Jammu, October 30
New Delhi has taken serious note of the statement made by the head of the United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOG), Maj-General Hermenn Loidolt, at a press conference in Srinagar on Monday that Kashmir was an issue “for the USA to solve”.
Apart from Delhi, senior functionaries in Jammu and Kashmir feel disturbed over the UNMOG’s working beyond its brief — holding a press conference which its chief has never done since 1949 when the UNMOG was sent to the state.
General Hermenn has himself admitted that “India does not recognise us” and as such he does not have the right to hold a press conference on the Indian soil.
A senior state government functionary said if General Hermenn was keen to talk to the press, he could have done it in Islamabad or Rawalpindi where the entire unit of the UNMOG was on the move for the next six months.
He said since UNMOG officials could neither issue a statement nor meet the press without permission from the UN headquarters, yesterday’s press conference by the UNMOG chief in Kashmir indicated that he may have got clearance from New York, which should be a matter for concern for New Delhi.
Since the Simla Agreement, the UNMOG stands virtually
derecognised by India. It lost cooperation of the Government of India when it issued a statement in the mid-eighties on the India-Pakistan border firing, which was biased against New Delhi.
In 1993 some UNMOG officials wanted permission to attend regular press briefings of the state authorities on the siege of the Hazratbal shrine by militants. On instructions from the then Union Home Secretary, the then Governor directed the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, not to allow the UNMOG officials to attend the press briefings.
Since the Kargil conflict, the UNMOG officials have lost the right to fly from Srinagar to Rawalpindi direct. They have to fly to Delhi first. The Jhelum valley road, which passes through Uri and links Rawalpindi with Srinagar, closed since the 1947 tribal invasion, was opened only for the UNMOG officials to travel between Srinagar and Rawalpindi and vice versa. It stands closed to them since the Kargil conflict. They shuttle between Pakistan and Srinagar via R.S. Pora border in Jammu.
Another senior state government functionary said there was nothing like derecognition of the UNMOG in Kashmir because except for passing on reports about border incidents, the government had not stopped providing them with other facilities.
Their vehicles were run by Indian Army drivers. They were free to roam anywhere they liked. They were allowed to bring scotch and other items from across the border.
Rough estimates say the Government of India spends several lakhs of rupees on ensuring comforts to the UNMOG officials in Srinagar, Baramulla and Jammu.
The UNMOG comes into limelight whenever there are anti-India or anti-Pakistan protest rallies. The protesters march to the UNMOG in Srinagar and Jammu and hand over memoranda to the officials for the UN Secretary General.
What has worried the Government of India is the statement of General Hermenn with Political colouring. These functionaries refer to his statement that the “situation may become more tense in the near future not only on the LoC but in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir.”
He has accused both India and Pakistan of playing “diversionary maneouvres.” The only statement that is viewed with satisfaction by India is General Hermenn’s remark that the diversionary maneouvres on the Pakistan side was to make India “the real enemy.”
