Crisis India-Pakistan:
Achtergrondinformatie, analyse en nieuws
uit de Indiase, Pakistaanse en internationale media.

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

Hurriyat asks Pak, India to keep peace

M. SALEEM PANDIT

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, JUNE 03, 2002 11:20:49 PM ]
SRINAGAR: At its first meeting after the killing of Abdul Gani Lone on May 21, the All-Party Hurriyat Conference executive council on Monday asked both India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue to defuse tension and avoid an impending war between the two countries.
Speaking at the meeting, Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat asked India to hold a plebiscite to know the intentions of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Bhat was referring to a recent survey conducted by a foreign-based NGO which had shown 61 per cent of the people of J&K as having opted for India when asked about their choice between the two countries: India and Pakistan.
Bhat said the Kashmir issue had put the two countries on the verge of a nuclear war. He said even if a war between the two countries was avoided by international pressure, the Kashmir issue would still need to be resolved.
Hurriyat's former chairman Maulvi Umar Farooq, suggested that the Hurriyat leaders write letters to both the Indian and Pakistani leaders to resolve the Kashmir issue.

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

India talks down war fever

RAJESH RAMACHANDRAN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, JUNE 03, 2002 11:16:12 PM ]
ALMATY: India on Monday made it clear to the world that it abhors any conflict with Pakistan and that all it wants is proof of Pakistan implementing its oft-repeated promises on ending cross-border terrorism.
National security adviser Brajesh Mishra told a news conference here that India will take appropriate steps if Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s promises are implemented, but till then there will be no talks. With the statement, "the world wants to avoid a conflict between India and Pakistan, so do we," the Indian side appeared to be conveying a message of maturity and reason. Mishra underlined that, "we don’t want to indulge in any loose talk about nuclear weapons."
With the armed forces of India and Pakistan in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation, Mishra subtly laid down the condition for de-escalation of tension: "General Musharraf has made some promises and they were conveyed to us by the United States and the United Kingdom. If these promises are implemented and we can verify them, then we will take appropriate steps."
Mishra ruled out any mediation by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pakistani information minister Nisar Memon has reportedly told the Pakistani media that there is a possibility of talks between both the countries after Vajpayee and Musharraf hold talks with Putin. Both Vajpayee and Musharraf will hold bilateral meetings with Putin on Tuesday after the summit on interaction and confidence-building in Central Asia.
Memon apparently talked about three possibilities: Russian mediation, bilateral talks between India and Pakistan or proximity talks. Asked about Mishra’s response to this proposition, he said, "I don’t want to indulge in wishful thinking."
Mishra, in response to queries on Russian intervention and a possible tripartite meeting between India, Pakistan and Russia, said, "Russia is conscious of our position, President Putin downwards. He was not talking about a tripartite meeting. He was talking about his bilateral meetings with India and Pakistan."

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

Terror to blame for tension in S Asia: Vajpayee

REUTERS [ MONDAY, JUNE 03, 2002 1:09:01 PM ]
ALMATY: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blamed tension in South Asia on "border terrorism" but did not name Pakistan.
Vajpayee made the remark after meeting Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.
"I am glad that tomorrow's summit will also produce a joint declaration condemning international terrorism. We have expressed our hopes that those elements who believe in terrorism and religious extremism should not be indulged and their number should not be allowed to grow."
The conference in Kazakhstan has become a focal point for efforts to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan. Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Jiang Zemin are expected to play mediator between India and Pakistan.
Putin will hold separate meetings with Vajpayee and Musharraf. And China's official Xinhua news agency on Monday quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying the Chinese President would also meet both men to try to ease tensions.
Putin may try to persuade the two to meet face-to-face -- a possibility all but ruled out by India. Vajpayee told reporters on Sunday "there was no such plan".
Meanwhile, the Pakistani military leader who will arrive in Almaty today, has welcomed such a meeting. He, however, made it clear that he would not renew the offer if Vajpayee kept rejecting it.

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

India rules out use of nuclear weapons

PTI [ MONDAY, JUNE 03, 2002 4:10:20 PM ]
NEW DELHI: Addressing international concerns, India on Monday categorically ruled out use of nuclear weapons against Pakistan saying as a responsible nation "it feels it will be imprudent to use such weapons."
A Defence Ministry statement said "the Government makes it clear that India does not believe in the use of nuclear weapons. Neither does it visualise that it will be used by any other country".
The Government was reacting to media reports about the possible use of nuclear weapons in the context of current India-Pakistan stand off.

