KASHMIR SITUATION
All countries in Eastern Europe with the exception of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania support the position that issue relating to Kashmir should be resolved through bilateral dialogue in accordance with Simla Agreement. All West European countries support, with varying degrees of convergence, Indian position on Kashmir.
The US Government's position has been those direct negotiations between India and Pakistan, as envisaged by the Simla Agreement, provide the best means for resolving the Kashmir issue. However, the will of the Kashmir people should also be ascertained.
There has been no change in the position of East European countries. All fifteen west European countries, who are members of the European Union, subscribe to the broad elements of the European Union's position which is understood to be follows:
i. A lasting solution to the Kashmir issue can only be found through bilateral dialogue.
ii. The EU deplores the continuing violence in Kashmir and reports of violations of human rights.
iii. Calls for cessation of external support to militant violence.
iv. Welcomes steps taken by the Government of India to improve transparency. Urges the Government of India to redouble its efforts to establish a political process in Kashmir.
v. (v) The same position, more or less, applies for countries in West Europe who are not members of the European Union....
(Source: LSUQ NO. 2199/11 December, 1995 by R. Chennithala)
On Excesses Committed by Para-Military Forces
52 allegations of excesses committed by para-military personnel were received during the past two years.
Action Taken No. of Cases
i) Appropriate penalties imposed after departmental proceedings 2
ii) Court of Inquiry proceedings in progress 2
iii) Departmental Inquiry in progress 1
iv) Cases in which police investigations are in progress 30
v) Filed as untraced after investigations 8
vi) Investigations have found cases to be false. 5
vii) Charge sheets filed in Courts 4
Total : 52
(Source: LSUQ No. 1731 dated 7 December, 1995 by V. Pawar)
On US Officer of Mediation
The US has expressed willingness to help India and Pakistan resume a dialogue on outstanding issues in Indo-Pak relations, if this is desired by both sides.
Pakistan has also called for US mediation in Kashmir.
Government have conveyed categorically that outstanding issues in Indo- relations, including Kashmir, can only be resolved through bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan, as envisaged under the Simla. Agreement. Government have ruled out any third party mediation, including by the US, in this matter.
(Source: LSSQ No. 1104.12. 1995 by R.P. Singh and S.D. Singh)
On Infiltration of Militants
It is a fact that ISI has been masterminding subversion, sabotage and espionage activities in parts of the country. Government are deeply concerned about Pakistan's continued support to subversion and terrorism directed against India. ISI has also been actively involved in infiltrating a large number of trained and armed militants to indulge in violence and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. So far around 1400 militants have been killed near the Line of Control in the State since 1990.
The Government is taking all necessary steps to combat and frustrate the designs of ISI by sensitising and gearing up the intelligence machinery, sharing of intelligence and coordinated action by the concerned. Central and State agencies, and strengthening of vigil and security arrangements on the borders to check infiltration.
(Source: LSUQ No.724/30.111995 by M.V.V.S. Murthy and 3 others)
On OIC Pressure on Kashmir
According to reports, Pakistani spokesmen and militants from Kashmir addressed the Ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries, held in New York recently (October, 1995)... and made anti-Indian statements.
Government are committed to the normalization of the situation in the Jammu and Kashmir and to the resumption of normal political processes through elections.
Government have, time and again, reiterated their willingness to hold talks with Pakistan without any preconditions on all aspects of Indo-Pakistan bilateral relations. Pakistan has, as yet, not responded positively to this offer.
(Source: LSUQ No. 1127 dated 4 December, 1995 by S.K. Patel)
On Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
The total number of persons killed in terrorist violence in J&K during 1994 and upto September 1995 is 4981. This includes 1967 civilians, 394 security force personnel and 2630 militants....
