Srinagar, December 7
Breakaway Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani today alleged that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was “scared’” of India’s growing economy and strength of its armed forces.

“After 9/11, there is a change in the foreign policy of Pakistan’s military regime. The Pakistani military ruler (Gen Musharraf) is not only scared of the US, but also of India’s growing economy and the strength of its armed forces,” Mr Geelani told a news conference here.

He attacked the Pakistan President for floating new proposals on Kashmir every day, saying the military ruler has “lost self-confidence” and was in a “state of mental depression”.

“He (Gen Musharraf) is a scared man. He has lost self-confidence and is in a state of mental depression...That is why, he is coming up with new proposals and ideas on the Kashmir resolution every day,” the hardline leader added.

He said the Pakistan President’s decision to ally with the USA after 9/11 was a result of that “scare and loss of self-confidence”.

Mr Geelani said recent proposals of Gen Musharraf were his own and did not have the sanction of the Pakistan Cabinet, the opposition parties and the people of the country.

“Even the Pakistan Foreign Office said later there is no change in the country’s stand on Kashmir,” he added.

The hardliner said there was a “dispute within” President Musharraf over his foreign policy. “That is the reason why all his decisions within the country and on Kashmir have proved to be failures,” he added.

In an interview to NDTV, President Musharraf had said his country was prepared to give up its claim to Jammu and Kashmir if India reciprocates and approves self-governance for the strife-torn state.

“Compromise inherently means stepping back by both sides. Both sides have to give up their positions and step back. If one of us is not prepared to step back, we will not reach a solution,” he had said.

Gen Musharraf said Pakistan supports a four-point solution that would give the region self-governance or autonomy, maintain Jammu and Kashmir’s borders, produce a withdrawal of troops and create a mechanism for running the territory between India, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir.

“We are at the moment, both India and Pakistan, on the same position as we were since 1948. We both ought to be prepared to give up all that we have been saying. Pakistan will change its stance in the event India leaves its stated position also,” he added.

The Pakistan President said self-governance would not be a first step toward independence for Jammu and Kashmir. “We are against indepen-dence....And so is India,” he added.

Mr Geelani, however, thanked Pakistan for its continued moral, diplomatic and political support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and hoped Islamabad would never change its basic policy on the issue.

“Let me tell you...ours is an indigenous struggle for freedom. And even if those at the helm in Pakistan stop supporting us, we will continue with our struggle in a more determined and sustained manner,” he added.

Mr Geelani reiterated people of Jammu and Kashmir would continue with their fight for seeking the right to self-determination to decide their “fate and future”. — UNI

Srinagar, December 7
A 75-year-old man, who along with his wife had been stopped by the Jammu and Kashmir Government from proceeding on pilgrimage this year following ''adverse reports'' by the security agencies, has filed a petition in the high court.

In his petition, Sheikh Mohammad Yousuf, a resident of Sopore in Baramulla district, said he had been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) not under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) as claimed by the security agencies.

Yousuf said the Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, did not give him and his wife Hanifa the necessary travel documents to proceed on the Haj pilgrimage.

The hearing of the case has been fixed for tomorrow.

The couple was scheduled to travel on a special flight from here to Jeddah on Sunday, but a day before the security agencies told Yousuf and his wife that they would not be allowed to perform the Haj this year as their verification report was ''adverse''.

''If breakaway Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other separatist leaders could be allowed to perform Haj, why cannot a former Jama'at-e-Islamia activist? How can a 75-year-old person be a threat to the Indian State?'' he asked. — UNI

Srinagar, December 7
The Kashmir valley remained cut off from rest of the country for the third day today after the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was closed due to Landslides and shooting of stones, triggered by heavy rains.

The closure of the highway, the only road linking the Kashmir valley with rest of the country, has led to a price rise of almost all the essential commodities.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the highway, has pressed into servive more than 250 labourers and about a dozen machines to clear the landslides triggered by the continued heavy rains between Ramban and Ramsu. — UNI

Jammu, December 7
Five persons, including a policeman, were arrested allegedly for posing as Army officials and swindling villagers during fake search operations in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.

During a "search operation" in the Malhar area last night, villagers became suspicious of the group's activities and nabbed a constable and handed him over to the police, officials told PTI.

Constable Gulam Mohmmad, who was posted in Jammu police lines, told investigators about his accomplices all of whom were arrested later, they said, adding one member of the group was still absconding.

They reportedly operated in the Lohie-Malhar belt in Kathua district and impersonated as counter-insurgency group by donning Army uniforms, officials said, adding the group would force villagers out of houses in the night and loot valuables.

The police recovered jewellery worth nearly Rs 2.5 lakh and other valuables from them.

The accused allegedly raped two girls during the fake operations, the police said, adding statements of the girls had been recorded.

They have been booked under various sections of the Ranbir Panel Code and the Forest Act. — PTI