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Saturday,
December 29, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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War on terror to be decisive: Advani
New Delhi, December 28 “We have been suffering from terrorism for the last 15 years. But this time, the Pakistani terrorists by attacking the Parliament House have crossed the ‘Laxman rekha’,” Mr Advani said addressing the personnel of the CRPF on the occasion of the force’s 62nd Raising Day. Mr Advani said the diplomatic measures taken by India against Pakistan, including denying its planes overflight rights and scaling down of mission staff, was not only “symbolic” but “practical” in the present situation. “These diplomatic measures were essential at the present moment in the national interest,” the Home Minister said adding that “many of the Pakistan Mission staff are spying and with the ISI are helping terrorism here.” “We are taking this (Parliament attack) incident very seriously. What we have not done earlier, we are doing now. We formally warn Pakistan to take steps to end terrorism,” the Home Minister said. Stating that questions were being asked whether there will be a war or not, Mr Advani said “question should be asked when the war ended.” “For the last 15 years, Pakistan has been indulging in proxy war, after three successive defeats in three open wars waged by it,” he said adding that “When this reached the Parliament House, we decided that they have crossed the “Laxman rekha” and so we have take some stern steps.” “India does not aim at destroying any nation by waging war. But our fight is against terrorism and it will be in Pakistan’s interest to desist from abetting terrorism against India,” he said asserting that this time the fight will not be against any country but a decisive war against terrorism. “We have been facing terrorism for the past over one decade and we will fight it on our own, irrespective of whether any other country joins us or not,” he said adding that “we want to win this on our own. If the world supports us, it is good. If not, we will not bother.” The Home Minister declared that New Delhi was not averse to having friendly relations with Pakistan if it desisted from supporting terrorism. Stating that September 11 attack in the USA had been an eyeopener for many countries, especially America, on cross-border terrorism, Mr Advani said “their illusion that terrorism will not affect them ended on September 11” and the USA went out to give a call to eliminate terrorism from the world. Mr Advani praised the security personnel for gunning down the five armed terrorists, who intended to carry out a massive attack on Parliament. “There could have been a horrifying incident if any one of the five terrorists managed to enter Parliament. India’s future could have changed as the entire political leadership, including the ruling and the opposition, was inside the House and the terrorists had directions to kill all,” he said. He compared the situation with that on September 11 when four planes were hijacked in a day by terrorists who used them as missiles to down the World Trade Centre tower and Pentagon building and said there was no security lapse in the Parliament incident. The Home Minister said year 2001 would be impossible to forget as it began with the devastating quake in Gujarat and ended with “a quake of different kind” in the shape of attack on Parliament House. He also presented President’s Police Medals and Police Medals to CRPF personnel. CRPF Director-General Trinath Mishra, in his welcome address, highlighted the problems faced by the force’s personnel, particularly on account of housing. |
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Rangers fire on Indian posts Jammu, December 28 Indian troops manning the frontier positions saw Pakistani Special Security group personnel deploying the missiles last evening about 3 km from the LoC, the sources said. Pakistani military officials call Chhamb the “Chhamb Corridor.” The Green Arrow missile, which is of Chinese origin, was bought by Pakistan some time ago. The missile, known as “Red Arrow” in China, has a range of 3,000 metres. Soon after it was purchased, Pakistan rechristened it “Bakter Shikan” and began mass production at Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) at Kahuta. The missile is reported to have enormous firepower and can penetrate any military hardware, including tanks. The sources denied reports that Pakistan has TOW anti-tank missiles across the LoC. “In fact, TOW missile has outlived its existence. Tube-launched Optically-guided and Wire-controlled (TOW) missiles were used by Pakistan in the 1965 war and its army is reported to have discarded them long ago,” they said. Meanwhile, Pakistan Rangers rained bullets on an Indian Border Outpost at Garkhal in Akhnoor sector along the international boundary late last night, defence sources told UNI here this morning. The Rangers used Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) on the outpost for about two hours. The personnel manning the outpost retaliated and the fiery exchange continued for two hours following which the firing simmered down. The Rangers also fired a barrage of bullets on a nearby village, injuring one person. Their bunkers, which are located about a 100 metres from the zero line, are also being fortified and the firing was an effort to cover up the fortifying operation, the sources pointed out. Early this morning, the Rangers also fired upon outposts in Ranbir Singh Pura, Akhnoor and
Samba sectors through medium and low-calibre weapons. The outposts in R.S. Pura sector that came under firing by the Rangers are Gharana, Korotana, Abdullian and Suchetgarh. Garkhal, Pallanwala, Pargwal, Hamirpur Kona and Chakla outposts also came under fire. In Samba sector, the Rangers fired upon Faqra Chak, Pangdore and Mawa Camp outposts this morning. There was no let up in migration of people from border villages. Since this morning, groups of people were seen moving to safer places from Pargwal in Akhnoor sector. Carrying small household goods, people were seen moving to safer areas in buses, tractor-trailers and some on bullock carts. At present large-scale migration has been reported from Samba and Akhnoor sectors. There has also been migration of several hundred families from border areas of Poonch and Rajouri sectors. While the majority of people had fled their villages out of fear, villages which are situated close to the border security forces have been evacuated in the interest of the safety of the people. The Director-General of Police, Mr A.K. Suri, said in some areas which were highly vulnerable to Pak shelling people were being shifted to safer
places. SRINAGAR: Six persons, including five militants, were killed while security forces captured three terrorists in the Kashmir valley overnight, officials said on Friday. Security forces gunned down three militants in a fierce clash at Lammad Kulgam in south Kashmir on Thursday. Three AK rifles, eight magazines, 60 rounds of ammunition and three grenades were seized from the slain militants, the spokesman said. Two more militants were killed by the security forces at Malhote during a search operation. Militants set ablaze a government primary school building and a house at Batgura on Thursday night, the spokesman said. Security forces smashed three militant hideouts during search operations in Kashmir where one person was killed and another wounded in separate incidents since Thursday, official sources said. Seven grenades and 270 rounds of Pika gun were seized from the hideouts smashed by the Army at Pavan-Vatsar in the Handwara area of Kupwara district. Meanwhile, heavy artillery and anti-aircraft batteries have been deployed around Srinagar Airport as part of high alert sounded in view of heightened tension along the borders with Pakistan. |
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Pak mulls war surcharge
Islamabad, December 28 “Our troops are deployed everywhere to meet any challenge with force. If anybody attacks Pakistan, the country will be defended at all costs,” General Musharraf told a meeting of Islamic clerics yesterday, according to the Pakistan daily The News. During the meeting with clerics, he is reported to have devoted more time about his efforts to give a moderate image to Islam and to contain the activities of sectarian and extremist organisations. The tax could be levied if the present tension between India and Pakistan escalated into a war, it said. Officials said the surcharge would at a minimum be 5 per cent. Meanwhile, Pakistan urged India today to withdraw its troops so that Islamabad, too, could pull back its recent reinforcements, and to sit down for talks to defuse fears of war. “We would like them to withdraw their forces to peacetime locations so that we can also withdraw our forces to peacetime locations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said in an interview with BBC. PTI, Reuters  |
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Blast kills 12 soldiers Jaisalmer, December 28 |
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