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Tuesday,
October 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Budgam mosque siege
ends, militant killed
Destroy training camps in Pak, says
Farooq |
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Budgam mosque siege ends, militant
killed Srinagar, October 29 A BSF spokesman said here that a minor damage was caused to the bathroom of the mosque where the foreign militant of the Lashkar-e-Toiba was hiding. The identity of the slain militant was yet to be ascertained. One AK-47 rifle, four magazines and 27 rounds were recovered from the slain militant, the spokesman said. Giving details of the incident, the spokesman said the hiding militant hurled a grenade towards the approaching troops of 171 Battalion of the BSF in which three of them were injured at about 8 a.m. today. In retaliatory action, the troops hurled a grenade towards the bathroom of the mosque leading to the death of the militant, the spokesman said. According to Mr R.S. Bhuller, DIG, BSF, the militant entered the mosque when the security forces cordoned off the village to launch search operations on Saturday afternoon. Repeated calls to the militant to come out of the mosque and surrender since Saturday evening and throughout Sunday failed to bear any results. The militant did not agree to surrender even when a group of villagers was sent inside the mosque yesterday. Meanwhile, three militants, two securitymen and a girl were among seven persons killed in the Kashmir valley since last night. Five militants were also arrested, along with some arms and explosives, while unidentified gunmen abducted a former militant of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in the valley during the period, an official spokesman said today. He said three militants were killed in two separate encounters with the security forces at Natnusa and Rangwar forests in the frontier district of Kupwara last night. In the same district, militants ambushed a patrol at Rangwar killing a jawan and wounding another. The injured jawan, however, succumbed to his wounds later in a hospital. Militants shot dead a girl at Zampakadal in Chattabal area of downtown Srinagar today. Meanwhile, at least four persons were injured and a minor damage caused to an Army vehicle in two IED explosions in Kashmir today. Four persons on a tonga were injured, two of them seriously, when an IED, believed to have been placed inside the cart, went off at Delina on the Srinagar-Baramula highway at 12-20 pm today. The tonga was on way from Sangrama to Baramula when the explosion rocked it. |
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Destroy training camps in Pak, says
Farooq Jammu, October 29 “We cannot allow these training camps to run for carrying out the killing of innocent people in the state,” he told newspersons here today during the inauguration of the 50th All-India police hockey tournament. The Chief Minister said: “The US Government could not wait even for a week after the September 11 attacks by terrorists. But we have been suffering for the past 12 years, witnessing death and destruction on a large scale.” “I wish to convey to Islamabad that our patience has been exhausted and we have to attack the arms training camps across the LoC, ” he added. In reply to a question, he said the time had not yet come for attacking the camps and hoped that the war against a terrorist country like Pakistan would have to be declared after the US engagement in Afghanistan ended. He said it was strange that the US Government did not treat a sponsor of terrorism like Pakistan on the same footing as the Taliban in Afghanistan. “The US Government will act and react in a fashion that will suit it. Hence, there is no sense in placing all our eggs in the US basket,” he said. Asked whether there was confrontation between him and Central Government leaders over his demand to destroy the training camps across the LoC, Dr Abdullah said: “There is no confrontation. Whatever I say, I am candid and the Central Government leaders say the same thing but with a touch of ambiguity. For the first time in recent months, the Chief Minister said the Kashmir issue would not be resolved through talks. “Talks have failed to settle the issue for the past 50 years and for another 50 years the dialogue will not yield any result because Islamabad has always tried to sabotage parleys,” he said. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister speaking in Srinagar, underscored the need for scientific manpower planning to meet the challenges of the future and stop producing an “army of government job seekers” in the techcical institutions. He also hinted at downsizing the state administration to cut wasteful expenditure. “We have not paid attention to manpower planning. As a result our institutions produce degree holders whose only aim is to get government jobs,’’ he said after the foundation laying ceremony of the World Bank-aided Technician Education Project-III at Government Polytechnic (boys), and Government Women Polytechnic. The Rs 65 crore project envisages extension of
infrastructure in four polytechnic institutions in Srinagar and Jammu and the Directorate of Technical Education. Dr Abdullah said the technical institutions also should take into account the requirements of the future. He said the government was in no position to provide jobs and there was a dire need to downsize the administration, to cut wasteful expenditure and spend the money on development. The government has to govern and not to generate employment,” he added. He said efficiency and accountability in government departments would be made a criterion for the continuance of employment in future. Dr Abdullah stressed on the review of professional courses offered by the technical institutions, saying that these should be compatible with the market requirement. Good education alone would make our students compete with the rest of the world, he said. |
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No easy solutions in J&K, say UN observers Srinagar, October 29 “My assessment is that the situation will become more tense in the time coming, not only along the LoC, but also in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir state,” head of UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), Hermann K. Loidolt, told reporters here. Describing the Kashmir issue as “multi-layered”, he said “all of us are aware of the situation in Kashmir and the games both parties — India and Pakistan — are playing with this tormented country. “We all know there is no easy solution and especially war is absolutely no solution for the issue of Kashmir. Whatever the reason is for playing political games, may it be diversionary manoeuvre on the Pakistani side, to make India the real enemy instead of the USA, or may it be the dawning of next election in India. It will be an issue for the USA to solve,” he said. Pakistan and India have fought three wars and the ceasefire line “is now metamorphosed into the actual Line of Control though it is yet to become the international border,” he said. “The relations between the two countries continue to revolve around those temporary agreements some of which had the UN involvement and at the moment it seems to arise as an important issue again. This time presumably under the auspices of the USA,” Loidolt said. “But whatever the political development may be, the task of UNMOGIP is to observe, to the extent possible, developments pertaining to the strict observance of the ceasefire of December 17, 1971 and to report thereon to the Secretary General,” Loidolt said. “That means, we do not report any part involved in the dispute over Kashmir and we are not reporting to the USA let alone we are part of the USA,” he said. Loidolt said that “UNMOGIP’s mandate is indefinite and its termination would require a decision by the (Security) Council. There is no particular resolution of the Security Council or the General Assembly requesting reports on UNMOGIP.” “The question of reporting on missions was discussed some years ago in the special committee for peacekeeping operations and the Secretary General’s position was that he would do so on the request of the Security Council,” he said. Asked what can or should UNMOGIP do in Jammu and Kashmir, Loidolt said he has to be very careful and stick to realities and stand with both legs on the ground. “India refuses any third party mediation and doesn’t recognise the mandate of UNMOGIP. At the same time the situation on the ground changes day by day. Without UN presence, the development on the situation could be unpredictable,” he said. “If there would be no UNMOGIP here, in my opinion, in case of a new conflict, a new UNSC resolution and peacekeeping mission, in the light of the standing Indian view, would be almost unimaginable,” Loidolt said. He said “so my view is that the mere presence and showing the UN flag is as important as the rest of our mission. And the activity of UNMOGIP in the field must be controlled by UNMOGIP and not by the parties of the Kashmir conflict.” The United Nations Military Observers Group India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) observed its 50th anniversary here today.
PTI, UNI |
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