J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Parties ‘appeasing’ militants, Pak
Jammu, July 30
Of late leaders of political parties have been in a race to ‘appease’ militants, separatists and the Pakistan establishment. A senior Congress leader, Mr Ghulam Rasool Kar, during a recent public rally in the remote Trehgam area in Kupwara district, praised Maqbool Butt, founder president of the JKLF, who was executed in Tihar jail in 1984 on charge of having murdered an intelligence official.

4 hurt in grenade attack; arms seized
Srinagar, July 30
Four persons, including a jawan, were injured while war-like stores were seized in Jammu and Kashmir overnight, official spokesman said.

80 Shiv Sainiks detained
Jammu, July 30
Over 80 Shiv Sena members were detained on the Pathankot-Jammu-Sringar national highway today when they were on their way to Srinagar to hold anti-government and anti-Pakistan protests over the law and order situation in the state.

Kashmir violence: Amarnath yatra loses sheen
Jammu, July 30
The plummeting number of pilgrims for the Amarnath shrine in South Kashmir today further nosedived as only 323 persons left for the shrine from here this morning. The number of pilgrims had been declining ever since the grenade attacks on tourists in Srinagar. Against about 1,600 pilgrims in the initial stages, around 500 pilgrims were leaving for the shrine from here daily.

War games mark Ekta Utsav
Stok (Ladakh), July 30
Skydiving, paragliding and show-jumping stunts, simulated high-altitude warfare and a shower of petals over this cold desert terrain were a few highlights of the first Ladakh Ekta Utsav to celebrate the 7th anniversary of the Kargil victory.
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Parties ‘appeasing’ militants, Pak
Our Correspondent

Jammu, July 30
Of late leaders of political parties have been in a race to ‘appease’ militants, separatists and the Pakistan establishment. A senior Congress leader, Mr Ghulam Rasool Kar, during a recent public rally in the remote Trehgam area in Kupwara district, praised Maqbool Butt, founder president of the JKLF, who was executed in Tihar jail in 1984 on charge of having murdered an intelligence official.

While showering praises on Maqbool Butt, Mr Kar alleged that had Mr Muzaffar Hussain Baig, a leading constitutional lawyer and Deputy Chief Minister, pursued the mercy petition submitted to the President of India vigorously the President would have accepted the petition.

Mr Baig was quick to react saying that the allegations levelled against him by Mr Kar were “rubbish.” The Deputy Chief Minister said Mr Kar had gone old and lost track of the sequence of events which had been the reason for “accusing me of a mistake which I had not committed.”

In fact during the past one year, the leaders of the Congress, the PDP and the National Conference seem to be vying with another in their attempt at keeping in good humour militants, Kashmiri separatists and the establishment in Pakistan.

And it is in this context that Mr Kar did not miss to shower praises on General Musharraf and Pakistan.

The trend was set by the PDP leadership which adopted soft stance towards militants when it campaigned for the opening of dialogue channels with rebels and demanded suitable rehabilitation for militants. And when the 2002 Assembly poll notification was issued by the Election Commission,, the PDP leadership raised the demand for reopening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road for traffic.

Prior to the installation of the PDP-Congress coalition government, the National Conference patron and the then Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, repeatedly criticised the role of militants and Islamabad.

After the election results , in which the NC lost the race, the party leadership had realised that Pakistan bashing had cost the party heavily at the hustings. Since then the NC leaders too have favoured a middle path and kept on condemning human rights violations by the security forces. These leaders and those belonging to the PDP and the Congress remained silent when a student of Class XI was kidnapped by militants at Shopian in south Kashmir recently and later “slaughtered” him in full public view.

Political observers are of the opinion that soft stance adopted by the leaders of mainstream political parties was the result of two factors. One being the scare created by militants who have eliminated those political leaders who were found fulminating against Jehadis and the Pakistan Government.

Secondly, these leaders have realised that the five-year-old PDP won more than 16 Assembly seats in the Kashmir valley in 2002 and one Lok Sabha seat, twice, only because it had announced its support for the rehabilitation of militants.

Hence both the Congress and the National Conference are trying to emulate the PDP as they know that the next Assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir is due in 2008.

These observers said the shift in the stand of the mainstream political parties had encouraged separatists who seemed to be more defiant in their attitude than they were a year ago.

4 hurt in grenade attack; arms seized

Srinagar, July 30
Four persons, including a jawan, were injured while war-like stores were seized in Jammu and Kashmir overnight, official spokesman said. He said militants hurled a hand grenade towards the security forces at Kalamchakla in Kupwara last night. However, it missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside, causing injuries to three persons. The injured were admitted to a hospital.

Later, 20 RPG shells, 29 green shells, 19 RPG boosters, 22 UBGL grenades, one box of ammunition containing 740 rounds and other incriminating documents were seized from the hideout belonging to LeT. — UNI

80 Shiv Sainiks detained

Jammu, July 30
Over 80 Shiv Sena members were detained on the Pathankot-Jammu-Sringar national highway today when they were on their way to Srinagar to hold anti-government and anti-Pakistan protests over the law and order situation in the state.

Led by state Shiv Sena president Anan Sharma, 65 Shiv Sainiks in seven vehicles were stopped and detained by the police at Nagrota on the Jammu and Kashmir highway this morning.

Fifteen were detained at Chadwal in Kathua district of the Pathankot-Jammu highway. — PTI

Kashmir violence: Amarnath yatra loses sheen
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 30
The plummeting number of pilgrims for the Amarnath shrine in South Kashmir today further nosedived as only 323 persons left for the shrine from here this morning. The number of pilgrims had been declining ever since the grenade attacks on tourists in Srinagar. Against about 1,600 pilgrims in the initial stages, around 500 pilgrims were leaving for the shrine from here daily.

However, the number today declined to 323, which included 159 men, 53 women, one child and 110 sadhus. They proceeded to the valley in nine vehicles.

On the other hand, as many as 570 pilgrims left for the Budha Amarnath shrine in Poonch district this morning.

A spokesman for the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) said there was enthusiasm among the pilgrims to Budha Amarnath in spite of bad weather conditions and poor roads.

War games mark Ekta Utsav

Stok (Ladakh), July 30
Skydiving, paragliding and show-jumping stunts, simulated high-altitude warfare and a shower of petals over this cold desert terrain were a few highlights of the first Ladakh Ekta Utsav to celebrate the 7th anniversary of the Kargil victory.

Memories of the brave Indian soldiers, who repulsed the Kargil incursions in 1999 during the Operation Vijay, came back as helicopters droned over Stok village, considered the world’s highest inhabited trans-Himalayan plateau and located near the Stok Kangri peak.

“More than 2,000 foreign tourists visited the Ladakh Ekta Utsav during the past five days,” officials said here as the festival came to a close today.

The tourists watched with rapt attention as the Kargil war was partially re-enacted with helicopters, Bofors howitzer guns, tanks and paratroopers coming down from the sky. — PTI