Panun Kashmir to raise Pandits' woes
JAMMU, May 10 — Panun Kashmir, an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, will raise the issues of "genocide" and ethnic cleansing of Pandits from the Kashmir valley during the "Hague appeal for Peace" conference.

Indian troops had no alternative
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU: Indian troops had no alternative but to use long-range guns, including the Bofors, to retaliate when extensive damage was caused in Kargil town due to heavy mortar fire and shelling by Pakistani troops.

Reports received here from the Shia-dominated Kargil town said the Indian troops retaliated late on Sunday night and pounded several Pakistani bunkers. More than 20 Pakistani bunkers and scores of hutments housing troops were damaged when the Indian troops returned fire. Some of the shells hit Pakistani soldiers' camps 12 km deep in occupied territory.

The town continued to wear a deserted look for the second day today as residents spent the whole night in safer places and some in the bunkers which had been built last year. For the whole night the Army ammunition depot near the Iqbal bridge was in flames and after every five minutes deafening sounds rent the sky.

Official sources said the Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling and fired rockets on the town and on the Indian Army's ammunition depot. The Indian troops did not retaliate immediately because soldiers remained busy with fire-fighting work.

When reports went round the town this afternoon that the retaliatory fire by the Indian troops had damaged scores of Pakistani bunkers and hit army bases, small groups of people moved out of the bunkers and started attending to their daily chores. Traffic between Kargil and Leh remained disrupted as the Pakistani troops targeted the main highway, as in the past.

Observers said the Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked shelling of Kargil town to achieve three results. First, they wanted to damage the Srinagar-Leh road at Kargil to snap the supply line to the forward areas in Ladakh. Second, they wanted to escalate border trouble to not only further internationalise the Kashmir issue but also create a situation which warranted mediation by a third party. Third, they aimed at carving out infiltration routes for large groups of militants who had been brought close to the border across Kargil. Once these militants managed to sneak into the Kargil sector, they could open another front right from Kargil to Sonamarg and from Sonamarg to Pahalgam.

According to reports, the Indian troops had been directed to take all possible measures to silence the Pakistani gunners. They had asked to ensure that the Pakistani troops failed to capture any post or carve out infiltration routes.

Govt offices shift to Srinagar
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, May 10 — The Civil Secretariat and other Jammu and Kashmir Government offices reopened here today for six months of summer. These offices were closed in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, on Monday last after the six-month-long winter session.

Tight security arrangements have been made in and around the Civil Secretariat, housing the offices of the Chief Minister, his ministerial colleagues and commissioner-cum-secretaries. With this, the office of the Director-General of Police and other offices also shifted to the summer capital after functioning in Jammu for the winter months.

In the absence of the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, the Civil Secretariat and various other offices were inspected by Works Minister Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, the seniormost minister.

There was no ceremonial function due to the absence of the Chief Minister, who is at present on a foreign tour. He was scheduled to reach here two days ago, but is understood to have extended his tour.

Restrictions on the movement of vehicles on the main roads leading to the Civil Secretariat were not imposed today. It has been a practice during the summer months over the past several years of militancy here that traffic has been restricted on these roads for half an hour in the morning and evening.

Panun Kashmir to raise Pandits' woes

JAMMU, May 10 (PTI) — Panun Kashmir (PK), an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, will raise the issues of "genocide" and ethnic cleansing of Pandits from the Kashmir valley during the "Hague appeal for Peace" (HAP) conference.

A four-member delegation of the PK will apprise the conference, to be organised in Hague from Tuesday, about the diaspora of the community, its trauma in exile and the violation of their rights, a statement issued by the PK said here yesterday.

The delegation, to be led by the PK convener Dr Agnishekhar, would also highlight the significance of Kashmiri Pandits in re-establishing peace in the valley, the statement added.