JAMMU, July 6: Panun Kashmir described the response of Government of India to the various facets of un-declared war launched by Pakistan on the Indian Nation as a hollow resolve and cautioned the nation against soft diplomacy.

In a surcharged atmosphere at the press conference held at Press Club Jammu on 6/7/99 Panun Kashmir urged Govt. of India to ‘Immediately declare Pakistan a terrorist state and make public the white paper on ISI role in India’. The press conference was addressed by Dr. Ajay Chrangoo Chairman Political Affairs and Dr. M.K. Teng Head of Advisory Committee of Panun Kashmir. Ridiculing the efforts of Government of India in entreating United States of America and Western countries to declare Pakistan a terrorist state Dr Ajay Chrungoo said,’ we wonder that if India hesitates to declare Pakistan a terrorist state which are the obligations that bind other countries to make such a declaration’. Panun Kashmir leaders affirmed that the present time was most appropriate for declaring Pakistan a terrorist state as Pakistani involvement in trans-border terrorism was now being recognized by a large section of international opinion. ‘Indian restraint, of not crossing LoC   in the light of Kargil intrusion will only be taken as the genuine commitment of Indian nation for world peace and not capitulation’s to  international pressure, if

India declares Pakistan a terrorist state,’ said Dr Ajay Chrungoo while explaining the PK position on the issue. Further elucidating the same position Dr MK Teng said, ‘Indian restraint should not be seen as Indian helplessness. If we have chosen to adopt a costly strategy to evacuate Kargil intrusion to uphold our larger responsibility to international peace then it should be also seen so.’ PK leaders opined that declaring Pakistan a terrorist state while at the same time demonstrating military restraint will be a healthy and positive way of expressing the national sovereignty. Panun Kashmir leaders also cautioned the nation in only appreciating the territorial aspects of Pakistani aggression on our country. ‘It is a War of Subversion and subversive assault is as critical to our national integrity as the territorial intrusion,’ said Dr Ajay Chrungoo. While drawing the attention of the nation to the subversive mechanization’s of Pakistan he described as ‘intriguing the muteness of powers that be on the continuing subversive assault of the enemy’. He further expressed his surprise that Government of India chose to shelve the release of its report on the role of ISI when the entire nation should have been taken into confidence about the nature internal war.

Giving an interesting turn to the entire debate on the upgradation of proxy-war by Pakistan in the wake of Kargil intrusion, Panun Kashmir expressed its grave apprehensions with regard to the Central governments failure to react to the Autonomy Report presented by National Conference government in the state assembly. ‘We have taken due notice that the autonomy report presentation by the ruling party in the state assembly has come as a prelude to the new escalation into the proxy-war’, Panun Kashmir leaders commented. When asked that if this statement meant that NC was hang in glove with ISI, the PK leaders chose to remain non-committal. ‘This is government’s job to ascertain. What we can say with surity is that autonomy as envisaged by NC will only, help enemies of the nation.’

Panun Kashmir also refuted all such views, which presumed that granting of autonomy as envisaged by National will in any way further national interests. Commenting on the autonomy report Dr MK Teng said, ‘It is our firm belief that attempts to exclude Jammu and Kashmir state from the secular political organization of India on the political logic of Muslim majority character of the state at a time when subversive terrorist operations have been upgraded indicates a sinister design to prepare the ground for another partition’’. Panun Kashmir demanded that Government of India to clarify in unambiguous terrorist position on the National Conference Governments’ ‘Autonomy Report’. While making the opening comment in the press-conference Dr Ajay Chrungoo described the Kargil intrusion as a part of the broad design of the expansion of Muslim power into the warm Himalayan regions of Jammu and Kashmir. ‘Pakistan’s main objective is its eastward expansion by forcing a second partition to ultimately cut off from the Indian territory the upper Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,’ he further said.  Dr. M.K. Teng complained that, ‘Indian policy, during last fifty years and particularly during last one-decade has been unable to build perspectives based upon political and military maneuvers of Pan-Islamic internationalism.’

Panun Kashmir leaders warned that if the Autonomy concept of National Conference was not countered effectively its implications will cost the nation its entire northern Himalayan frontier. ‘Our soldiers are not

Getting martyred for autonomy,’ they said and commented that entire escalation was also aimed at a stepwise dilution of Indian sovereignty in Jammu and Kashmir state. Panun Kashmir advocated a uniform policy of compensation for the security forces and also urged the Central government to enhance the scale of the compensation. However, they cautioned the Central government about its inability to recognise the sacrifices of security forces while combating the internal terrorism at par with those of a conventional war duty. ‘The morale of the security forces is getting undermined as the government is still reluctant to accept that the challenges to combat internal security are as important as the efforts to counter external threat. The sacrifices of an army jawan martyred while fighting terrorism is in no way less than that of a jawan killed at the front,’ Dr Ajay asserted.