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Tourism: UK, Australia refuse to oblige
Mufti
Hurriyat hopeful of getting permission to visit
Pak
3 fidayeen killed in J&K
Dilemma over travel to
Muzaffarabad
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Tourism: UK, Australia refuse to oblige
Mufti
Jammu, December 15 Australia has also asked its citizens to be aware while visiting Kulu and Manali in Himachal
Pradesh, particularly on some remote trekking routes, where several foreign citizens have been attacked or have disappeared. The Mufti has time and again been urging these countries to withdraw the advisory that has badly hit the tourism sector in the state. However, the travel advice updated by Britain and Australia yesterday has again warned its nationals against visiting Kashmir, which they have described as an area with “high threat of terrorism”. The Mufti along with a team of officials had some time ago toured various countries to request them to withdraw the travel advisories against J&K. More than 4,00,000 British tourists visit India every year, but they have not looked towards Kashmir following kidnapping of five foreign tourists, including two Britons, by terrorists in 1995 and their subsequent killing. Although tourism has started picking up in the Valley, but the repeated terrorist incidents have created a scare among the people. Foreigners in particular were afraid of taking the risk of visiting here and were generally not travelling beyond Himachal
Pradesh. The travel advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Britain has warned that serious incidents of militancy continue in the Kashmir valley and Jammu province. Violent incidents have occurred recently in public places. While such incidents are not normally directed against tourists, a hotel in Pahalgam was the target of attack on June 12 in which several Indian tourists died. There is a danger of landmines in some border areas. The advice was “strongly against travel to J&K, with the exception of Ladakh via Manali or by air to
Leh”. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has also asked its citizens to “avoid all travel to Jammu and Kashmir”. The advisory says that there is an ongoing risk of politically motivated violence and terrorist activity by militant groups. While there has been improvement in India-Pakistan relations since April, 2003, the situation could change with little notice. Australians should take particular care if travelling to areas on the India-Pakistan border and should avoid all travel to Jammu and Kashmir. Australia has pointed out that serious security problems remain in
Srinagar, as well as elsewhere in the Kashmir valley, and in other parts of the state. |
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Hurriyat hopeful of getting permission to visit
Pak
Srinagar, December 15 According to sources here, the moderate faction of the APHC led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, which attended the three-day meet in Kathmandu, has got positive indications in this direction. The APHC, which had two rounds of talks with the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, during the NDA government, has been demanding a visit to Pakistan for talks with the leadership there. It would enter into the third round of talks with the UPA government at the centre, only after their visit to Pakistan for meeting Kashmiri separatist leaders and Pakistan leaders there. The Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, during his maiden visit to Jammu and Kashmir in early November last had pointed out that the Centre would consider the proposal if the APHC leaders followed "proper method". He held that there was no condition set by the government, while the APHC was putting certain conditions for the continuation of dialogue with the Centre for an amicable solution the problem. This was followed by an open invitation to everyone for unconditional talks by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during his two-day visit to the state last month. In view of these developments and the latest meeting of the separatist leaders from both parts of Kashmir at Kathmandu, positive signals have emanated. Both the sides have shared the views to end violence, which has further generated a hope among the people of Kashmir faced with day-to-day problems due to the ongoing violence. Although the hardline separatist leader of the APHC faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani and leaders of two mainstream political parties, Ms Mehbooba Mufti of the ruling PDP and Omar Abdullah of the opposition National Conference, did not attend the meet, it seems to have ended on a positive note. These developments are also significant in view of the presence of some important leaders comprising think tank from the US, India and Pakistan. Prominent among those who attended the meeting included US-based Kashmiri, Farooq Kathwari, whose earlier proposal on the resolution of Kashmir issue had generated a debate. Others included the former Foreign Secretaries, Muchkund Dubey and M.K. Rasgotra, apart from former High Commissioner to Pakistan, G. Parthasarthy. The Pakistan delegates included PoK’s former Prime Minister, S.M. Choudhary and former Chief Justice, Abdul Majid Malik. The presence of the separatist leaders, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Abdul Ghani Bhat, is being regarded as a significant development, sources here said. It is on the close heels of the Kathmandu meet that the Hurriyat Conference is hopeful of being allowed to visit Pakistan. Its leaders have already applied for the passports, which have not been issued in their favour so far. "They may be getting the travel documents soon", sources said. |
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3 fidayeen killed in J&K
Srinagar, December 15 A group of militants also attacked a police post at Singhpora Chatroo in Doda district of Jammu region and fled with four SLRs, four .303 rifles, one AK rifle, one LMG and a wireless set last night. The police here said three motor-cycle borne militants were killed by alert troops while they were trying to force their entry into a security force picket at Hathi Shah bridge, Jamia Qadeem, Sopore in Baramula district this afternoon. One jawan was injured in the incident, when militants attacked the picket with grenades and followed it by firing at about 12-40 p.m. today. Two AK rifles and some grenades were recovered from the slain militants. Two militants killed in the incident are reported to be foreigners, according to police sources. These revealed that another youth killed in the incident was the owner of the motor-cycle that had forcibly been taken away by the militants and was used in the attack. Further investigations into the incident were going on, the police said. Elsewhere, unidentified militants shot dead Abdul Razaq Shah and his daughter, Mubeena Akhtar in his paddy fields at Haripora, Handwara in Kupwara district yesterday. Unidentified militants killed one person after kidnapping him from his house in the Kalakote area of Rajouri district yesterday. One militant of Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit was killed in an encounter with security forces at Pallad in the Gandoh area of Doda district yesterday. One AK rifle, one magazine and seven rounds were among the recoveries made from the spot, the police here said. Jammu: A soldier, Joginder Singh Gurjan, laid down his life in an encounter with terrorists at Chapara in the Thanamandi area of Poonch district today. According to the police, unidentified terrorists ambushed the army jawan. Troops gunned down five infiltrators in the Hiranagar sector of the Kathua district in the early hours today when they entered the Indian territory from Pakistan. According to reports, the infiltrators started fleeing from the international border when they were asked by the troops to stop. All five were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. |
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Dilemma over travel to
Muzaffarabad
Jammu, December 15 Dr Hari Om, vice-president of the BJP state unit, said today: “If the Indian visitors travel to occupied Kashmir on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road on the passport and other travel documents issued by New Delhi it will amount to violation of the resolution.” He said the resolution clearly indicated that India did not recognise occupied Kashmir as a foreign land. “Visitors normally travel to foreign countries on Indian passports and since occupied Kashmir is not a foreign land it will be politically unwise to issue passports for those visitors wishing to visit occupied Kashmir areas via the Uri-Muzaffarabad road.” He and others opined that reopening of the Suchetgarh-Sialkot road for travel on the Indian passport was politically viable because in that case one had to cross the international border as was the situation on the Wagah border. A university teacher, who wished to remain unidentified, said: “If Pakistan insists on allowing visitors from the other side of the LoC to travel to Kashmir on the strength of either state subject certificates or clearance certificates from deputy commissioners it does not want to forfeit its claim on Jammu and Kashmir.” He said since the Partition Pakistan had claimed that Jammu and Kashmir was its “lifeline”. Islamabad never conceded that Kashmir was an integral part of India. Even the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has stated at a number of public functions that the deadlock in the reopening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road would be resolved. He indicated that the talks on the issue were to be resumed soon. |
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