(Source: LSUQ No. 1589 dated 6 December, 1995 by 8. Shahabuddin)
Government Statement on Political Leaders Killed in J&K
As per information made available by the Government of J&K, the political leaders who have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir during the period from 1991 to April, 1994 include the following:-
1. Mohd. Subhan Bhat, Ex-MLA(NCF)
2. Hissam-ud-Din Bandy, Ex-Minister (NCF).
3. Ghulam Qadir Niloora, Ex-MLA (NCF)
4. Mohd. Ismail Rather @ Nissar, Cong-I
5. Santosh Kumar, BJP
6. Satish Bhandari, BJP
7. Ali Mohd. Dar, NCF
8. Wali Mohd. Itto. Ex-Speaker, NCF
9. Ghulam Qadir Mir, Ex-MLA
10. Ghulam Qadir Janbaz, NCF
Cases have been registered in the murder of Mohd. Subhan Bhat, Ex-MLA (NCF), Shri Hissam-ud-Din Bandy, Ex-Minister (NCF), Ghulam Qadir Niloora, Ex-
MLA (NCF), Mohd. Ismail Rather Nissar, Cong-I leader,
Ali Mohd. Dar, NCF Leader, and Ghulam Qadir Mir, Ex-
MLA of Muran. However, the cases have been closed as
the assassins are untraced. Therefore, there is no question of assassins having been identified and apprehended.
With regard to the case of Santosh Kumar, resident of Doda (BJP), the case has been closed as challaned. Out of the 5 accused identified in this case, one has died in cross firing, one Tariq Ahmad, r/o Nagri, Doda has been arrested while the rest three (all Pak trained militants) are absconding.
The case regarding Satish Kumar Bhandari r/o Doda,
BJP leader has been transferred to State Crime Branch
where the same is still under investigation.
With regard to the murder case of Shri Wali Mohd.
Itoo, Ex-Speaker, two accused have been identified, of
them one Bashir Ahmad Padroo, r/o Adjan, Damhal-
Hanjipora, Kulgam (Anantnag) was killed in an encounter with the security fores while the other accused Ghulam Hassan Lone @ Usman, r/o Nagam, Noorabad, Kulgam is still absconding. The case has been transferred to State Crime Branch, where the same.is still under investigation.
The case of Ghulam Qadir Janbaz, NCF leader is presently under investigation.
All the militants identified belong to Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.
Our objective is to destroy the existing power
structure in Kashmir and build a new one. None of us is interested in an election farce.
-Abdul Ghani Lone, Hurriyat leader
CPI(M) Leader Prakash Karat On Kashmir Accords
The record shows that each Kashmir Accord was made under duress or pressure; Pakistan's aggression in the first and India's pressures for the rest. There was a progressive diminution in Kashmir's autonomy and its leader's bargaining power with each accord. Need one ask today: Kashmir ko ghussa kyon ata hai? (Why is Kashmir angry today?)
This debris of accords cannot be cleared by piling one more of its kind on the top the Qugadougou package. What is sorely needed is a considered policy of conciliation which tackles the basics in negotiations with the Hurriyat leaders on the understanding that if a definition of azadi within the Indian Union is arrived at, India will be agreeable to a pact of mutual assurance with Pakistan that extends the same status of POK and allows the State of Jammu and Kashmir to be master of its own affairs without undermining the defense and security of either India or Pakistan.
(Source: The Statesman, 13 December, 1995)
SJP: Views of President Chandra Shekhar
To look at the Kashmir problem in perspective, it is instructive to remember 1965, when (DMK leader) C.N. Annadurai made a two-hour speech in the Rajya Sabha demanding the secession of Tamil Nadu from the Union. Two years later he was sworn in as chief minister, and became a national figure. Similarly, many in Kashmir now talking of secession will change their minds, if we are patient with them.
What is needed is to reduce the use of coercive methods, and increase the area of co-operation. In Kashmir so long as Farooq Abdullah was the CM, matters were under some control. Then, after the Congress got defeated in 1989, the new government started giving him pinpricks, because of personal ego of some of its leaders. Then, a governor was appointed who was against him, forcing him to resign. After than, chaos. Today we should repair this by first setting out the limits to which autonomy can be conceded without altering Kashmir's status as an Indian state, and then accepting demands that fall within this limit.
Once Pakistan realizes that it cannot capture Kashmir, it will accept the need for better ties. They are wrong in assuming that India wants to dismantle Pakistan. That took place in 1971, but did India get any benefit? What is needed is to establish a working relationship, so that we both fight poverty and not each other. Many of the problems we face are common, and a joint effort can solve them faster. Hot words we can understand. But there should be no hot deeds, such as support to terrorism.
Sunil Sethi on Kashmir Situation
Will an election in Kashmir be successful? Almost everyone thinks not. In New Delhi, the Congress Party itself is divided on the subject and there is no consensus among the Opposition. In J&K no party except the Congress, not even the National Conference, supports the poll. The Hurriyat Conference is dead against the idea and getting tougher. Defense analysts and intelligence experts predict a sharp increase in terrorist activity and disruption moves from across the border.
