Indies. Yet it is the frames of Partition (of India) that have stunned audiences at early screenings and already provoked argument among eminent historians. Terrible scenes, not seen before, of thousands of dispossessed refugees trailing across the newly created border with Pakistan will make it hard to defend the memory of colonial India as an caring and a orderly place. These distressing pictures will be a welcome jolt to Britain’s complacent self-image.
The Guardian |
US
CONSULATE ATTACK TRIAL ADJOURNED TRIBESMEN
PROTEST AL-QAIDA HUNT APPEAL
AGAINST ACQUITTAL Mukhtar Mai, left, who was gang-raped by the orders of tribal council, offers
garlands made of currency notes to her lawyer, Ramza Khalid Joya,
centre, and another unidentified lawyer at their office in Multan, Pakistan, on
Wednesday. Mai said that she won't believe justice had been done until
the six men convicted in the attack have been hanged.
— AP/PTI photo |
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In video: The Sri
Lankan Government decides to lift the ban on the LTTE, despite
opposition from President. (
