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Kashmir : Coalition rift repaired : Terrorists step up attacks

	June 19, 2006

Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened last week to end the rift between the two major coalition partners of the Ghulam Nabi Azad Government in Jammu and Kashmir - the Congress and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

As part of the settlement between the Congress and the PDP, the state ministry will be expanded towards the end of this month and 12 new faces added to

the present 13-member Council of Ministers. The PDP has demanded inclusion of its five members in the Ghulam Nabi Azad Ministry - one Cabinet rank

and four Ministers of State among the new faces. The Ministry will have four Cabinet Ministers and six Ministers of State each from the main alliance

partner. The remaining positions will be for the smaller parties.

Sonia Gandhi is believed to have asked the Chief Minister to ensure that the Congress’ partnership with the UPA ally continues. Of late, the Congress had been signaling its intention to befriend PDP’s arch rival

National Conference. As this message reached the state, NC too has gone back to blaming the Azad government for problems in the Valley. While Mohammad Dilawar

Mir is tipped to join the cabinet from the PDP quota, there are strong indications that some ministers may be dropped for bad performance. These include Congress nominee and Public Works minister Gulchain Singh Charak and PDP’s Qazi Mohammad Afzal.

Sonia Gandhi, however, added a rider to the

formula: new ministers should be from the Assembly

and not from the Legislative Council. Sources said, this

condition spoils the prospects of PCC vice-president

Abdul Gani Vakil and other Congress bigwigs seeking

entry into the ministry.

An exception has been made for the Kashmiri

Pandit community only. Sources said the Chief Minister

has been asked to choose a Pandit member from either

House to send an “effective message” to the community

in the state.

The Congress dilemma is that only two MLAs

from the Valley are available to join the expanded

ministry. It has five MLAs from the Valley, two of

whom are already cabinet ministers. Former Minister

of State Ghulam Ahmed Mir is embroiled in the sex

scandal and the party may find it difficult to induct

him.

Terrorists step up attacks on civilians

Picking on soft targets, militants killed 10

persons including nine Nepali labourers and injured

several others during indiscriminate firing at a village

near Yaripora, in south Kashmir on Monday, June

12. Heavily armed persons in army fatigues rounded

up the labourers and lined them up under a tree

before firing on them from point blank range. Six

labourers died on the spot while three succumbed

to their injures later. Militants also targeted pilgrims

to Vaishno Devi and Amarnath shrines on June 12,

killing one person and injuring 26 others in three

grenade attacks on the Jammu bus station. One

person was killed and ten injured when troops

opened fire on a mob at Trehgam in Kupwara

district.

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants have started

mutilating and killing people and burning the

property of those suspected to be helping the security

forces. In a gory act of revenge, Lashkar terrorists

slaughtered a 66 year old man and chopped off the

tongues, noses and ears of two others. The terrorists

left 11 others brutally injured in Nehoch Dunga

village of Gulbarga area of Mahore tehsil in

Udhampur district on Wednesday, June 14.

The reason, police said, was that LeT believed

the villagers had helped security personnel eliminate

three Lashkar terrorists on April 28 and had to be

taught a lesson. This is the second such incident in

Udhampur district after Lashkar terrorists massacred

13 Hindu villagers on April 30.

Militancy on decline : Centre

Though there has been a spurt of violence in

the last few weeks, Union Home Secretary V.K.

Duggal said in Srinagar on June 16 that the level of

militancy in Jammu and Kashmir has declined

compared to last year. He said action would be

taken against those responsible for attacks on

innocent civilians. Earlier, he reviewed the security

arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra.

Former Addl. Advocate General declared

proclaimed offender

A Srinagar court has declared former State

Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi as

proclaimed offender in the sex scandal case. Earlier,

an arrest warrant had been issued against Sethi, but

he did not appear for the identification parade. In

the meantime, the CBI has decided to file its first

chargesheet in the sex scandal before June 26.

Congress wins Rajya Sabha by-election

Chaudhary Mohd. Aslam of the Congress has

been declared elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu

and Kashmir in a byelection. He secured 58 votes

against 25 polled by a candidate put up by the

opposition National Conference. The seat had fallen

vacant after the election of Chief Minister Ghulam

Nabi Azad to the state Assembly and his consequent

resignation from the Rajya Sabha.

Indo-Pak sufi festival gets huge response

The Indo-Pak Sufi Festival, sponsored by the

Indian Council for Cultural Relations drew packed

houses not only in Srinagar, but also in Baramulla

and Pahalgam last week. The five-day festival

brought back music, song and dance to the violence

scarred valley.

Pakistan Sufi exponent Bundu Khan was

surprised by the response he elicited in Baramulla, a

town which has been more in the news for terror

attacks than for things that could be termed as rooh

ki giza (food for the soul).

For Pakistani artists, the Kashmir experience

has been an unforgettable one. As Bundu Khan

explains: “Our age gets a 10-year extension when

we perform in India. You ask him why and he is

candid enough to tell you that Pakistan has generally

frowned upon music and dance.

For the younger Naeem Abbas Rufi, who

peppers his Sufi with the bongo, the drums and the

electric guitar, the Kashmir experience was unusual

too. “I loved the mausam and mahaul here, he said,

hinting at a non-literal interpretation of the weather

and atmosphere. According to him, it’s time to open

up all boundaries between India and Pakistan in the

field of art and culture because “fan ki koi seema

nahin hoti.”



“Hamari zameen ek hai. Culture ek hai. Insaaniyat

ki nazar se hum ek hain. Phir yeh deewar kaisi ? (Art

has no boundaries. We have one land. One culture.

One humanity. Then why these walls?)”

Now that the Sufi festival is over, it’s time for

the Bollywood brigade to head for the Valley. At

least that’s what the young people of Kashmir feel.