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Kashmir : Car bomb blast, another sign of increased terrorist activities

	July 25, 2005

Four Army men, including a Major, were among the five people killed when a car bomb exploded near a school in Srinagar on Wednesday, July 20. About 15 others, including three Jawans were injured in the terrorist attack.

The Hizbul Mujaheddin has claimed responsibility for the explosion.

The incident happened in a high security zone where over a dozen Ministers and senior bureaucrats live.

Defence spokesman Lt. Col. V.K. Batra said the explosive-laden car was driven by a suicide bomber who rammed it into a passing army vehicle. Sources said over a dozen civilians were hit by flying splinters. One of them, Naseer Ahmad Bhat, die don the spot. He was an accountant at the Sher-e-Kashmir Agriculture University.

The Hizb denied that a suicide bomber was driving the car. A caller, identifying himself as a spokesperson of the outfit, said the blast was triggered by a remote-control device.

Observers say that increase in the number of terrorist incidents is a reflection of the continuing infiltration from across the Line of Control. With the melting of the snows, militants who had gone across for training in terror tactics and foreign mercenaries are making an all out effort to cross into the Kashmir valley. An alarming feature of the recent spurt in infiltration attempts was that the militants were coming in heavily armed and in groups of 15 or 20. They try to disperse soon after crossing over making it difficult for the security forces to track them down.

The Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. J.J. Singh, speaking in New Delhi, admitted that infiltration is going up, but said that the situation is well under control. A defence spokesman in Poonch said despite the peace initiatives between India and Pakistan, the terrorist infrastructure is intact across the LoC where nearly 2000 armed militants are poised to cross into this side to keep the pot of militancy boiling. Most of these militants were currently waiting at the “launching pads” in PoK.

“The troops are keeping a hawk-eye on the zero line round the clock to stop cross-border infiltration which has picked up after the snowline started melting in the Pir Panjal ranges,” 16 Corps GoC Lt. Gen. Sudhir Sharma said. Infiltration “has picked up though we had achieved near zero infiltration syndrome till May,” he added.

The soldiers were making use of thermal imagers and night-vision devices to keep tabs on infiltration activity along the 740 km. LoC some of which had three-tier fencing.

The outgoing Chief of the Northern Command, Lt. General Hari Prasad has said taking into account the current scenario, the complete elimination of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir will take a long time. Speaking in Jammu on July 18, he said no one can set a deadline for completely wiping out terrorism that was being sponsored by forces from across the border. But he said, with the efforts of the Army and security forces, the situation in the hinterland had improved dramatically. Gen. Prasad said a large number of tourists had come to the Kashmir valley this year and more than 15,000 tourists visited the tourist destination of Gulmarg on Sunday, July 17.

Speaking about increased infiltration, Gen. Prasad said the launching pads and training camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir were still operational and no steps had been taken by the Musharraf regime to dismantle them.

Replying to a question whether these infiltrations were being backed by Pakistani troops, General Prasad said how can any person infiltrate into Indian territory without being detected by Pakistani border police. He said the Indian troops were tacitly allowing terrorists to enter the Indian territory for some distance where they were ambushed and shot. In case, these ultras were checked at the Line of Control, they would get an opportunity to retreat.



Hurriyat leaders want Kashmiri pandits to come back

Leaders belonging to the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference and representatives of Kashmiri pandits had a meeting in Srinagar on July 19 where they agreed to make efforts to ensure the safe and honourable return of thousands of Pandit families living outside the Kashmir Valley. This was the first inter-action between the two groups in 16 years.

After a marathon meeting at the Hurriyat Headquarters, a joint statement said Kashmiris returning to the Valley “with a deeper sense of security and dignity unmistakably requires a favourable environment, for which the APHC along with all other sensible elements will endeavour to discharge their duty as effectively as is possible and the Pandit intellectuals will on their part also contribute to the forward movement as handsomely as is needed.”

It was unanimously decided to support the ongoing dialogue process between India and Pakistan with a view to resolving all issues, including Kashmir, to ensure lasting peace in the region. “The involvement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will further consolidate the process and help build bridges of goodwill, mutual trust and above everything else, the understanding required under the circumstances.”

However, an organisation of the Kashmiri pandits, the Kashmiri Samiti, has rejected the Hurriyat Conference stand on Pandit migrants. Samiti president Sunil Shakdhar said in New Delhi that only some individuals were invited to the Srinagar meeting and they did not represent the Kashmiri pandits’ interests.

The Kashmiri Samiti president suggested the creation of a separate homeland for Kashmiri migrants in the valley and conduct of a survey to know the status of 10,000 houses that they were forced to leave in 1990.

Representatives of Sikhs, living in the Valley, demanded property rights for 70,000 Sikh families living there. They said the Sikh families living in the Kashmir valley were facing threats from extremists.

Meanwhile, four militant groups have warned the migrant Kashmiri pandits against returning to the Valley. The four organisations faxed a statement to media agencies in Srinagar saying that the Pandits had played what they called a dubious role by deserting the majority community at a crucial time. The outfits asked them to support what they called freedom, or not return.