KS Correspondent

LEH, March 16: Over 20,000 Ladakhis, under the banner of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) took out a rally from the petrol pump area in the out-skirts of Leh town. They traversed a distance of four kilometres and the march culminated at the Polo ground.

Addressing the rally, Tsering Samphel, President of LBA said the great autonomy move was a ploy for gradual secession of the state from the Indian Union and charged that the Farooq Abdullah government was hatching various conspiratorial designs of fomenting communal feelings among the people of the three regions of the state. He alleged that the NC government’s move was a dangerous design to enslave the minorities and smelt a conspiracy to annihilate the distinct ethnic identity of the people of Ladakh through conversions and discriminatory attitude of government in various spheres. He said in allotment of development of funds to the region, in providing jobs to the unemployed educated youths, Ladakhis have always been discriminated.

He said the autonomy move is not acceptable to the people of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmiri Hindus, who have been forced to leave their homes in the Valley and are living as refugees in their own country. The LBA leader said the ruling NC government has no mandate to decide the destiny of people of Ladakh and Jammu besides Kashmiri Hindus. He added that the consistent policy of appeasement pursued by centre has put the unity and integrity of the country at stake. So the people of Ladakh and Jammu have now resolved, the LBA leader said, to fight tooth and nail the nefarious designs of the state government to divide the people of Ladakh on communal lines and the so-called greater autonomy or pre-53 position shall accrue at the cost of lives of the people of Ladakh and Jammu. He demanded trifurcation of the J&K State with statehood to Jammu and Union territory to Ladakhr

JAMMU, Apr 1: BJP MLAs took strong exception to the release of one Rehmat Ali, a resident of Chak Mohd Yaar Khan in Kotli Mian Fateh area of RS Pura. They alleged that Rehmat Ali was a hitman of ISI. He was arrested by special operations Group (SOG) for his alleged involvement in militant activities.

In the assembly, the BJP members shouted slogans against ministers of State for Home and Health and alleged that SOG was pressurized by them to release him.

They demanded that the Chief Minister, who was presented in the house institute an inquiry into the matter and take action against those involvedr

KS Correspondent

RAJOURI, March 4: The policy of recruiting "surrendered militants" as Special Police Officers (SPOs) without verifying their antecedents and lack of supervision has started proving counter-productive. Many of the surrendered militants had renounced terrorism either as a matter of tactic to use it as camouflage or for pecuniary gains.

Recently, three SPOs were disarmed and removed from services after it was established that these people indulged in a series of dacoities in different villages of Budhal tehsil of Rajouri district.

The arrested SPOs have been identified as Mubarak Shah alias Batu, Arif Mohammad and Mohd Sharief. All of them previously worked for Hizbul Mujahideen under the command of Farid Ahmad. The trio were involved in similar activities even when they were working with Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.

Police swung into action after it received a series of reports from Kewal, Targain and adjoining villages of Budhal tehsil that militants used to commit dacoities in the villages carrying weapons during the night hours. The trio confessed their involvement in dacoities and the police recovered Rs 20,000 in cash from their possessionr

KS Correspondent

NEW DELHI, March 5: The Awami League chief and the counter-insurgent leader, Kukka Parrey reiterated again that militancy in J&K is entering a dangerous phase and Kashmir could slip out of control, if immediate attention was not paid towards ruthlessly tackling militancy. He added that the present situation in the state was worse than in 1989-90.

Kukka Parrey claimed that the people in the state wanted immediate dismissal of Farooq ministry and imposition of Governor’s rule as the government has failed to deliver the goods. He alleged that State government had misused funds allocated by the centre to fight militancy. The Awami League leader appealed to the centre not to release funds to the state government.

He added that blaming Pakistan does not solve the problem and said at least we can put our house in order. Parrey, now a MLA said his boys could stake their life again for fighting militancy, if government assures benefits to their families. He alleged that many of his men who died in encounters with terrorists were deliberately denied ex-gratia compensation by the state government.

Parrey accused the Ruling National Conference of playing dirty politics of divide and rule and said this had led to heightened militant activity in the state. He also lambasted the propaganda that his men were indulging in extortions. He said it was a misinformation campaign launched by ISI.

About the proposed autonomy report, he said we are in year 2000, why should we go back to 1953. But if the situation continues in the present form, the state will definitely will be pushed back to 1931

Western diplomats blame Pakistan

WASHINGTON, March 9: In a special commentary on Kashmir, the leading American daily, The New York Times blamed Pakistan government for patronising Jehadi groups. It said, basing its assessment on the views of Western diplomats, that the militant outfits "are the instruments of Pakistan’s foreign policy". The report added that, "they are the cards Pakistan brings to the table with India. Without them, the Pakistanis have no leverage. So they see supporting these organisations as indispensable to the most important foreign policy issue in Pakistan". The diplomats said that the Pakistani army "finances and uses" militant outfits "to bleed India in Kashmir". It was precisely the reason why Pakistani military rulers refrain from taking any action against these Jehadi outfits. These US diplomats, based in Pakistan went on to blame Harkat-ul-Mujahideen for kidnapping western tourists in 1995 and for the recent hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane. The former US Ambassador to India, Frank Wisner accused Pakistan of being actively involved in pushing terrorists in to the Valley across the border. The Kyodo news agency quoted him saying in Washington that "Kashmiri militants have found safe haven in Pakistan and exported terrorists across the border into India. The actions along the Line of Control do have an active element of Pakistani involvement--arms, ammunitions, artillery screen to cover infiltrationr

KS Correspondent

RAJOURI: Terrorists killed a widely respected Gujjar leader Moulvi Ahmad Din of Rajouri, after torturing him. The Gujjar leader, who also happened to be the Vice-President of the District BJP, was abducted by terrorists from his residence in Ghambir Mughlan on March 30. Over 2000 people observed a protest march and staged a dharna infront of DC’s office in protest against the abduction. The marchers shouted slogans against Pakistan and separatists. They demanded effective measures for his early release. The people criticised police and security forces for their failure to rescue BJP leader from the militants, who are using abductions as weapon of terror against innocent people.

On April 2, the joint search party found the dead body of Moulvi Ahmed Din from a deserted field near his residence. The senior officials of Police said injury marks on his body indicated that the Moulvi was tortured to death. His private parts were also found damaged and legs broken. According to family sources, a group of over five masked militants in army uniform forced their way in to his house and abducted him. He reportedly refused to submit to militants command of raising anti-India slogans. Separatists have been targeting Gujjars of Gambir Mughlan under a definite plan. Senior BJP leaders criticised the State government for failing to provide security cover to a leader, who was on the hit-list of terrorists for quite sometime. They alleged that one lady Sub-Inspector Police, Shaida Parveen had masterminded the killing of Moulvi in connivance with militants and demanded that her role in killing be investigated. The BJP leaders claimed that militants sought and got police assistance in abduction and assassination.