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Yasin Malik says no to strike
Top Lashkar militant killed Massive fortification
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Muzaffarabad road can be Mufti’s trump card Dul-Hasti project to be commissioned next year
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Yasin Malik says no to strike Jammu, December 31 Mr Malik this morning released to mediapersons at Srinagar a New Year’s message addressed to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in which he hoped that the peace process between the two countries would broaden in scope. He said it was his firm stand that only the people of Kashmir could decide the future of Kashmir and they would always oppose any attempts by India and Pakistan to resolve the issue without involving the people of Kashmir. “To convey this, we have always organised protests and strikes whenever Indian and Pakistani leaders have held talks pertaining to Kashmir. However, we have decided not to protest at this time with an eye towards giving peace a chance and in the hope of encouraging an opening between India and Pakistan for a broader peace process instead,” he said. Mr Malik said he would like to convey a message of support and convey his earnest request to Mr Vajpayee and General Musharraf that they would meet and resolve to undertake a peace process that would also effectively and meaningfully involve the people of Kashmir in finding a solution agreeable to all parties. Meanwhile, the forthcoming SAARC summit in Pakistan has generated a lot of hope here for a lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir and the reopening of the road links to Muzaffarabad and Sialkot to provide an opportunity of reunion to the families which were divided due to Partition. With a view to build pressure for this purpose, the PDP-led coalition government is tomorrow organising a rally at Srinagar on the eve of the summit. There is expectation that on the lines of the Lahore bus service, the road between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad might be reopened. This will provide an opportunity to the divided families of Kashmir to meet. Expectations had started rising with the appointment of Mr
N.N. Vohra as the Centre’s interlocutor for a dialogue with various groups in Jammu and Kashmir. The demand for reopening the road links was made by certain deputations which met him. The reopening of the Jammu-Sialkot road has also been suggested to the Centre by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Many of the Muslim families in Jammu have their relatives in Lahore and Sialkot and they have to go all the way to Wagah to reach these places in Pakistan. They will be able to reach Sialkot in just 30 minutes if the road is reopened. The road up to Suchetgarh, the last point on the Indian side, is in a good condition and the observers of the United Nations daily shuttle between Jammu and Sialkot in their vehicles. What remains to be done is to revive the octroi post that was functional during pre-Partition days when the road and rail link of Jammu with Punjab and Delhi was through Sialkot. |
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Top Lashkar militant killed Srinagar, December 31 Official sources said security forces cordoned off Chewdara village in the central Kashmir district of Badgam following information that a listed militant was hiding there. When the security forces were about to storm a house, they came under heavy fire. The fire was returned and in the fierce exchange, a self-styled divisional commander of the LeT, Bilal Habshee, a Pakistani resident, was killed. Carrying a reward of Rs 3 lakh, the commander was allegedly responsible for more than 100 killings during the past six years. Security forces also killed another militant, Faisal Iqbal at Zainapora Kulgam during a search operation today. An official spokesman said militants attacked a security forces’ camp with hand grenades and automatic weapons at Chogam in the south Kashmir district of Pulwama last night. Security forces retaliated but the militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness.
— UNI, PTI |
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Massive fortification
by militants Jammu, December 31 The search operations in the area led to the recovery of six quintals of rice, four quintals of wheat atta, 100 kg of sugar, seven cooking gas cylinders and three hearths, 100 kg of walnut, 150 blankets, 105 kg of mustard oil, 70 kg of tea leaves, 100 kg of
potatoes, 80 kg of onion, 16 packets of condoms and bags of other eatables. The police confirmed eyewitness reports saying that militants would engage couriers who used to get payment in advance for purchasing various food items from the market. These couriers are instructed to drop the food bags and packets of eatables at a particular spot which the rebels collected at their convenience. These food items and blankets have been stored in several underground hideouts from where the rebels, hiding in the forest belts of Surankot and its adjoining areas, receive the supply of the ration. Official sources said that militants, camping in the forest belt of Cheeli Pahari, Hari Budha, Jabi and adjoining areas, lay ambushes and strike against the security forces and the soft targets which was enough to create scare among the people in the upper reaches of Poonch and Rajouri districts. It is out of scare that militants have succeeded in roping in teenagers who were being given arms training in the forest belts of Rajouri and Poonch. According to official sources, security agencies and those manning the intelligence agencies were formulating a plan for flushing out militants. The sources said the operations would have been carried out on a massive scale but the fear of civilian causalities, during such operations, has forced the security agencies to go slow. |
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Muzaffarabad road can be Mufti’s trump card Srinagar, December 31 Kashmir’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will hold a public rally here on New Year’s Day to mount pressure for the reopening of the road that links Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. “People from every corner of the Kashmir Valley, especially those from border towns like Uri, will assemble in Srinagar to press for the reopening of this road,” said Naseer Ahmed, a local journalist. “For Kashmiris the sentimental value of this road link cannot be overstated.” Till the mid-1940s, the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway was the Kashmir Valley’s only major window to the outside world. All trade and commerce with the rest of the subcontinent was routed through this road. With Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India in 1947 and the division of the state between India and Pakistan, families were separated and forlorn locals looked at the abandoned road link with stoic resignation. Sensing the groundswell for reopening this route, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and his PDP are doing everything they can to up the ante on this front. In one of his recent chats with local journalists, Sayeed said the reopening of the road was no political gimmick. “You shall shortly see this. Maybe we can take a joint ride on that bus,” he said. Even his worst detractors would admit that Sayeed has had more than a fair share of good luck since he assumed the reins of power last year. “The National Conference squandered its mass base. This created the niche that Sayeed conveniently stepped into. International interest in peace between India and Pakistan reached a new high after the 9/11 terror strikes in the USA,” said a Kashmir watcher.
— IANS |
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Hurriyat leaders apprehensive Jammu, December 31 Surprisingly, moderate separatist groups, especially the APHC (Abbas), are of the firm opinion that the reopening of the road will not resolve the core issue of Kashmir. When the issue was debated upon in the executive committee of the APHC (Abbas) in Srinagar today, members posed two questions — “Will the reopening of the road lead to the final settlement of the Kashmir dispute”? and “Will the road be opened for trade also?” The executive committee members were of the opinion that mere restoration of passenger traffic on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road may not be of great help to the people, except in the case of a small number of families divided during partition. They, however, said in case the road was thrown open for trade, it could benefit a large section of people. A senior APHC leader said, “Fruit growers could see their apple boxes reach Pakistan on a freight of Rs 5 per box against Rs 40 for sending the boxes to Delhi.” The APHC leaders said, “We are not opposed to the reopening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road but this should not sideline the Kashmir issue.” “Peace and normalcy in Kashmir does not rest on the reopening of the road but on the settlement of the Kashmir dispute,” they opined. |
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Dul-Hasti project to be commissioned next year Jammu, December 31 This was stated at a meeting that was held here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, to review the functioning of the Power Development Department. The Chief Minister said that he would impress upon the Centre to assign the execution of the 1000 mw Bursar hydel project on priority as it had been cleared for water storage under the Indus Water Treaty. With the commissioning of the six languishing projects, an additional 11.11 mw of power will be available in the state. These projects are the 4.5 mw Pahalgam, 1.5 mw Bhaderwah, 1.26 mw Sanjak, 1 mw Haftal, 0.75 mw Marpachoo and 3 mw Igo-Mercellong. These projects are expected to be commissioned by October next. The NHPC has taken up execution of the 120 mw Sewa-II project. An ambitious project costing over Rs 401 crore has been sanctioned for improvement of transmission and distribution system. The project will be completed by 2007 and an amount of Rs 180 crore has been released for the current year. |
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