Many say that elections in the dead of winter and with foreign hostages unreleased after four months, would be a monumental blunder.
On what basis does the PM think that he can pull off a credible election in Jammu & Kashmir? Some considerations, such as the weather, are obvious. The mountain passes between Indian and Pakistan will be showed up next month and deter a fresh influx of armed terrorists from across the border. Cold weather in the Valley, a disincentive for people to come out, could be a convenient cover for low voter turnout.
Tactically the PM is acting on the advice of suspicion persisted that the Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Governor K.V. Krishna Rao, and also the evidence of the Narasimha Rao, was in a hurry to do a Punjab in Jammu Home Ministry's reports complied from intelligence and Kashmir, with a view to cashing in on the double sources. For whatever these are worth, they suggest that advantage in the Lok Sabha elections. Even those in the the exercise of restoring democracy in Kashmir is worth Opposition who supported the election, were suspicious the risk. The usual fact and figures are being trotted out: that the militants are on the defensive, the people are fed up... and that even a 2 or 3 per cent turnout in the Valley (combined with bigger numbers of voters in Jammu and Ladakh) could make the election look respectable.
(This) slapstick strategy best characterized by the Punjabi phrase "Jhat mangni, phat biyah" (quick engagement, fast wedding) assumes that if you go through the preliminaries fast enough a great love affair will bloom on the wedding night.
Alas, not in Kashmir, where the estrangement runs deep and memories of New Delhi's old betrayals are bitter. It will be a bloody wedding(An) army officer stuck in Srinagar for years, an expert in psychological warfare explained it so: "Think of the India-Kashmir relationship as a dead marriage," he said. "Husband and wife are forced to live in the same house for the same of the children but Kashmir is the beautiful wife who refuses to sleep with the husband because of his horrible cruelty and infidelity. You have to woo her back like Elizabeth Taylor with the biggest diamonds. It will require big gifts, but also time and infinite patience."
Narasimha Rao's gift the 1975 package aren't good enough. Even Farooq Abdullah, New Delhi's sole.... bet in Kashmir, has rejected it.
Moreover, New Delhi's timing has been hopelessly wrong. At the very moment when the young and popular.
K.K. Katyal on Kashmir Problem
Within the country, the critics did not oppose the election per se but found fault way, its timing or the circumstances, in which it was intended to be gone through. The arguments varied for instance, the National Conference wanted an immediate announcement of a package for autonomy while the BJP not only opposed any such move, but also reiterated its demand for the repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian Union.
What are the lessons that could be learnt from the thwarted move for elections. For all the talk about the poll plan that had gone on this year, there was an abruptness about the final phase. Weather-wise, December is not the ideal time for holding the election in the State. There was no explanation by the Government but some of those speaking on its behalf defended the winter poll on the ground that the snow-bound passes could act as a barrier to the infiltrators from Pakistan. The explanation did not carry full conviction and the suspicion persisted that the Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, was in a hurry to do a Punjab in Jammu and Kashmir, with a view to cashing in on the double advantage in the Lok Sabha elections. Even those in the Opposition who supported the election, were suspicious about the timing. The delay in the Kashmir poll would automatically delink it from the general election and, to that extent, it could be held in a relaxed atmosphere.
Despite the Government's claim, the interaction with the Opposition parties was far from thorough. Whether and, if so, to what extent the next Government at the Centre would be better placed in this regard is to be seen The National Conference leader, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, had no doubt been in frequent touch with the Prime Minister and others, but their discussions had been far from conclusive. Here again, the pressure free climate, after the general election, could contribute to a meaningful dialogue.
(Source: The Hindu, 13 November, 1995)
Hurriyat leaders Shabbir Shah and Yasin Malik are opening a centre in the Capital, New Delhi goes and spoils it all. Sage and sober Opposition Parliamentarians like Indrajit Gupta and 1.K. Gujral are provoked into losing their shirts, Kashmiri Pandits get hysterical and the Hurriyat boys start talking rot. What could have been a crucial moment for plain speak... as a prelude to opening dialogue ended in pandemonium.
In this serious behavior from a statesman who wants to solve the Kashmir problem and thereby ensure his own political future?
(Source: The Times of India, 12 November, 1995)
