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Kashmir : Talks to continue |
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A day after President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said the Centre would have talks with leaders of all groups in Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir Committee (KC) chairman Ram Jethmalani held discussions with Separatist leaders outside the Hurriyat Conference umbrella. Jethmalani, who held talks with Hurriyat leaders in 2002, met separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmad Shah at their respective residences, raising speculation that the UPA government was sending feelers to players outside the Abbas-led Hurriyat, asking them to participate in the dialogue process.
Sources said Jethmalani told Geelani that the latter should help New Delhi re-build Kashmir and its ravaged economy. Geelani is learnt to have said that Kashmiris were not worried about the economy and only wanted a solution to the Kashmir issue in accordance with the United Nation resolution.
Jethmalani then asked him whether concepts like ‘’internal autonomy or ‘’partly plebiscite’’ would work in Kashmir. Geelani retorted saying the ‘’right to self-determination in Jammu and Kashmir would only bring a peaceful solution to the imbroglio.’’ When Jethmalani told Geelani that the latter had not contested elections and could not claim to have a ‘’representative character’’, Geelani said ‘’Kashmiris do not recognise Indian-run elections.’’
Earlier, Jathmalani met Shabir Shah, who heads the Democratic Freedom Party. Shah commented that ‘’Ram Jethmalani was on an unofficial visit to condole the death of the uncle of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq’’.
The Centre’s pointsman on Kashmir N N Vohra is visiting Srinagar this week to attend the Indo-European Union round table conference and is likely to meet Hurriyat Conference leaders during his three-day stay there. Vohra, who has been designated Special Representative for talks in Jammu and Kashmir by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, is the co-chairman of the Indo-EU committee.
On the sidelines of the conference, which begins on June 17, Vohra is likely to meet senior Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. Former Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat said the amalgam has not yet decided whether or not to meet Vohra.
The Government has said that talks with the Hurriyat Conference would be held next month. “As far as dialogue with the Hurriyat Conference goes, we think it can start in the month of July. If it is convenient to them,” Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil announced.
Violence continues even as infiltration declines
Meanwhile, contrary to fears that infiltration from across the Line of Control in J&K would increase with the melting of snows in the Himalayas, the Army has not noticed any spurt in infiltration. Earlier, the melting of snow during summers used to bring with it a fresh wave of infiltration. The Army was looking at this summer as a test case of Pakistan’s intentions following last November’s ceasefire.
In fact, as against more than 100 infiltration bids in the corresponding period in 2002-03, infiltration and exfiltration bids detected after the ceasefire are only 16. Of these, only four took place in the Valley. Twelve others took place in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu. Security forces have killed 27 terrorists and apprehended three others so far.
Sources attribute this “negligible infiltration” to the barbed-wire fencing and the ceasefire with Pakistan. Pakistan troops have kept their guns silent depriving militants of a chance to cross over using Pakistani fire as cover.
However, all is not quiet. The grenade attack on a hotel in Pahalgam, leading to the death of four persons could cause a serious setback to tourist arrivals in Jammu and Kashmir. Militants armed with grenades attacked the hotel. The Al-Nasreen militant outfit claimed responsibility saying it was carried out to warn tourists not to visit J&K. Twenty-one people were injured.
In another incident, the stand off between militants holed up inside a mosque and BSF personnel ended after nearly 24 hours on June 10 with the killing of all the three ultras in the operation, which also left one jawan dead in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, violent protests continued following the death of Maulvi Mushtaq, the uncle of former Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq even as the Kashmir valley shut down, observing a hartal (work stoppage).
Mushtaq was declared dead late on June 7. The protests were more vociferous in downtown Srinagar, especially the Jamia mosque, where an estimated 10,000 people turned up for the funeral service. Chanting pro-freedom slogans, activists of the Mirwaiz-headed Awami Action Committee (AAC) carried Mushtaq’s coffin in a procession amidst tight police security. A moist-eyed Mirwaiz led the special prayers at the historic mosque, whipping up emotions among AAC supporters. Hurriyat chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari, Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat and Bilal Lone were also present besides a number of separatist leaders from outside the Hurriyat. The strike in Srinagar had a ripple effect almost throughout the Valley, as shops, businesses and educational institutes remained closed in all major townships.
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