Positive step must follow ceasefire, says Farooq

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU, DEC. 14. The month-long ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir had to be followed by a second positive move for any hope of resolving the complex Kashmir dispute, the Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, said today. He also expressed the hope that the stalled dialogue between India and Pakistan would resume soon.

At a function organised by the Kashmir Foundation for Peace and Developmental Studies (KFPDS) to release the annual issue of its journal ``New Hope'', Dr. Abdullah said, ``vested interests will not allow the peace process to go ahead. The ceasefire is a very good step which should continue to be followed.'' Referring to extremists in both India and Pakistan, he said ``extremism in any religion is the greatest enemy of the nation''. To achieve significant progress, the ceasefire had to be followed by a second move, he said but warned that no party or leader in India and Pakistan could compromise on Kashmir. ``The day any of the leaders decides to do away with Kashmir he will not survive.'' Will Pakistan agree to anything except being given Kashmir on a platter?''

Dr. Abdullah also made it clear that the decision on Kashmir could be only taken by Delhi and Islamabad and no one from the State would be involved. Humanity was in danger and the blood of ordinary citizens was being spilt. At the same time he said that there was no possibility of the Kashmiri pandits returning to their homes as they had sold everything. Dr. Amitabh Mattoo of Jawaharlal Nehru University called for waging a war for peace by the State's people saying the ``Kashmir problem is too complicated to be left to the politicians.'' Describing the ceasefire move as one of the boldest in the State's history, he urged a dialogue between all groups concerned.

The former Foreign Secretary, Mr. Salman Haider, echoed Dr. Mattoo's views saying the process had to be broadened while the former Navy chief, Admiral L. Ramdas, said ``peace initiative is a good step and should hold fast.''

Four killed in Valley

Meanwhile, a series of blasts in the Kashmir Valley on the eve of the ``Battle of Al Badr'' left at least four people including a paramilitary force jawan dead and 17 others including a CRPF commandant injured. Militants shot dead a National Conference activist, Mr. Abdur Rehman Mir, in Zachaldara Kupwara on Wednesday night while one Mohammad Ismail was gunned down in Pahalgam.

Reports reaching here said an improvised explosive device (IED) fitted on to a bicycle exploded in Sopore killing three people including a CRPF jawan and injuring 16 others. The commandant of the CRPF's 82nd battalion, Mr. J. P. Agnihotri, was travelling in a vehicle through downtown Sopore this afternoon when the IED exploded. One jawan died on the spot and others including Mr. Agnihotri were injured in the blast, which damaged the vehicle. A civilian, Abdul Hamid War, was killed instantly while one Ghulam Rasool Bhat, died on way to hospital. The injured have been rushed to Srinagar where the condition of four is said to be critical. Hours after the blast, security forces defused another IED outside the camp of 28 Rashtriya Rifles. Earlier in Kralhar on the outskirts of Baramulla town, unidentified militants triggered a landmine killing one Mushtaq Ahmed Kar, an employee of the food and supplies department, and a injuring another civilian.

Several militant groups had indicated intensification of attacks on December 14, 17th day of Ramzan commemorating the ``Battle of Al Badr''. A red alert had been sounded in the State and security tightened at airports and other sensitive installations.

Militants hurled grenades in Kulgam and near Shiraz cinema in the State capital which exploded without causing any damage. Militants fired upon a security force vehicle near Choora on the Baramulla-Srinagar highway. A jawan was injured.

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