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Kashmir : Terror thrives despite peace moves

	December 13, 2004

Despite the ceasefire on the border and troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir, infiltration bids showed an upward movement last month. Not only that, as many as 67 terrorist training camps and 32 launching pads, from where terrorists are pushed into the Kashmir valley, are thriving across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee gave this information in Parliament last week. He said there is no let up in attempts to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir, but better surveillance and superior gadgets like unmanned radar coupled with proper fencing had led to the level of infiltration coming down.



The Defence Minister informed the Rajya Sabha that 15 attempts at infiltration had been recorded during September and October, in which seven militants were killed by the security forces while 30 are estimated to have made it across the border. He admitted that these attempts had gone up subsequently in November. However, he added, the infiltration bids apart, the troop reduction in the state last month had generated a lot of goodwill. “So far the decision has been well received”, he told the House.



In reply to a query by SP leader Amar Singh on whether the Government would reconsider the decision to reduce troops in the event of a spurt in terror activities, Mukherjee said the question of redeployment is always there because it depends on the situation. “So far, the decision has been well received all over the country, including by the people of J & K.”



Former State Chief Minister and National Conference member, Farooq Abdullah, said he had received reports that militants were now using a special powder and advanced cutters to cut border fences. In reply to a query from the Congress MP, Kiran Singh, the Minister said the militants had changed their tactics and were now resorting to suicide attacks.



Protests against Human Rights violations



The International Human Rights Day, December 10, was marked by demonstrations in Srinagar to protest violation of human rights in Kashmir. Police used force to restore order. Scores of separatist political activists were arrested, some of hem in injured condition as the police fired tear gas canisters and used bamboo sticks to break a series of demonstrations.



Amidst mounting tensions, hard line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was placed under house arrest to prevent him from leading one of the planned processions against the alleged human rights violations by the security forces. However, the second-rung leaders of the Hurriyat Conference faction headed by Syed Geelani, soon after offering Friday prayers, came out on the high-security Maulana Azad Road. Joined by about 150 activists and supporters, they began marching towards Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s official residence.



Police and paramilitary forces quickly came in their way, lobbed tear gas shells and used bamboo sticks to break the demonstrations. As the front-runners resisted and tried to break the police cordon, 14 of them were arrested and whisked away in jeeps.

The highlight of the day was the protest march by the Opposition National Conference which has recently joined the separatist bandwagon on the issue of human rights. Two senior NC leaders, Abdur Rahim Rather and Ali Mohammed Sagar, led their supporters from their Nawa-e-Subh office to Lal Chowk.

Observers say it was a historic occasion in Kashmir politics, as never before the separatists and mainstream politicians and their supporters in Kashmir shared a common platform in all these 15 years as they did in Srinagar last week. For the first time, the mainstream leaders and separatists, sat on a one-day token strike to lodge a protest against the PDP-led coalition government’s policies.

The call for the hunger strike was given by the Hurriyat a few days back. NC patron and former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah, had asked his party leaders and activists to join the strike.



Hurriyat moderate leader talks of peace

The chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that he is for peace and not for anti-India activity. His comments came in New Delhi from where he was to go to Kathmandu to attend a conference on Kashmir.

His remarks came amidst reports quoting Nepalese Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, D.K. Upadhyaya as saying that Nepal would not allow anti-India activity on its soil.

The report cast doubts on whether Hurriyat leaders would he permitted to visit Nepal and also suggested that Nepal would not allow those without proper IDs to land in Kathmandu.

The Mirwaiz who is accompanied by his senior colleague Abdul Gani Bhat, was shocked to learn the characterisation of Hurriyat as anti-India. “As I understand it, the resolution to Kashmir is in the national interest of India,” he said.

Even the Chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, is looking at the Kathmandu conference as an opportunity to interact with leaders from across the LoC instead of a shot at anti-India bashing.

“We will utilise the opportunity to put across our point of view and press for the urgency to resolve the Kashmir issue,” he said.