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Kashmir : Panthers withdraw support, no threat to Azad Govt.

	June 25, 2007

The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, which has four members in the State Assembly, has withdrawn support to the Ghulam Nabi Azad government. But there is no threat to the government’s stability as the coalition still enjoys the support of over 50 members in the 89-member House.



At a meeting in Jammu on June 17, Panthers Party president Bhim Singh said that the support has been withdrawn as the coalition has accorded step-motherly treatment to the Jammu region and a major partner in the coalition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is continuing with its hatred campaign against the Army and is harping on demilitarization. Party sources say that the letter of withdrawal of support has been handed over to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.



The JKNPP had earlier given an ultimatum to the Congress, threatening to quit the coalition if the PDP was not ousted from the Government. Bhim Singh alleged that PDP’s policies were secessionist in nature and a threat to national security. He said if the Army leaves Kashmir, the state will land in the lap of Pakistan very soon.







Shaky Congress-PDP ties



Relations between the Congress and the PDP, on the other hand, touched a new low last week with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad openly attacking Finance Minister Tariq Hamid Karra, who belongs to the PDP, for allegedly stalling development plans. Another sign of the strain in the relationship came up when Karra, who also holds the law portfolio, stayed away from functions organised by the State Government when Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishan visited Srinagar recently.





Hurriyat for Pandits’ return to the valley



The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has unveiled a three-point plan for the safe and dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley. The faction says that it is also ready to apologise to the Kashmiri Pandits for what they suffered in Kashmir. Speaking at a function on the occasion of World Refugee Day in Jammu on June 20, Hurriyat spokesperson Salim Geelani said : “It must be kept in mind that all forces are responsible in some way for what has happened in Kashmir. One cannot pinpoint a single community or group as responsible for the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits.”



Elaborating the Hurriyat’s three-point plan, Geelani said, “Firstly, the Kashmiri Pandit leadership will be invited to visit the Valley to interact with the people and leaders so as to gain their confidence. Secondly, we will invite writers, artistes and intellectuals from both sides and organise special conferences for them. Thirdly, the Hurriyat will try to identify issues that are acting as bottlenecks in the return of Pandits and try to remove the same with the help of the people in Kashmir.”



Geelani said that the Hurriyat will try its best to ensure that property of Kashmiri Pandits which was occupied, is returned as soon as possible.









Separatist leader may fight next polls



Separatist leader Hashim Qureshi, who is the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Party, has said that he is likely to participate in the Assembly elections next year. Speaking in Jammu on June 21, he also urged Hurriyat leaders to contest the elections.



In 1971, 17-year old Qureshi along with brother Ashraf and three others had hijacked an Indian Airlines plane during its flight from Srinagar to Jammu. The plane was taken to Lahore where the youth blew it up after letting the passengers alight. Qureshi returned to India in 2000 after about three decades in exile.



This is the first time that Qureshi has openly spoken about his desire to fight the elections.





Infiltration going up



The trend of decline in infiltration from across the line of control reversed this summer. Reports say that between January and May, about 160 terrorists succeeded in penetrating the LoC. Similar figures were seen during these months last year too, a sharp increase over 2005, when just about a 100 jehadis crossed over. Observers say that it appears that Pakistan President Musharraf’s promise to check infiltration is being sabotaged by hardliners in the ISI. Other experts say that Pakistan has decided not to allow Jehad to wither away until a political agreement is put in place. Experts note that though there has been no increase in terrorist violence, the Jehadi cadres, now crossing the LoC, are better equipped and trained than in the past.



With infiltration going up, the prospects of troop cuts in the state are receding.





Most wanted militant commander nabbed



In the first such arrest in 18 years of militancy in the Valley, the Jammu and Kashmir police has picked up Shahzad Khan, a militant commander, believed to be a captain in the Pakistan Army, who had served in the Kargil war before he moved across with a group of militants in 2001. He has been detained at an undisclosed location in Kashmir.



Reports say that Shahzad Khan was the ‘most wanted’ militant commander in the valley since Lashkar-e-Taiba’s top commander Salahuddin alias Bilal left for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last year.



Sources said that Khan told his interrogators that he belongs to Poonch district across the Line of Control and was actively involved in the Kargil war as a Second Lieutenant in the Pak Army. He claimed he even won a gallantry medal.



The police moved Khan to an “undisclosed camp” for comprehensive questioning and have denied the arrest. Sources reveal that Khan claimed to be a relative of Lt. General Muhammad Aziz Khan, Pervez Musharraf’s pointsman in Kargil, and said he had links with PoK Prime Minister Sardar Ateeq Khan as well. These claims, however, have not been confirmed, sources said.



Khan’s arrest comes when the police are watching several top militant commanders. On April 29, the police successfully encircled another militant commander and Pak national, Khalid, who is said to direct militant operations in central Kashmir, especially Srinagar. The police cordoned off the house but Khalid opened fire and escaped.



Bullet-for-bullet policy for foreign terrorists



Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has launched a campaign to wipe out terrorists from his home district of Doda by bringing about the surrender of militants. At the same time, a bullet-for-bullet policy is being followed for foreign terrorists.



More than 20 top militants have surrendered before the Army and the police in the past few weeks. The biggest surrender came on June 5 when 10 top Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin (HUM) militants laid down arms before Azad at a ceremony at Doda district headquarters.



These surrenders have broken the back of foreign terrorists operating with the support of local militants in Doda, Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and other areas of the district for the past 18 years. Doda in Jammu and the adjoining Anantnag in the Kashmir valley have remained the hotbed of terrorism.



The police also arrested several over-ground workers (OGWs), the lifeline of terrorists, as they were engaged in supplying logistics, including ammunition, rations and SIM cards of mobile phones, to them in their hideouts.



While the surrenders have come from HuM and Hizbul Mujaheedin (HM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, who mostly were Pakistanis and Afghans, have refused to give up “jehad”. To create scare in the area, the LeT militants have killed relatives of local militants who surrendered before the authorities.





Protests continue over Rushdie knighthood



There were protests in Kashmir last week against Britain conferring knighthood on controversial writer Salman Rushdie. Normal life was affected in Srinagar and other major towns. There was a bandh in Srinagar on Friday, June 22, in response to a call by the grand Mufti of Kashmir, Mohammed Bashiruddin, to execute Rushdie and boycott his books.



“We had also issued a fatwa when Satanic Verses was published. His writing has deeply hurt the Muslims and he deserves to die, as per the tenets of Islam,” the Mufti said. He said the re was no going back on the fatwa.



At many places, people took to the streets after the Friday prayers and staged protest demonstrations. The biggest one was at Jamia Masjid, where Kashmir’s head priest and moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq delivered the Friday sermon. He also criticised the knighthood decision, saying it outraged the sentiments of Muslims all over the world.



Fearing trouble, booksellers removed Rushdie’s books. “Very few people in Kashmir read these books,” said one of them.