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Kashmir : Efforts for Hurriyat unity gain momentum

	February 11, 2008

Efforts for bringing both the hardline and moderate fac¬tions of the Hurriyat Conference on a single platform are gaining momentum. An indication of this came on Feb. 5 when leaders of both factions of the Hurriyat made a tele-address to a Jamat-ud-Dawah conferencing in Lahore. Hurriyat hardline faction leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and moderate Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah spoke at the conference on telephone.



The conference was presided over by Dawah chief Hafiz Muham¬mad Sayeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Jamat-ud-Dawah’s official line is that it’s a humanitarian relief organization and has no correlation with the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.



“I had the chance to address the conference in Lahore and thank Pakistani people for their cooperation,” Shah said. Shah, who is leading the initiative for Hurriyat unity, also handles Hurriyat affairs these days in the absence of chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is in Cairo.



“I feel obliged to Jamat-ud-Dawah for giving me this opportunity,” Shah said.



Both Shah and Geelani in their speeches called for the “re-invigoration of the Azadi struggle in Kashmir”.



Observers say with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf hemmed in by the violence in the North-West and the political backlash after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, separatist groups on either side are trying to wrest the initiative.



The Jamat-ud-Dawah has made striking adjustments of its own vis-a-vis Kashmir by stopping differentiating between moderate and hawkish separatists. Letting Shah address the solidarity rally alongside Geelani is a strong signal of recognition to moderates led by the Mirwaiz. Shah has been instrumental in the recent unity efforts which saw the return of four significant Kashmiri separatists to the Hurriyat fold, including Shah him¬self.



Warming up of the radicals in Pakistan to Hurriyat doves is being seen as a result of the growing distance between Hurriyat and New Delhi.





Heavy snowfall causes loss of life, property damage



In one of the heaviest snowfalls in the Kashmir Valley in years, over 30 people are reported killed in avalanches. They include two Army porters. Scores of structures have been damaged during the past week. The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has been closed for almost a week resulting in traffic piling up on both sides. Flow of essential commodities to the Kashmir valley also came to a virtual standstill last week.



In Hillad village, in south Kashmir, 40 people trapped under the snow for hours, survived, thanks to a phone call made by one of them. The person who had a mobile phone, after getting out of his house which was under several feet of snow, made a call which helped in rescuing the others trapped in the snow.





Army not to move troops from LoC



Despite the heavy snowfall and avalanches near the Line of Control (LoC), the Army has ruled out withdrawal of troops from isolated places in any part of Kashmir, especially on the LoC. Defence spokesman A.K. Mathur said in Srinagar on Feb. 7, “Troops are not going to vacate any of the bunkers or posts on the line of control.” In the past three weeks, 10 soldiers and 9 porters have been killed on the line of control in Uri and Machil sectors of north Kashmir. Around 15 to 20 ft. of snow has accumulated at many places on the Line of Control.





Pashmina goats dying of starvation



The state Government as well as the defence forces are trying to reach out to the area near the Sino-Indian border where nomads along with lakhs of pashmina goats are stuck because of snow. The livestock is facing death because of scarcity of fodder and cold. The authorities are trying to airdrop fodder in far-flung areas, but inclement weather is hampering the rescue operation.





Pak reducing troops near LoC



Sources say that Pakistan has moved some troops from its key strike corps facing India across the LoC following increased violence in areas bordering Afghanistan. At least nine Brigades of various strike corps had reportedly been moved towards the Afghanistan border.





Green cover shrinking



The Comptroller and Auditor General, in a recent report, has said that forest cover in Jammu and Kashmir is shrinking. Just about 19.80 per cent of the geographical area of Jammu and Kash¬mir is under forest cover against the norm of 66 per cent pre¬scribed under the National Forest Policy. The report was tabled in the state Assembly session which ended recently.



The CAG report says that the area of degraded forest has increased from seven lakh hectares to 10 lakh hectares during the period 2002 to 2007. The CAG has recommended to the Government various measures including formulation of a comprehensive state-specific forest policy to check the erosion of the green cover.





State Minority Commission to be set up



To address the problems of minorities in the state, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has decided to set up a State Minor¬ity Commission. The commission, once set up, will address polit¬ical grievances and development of the state’s minority communi¬ties. It will also hear the complaints of denial of rights to minorities.



“We have decided to set up a state minority commission which will be constituted soon,” Social Welfare Addl. Secretary K.K. Kichloo said. The state minority commission will be headed by a chairman, preferably a retired high court Judge and its members will be nominated by the Government.