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The Pioneer, June 4, 2002

Pak must take first step, India should follow suit: Armitage

Shobori Ganguli/New Delhi

Predictable rhetoric and bluster from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at the Almaty conference notwithstanding, the imminence of an Indo-Pak is war being gradually discounted.
This, because it is felt the intense pressure the international community has mounted on the General is bearing fruit.
Recent statements from New Delhi, projecting the view that India was willing to give the General one last chance before initiating any precipitate action, have been rooted in the belief that key world capitals are indeed capable of making Gen Musharraf walk the talk on terrorism.
Preparing to descend on the subcontinent in a couple of days, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told CNN, "I'd like to hear again a reiteration from President Musharraf of the fact that nothing is moving across the Line of Control... And I hope that this would be visible both to the United States and India."
If satisfied, the US would like "India to begin a de-escalatory step of some sort that can be visible to Pakistan," Mr Armitage said.
As far as India is concerned, New Delhi has remained consistent on the position that evidence of Pakistan's crackdown on infiltration across the LoC would draw a positive response from India. Mr Armitage's expectations of India therefore only echo the assurance New Delhi has already handed out during British Foreign Minister Jack Straw's visit to the country last week.
Mr Armitage's comments on the General clearly indicate that a war in the subcontinent can be averted only if Pakistan takes the first step.
Prof MV Ramana at the Princeton University feels "the threat of war has receded somewhat." Asked how South Asia observers in the US view the current situation, Prof Ramana said, "A few days back it (war) seemed a likely possibility. The Army, at least on the Indian side seemed to be losing patience and straining to go across the border. That would have been dangerous since that could lead to a major war, quite likely through a series of escalating steps." Clearly, India has tempered its rhetoric in the past week in view of the fact that the global community has thrown its weight completely behind India's contention on Pak-sponsored terrorism.
In yet another such acknowledgement, Mr Armitage said India reserved the right to be aggrieved over acts of terror by Islamist extremists. He, however, appealed to India's "emerging superpower" status to call for restraint and responsibility.
Evidently relieved, Mr Armitage also welcomed Gen Musharraf downplaying the likelihood of a nuclear exchange in the region, warning that, "The problem is once the iron starts to be exchanged between the two sides, then reason and logic seem to go out the window." Experts feel the threat of a nuclear mushroom in the subcontinent is highly unlikely if India and Pakistan do not go to war. Says Prof Ramana, "In the absence of a war I don't think the risk of nuclear weapons being used in a 'bolt-out-of-the-blue' attack is high. This is because from the available public information it appears that neither country has - at least till the crisis started - deployed its missiles with nuclear warheads." While the intense diplomatic heat on the subcontinent is being viewed as an effective deterrent against war in the subcontinent, observers like Prof Ramana feel the current crisis, has serious lessons for India and Pakistan. "Both countries have been practising the art of brinkmanship and are playing a dangerous game of chicken. It is quite possible that the next time will not be so lucky. Thus, both countries should stop making nuclear threats; nor should they threaten to go to war. Rather both should try to work out their differences through diplomatic and political means," says Prof Ramana. Almaty is witness to the fact that diplomatic and political means are indeed being used full throttle.

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Indian Express, June 4, 2002

'Jehadis scuttled a ceasefire plan'

New Delhi, June 3: In his speech on May 27, Pak President General Pervez Musharraf was expected to announce a ‘‘ceasefire on behalf of the Pak Army’’ to be followed by a similar announcement by the United Jehad Council on behalf of militants in Kashmir. However, hours before his speech, the plan was scuttled by commanders of jehadi groups.
This has been reported by Hamid Mir, editor of the Islamabad-based Ausaf, for Independent, a Lahore-based weekly.
According to the report, there was panic in Muzaffarabad where leaders of the Hurriyat Conference and commanders of several jehadi groups felt that Musharraf was being pressured by the US to ‘‘desert Kashmiris if he wants to save Pakistan from an Indian attack.’’
Jamaat-e-Islami’s Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmad, in Islamabad for a week, was worried over reports that the Pak Army had ‘‘started stopping the mujahideen from crossing the LoC’’ into the Valley. Qazi planned a nationwide stir in Pakistan of religious and political parties against Musharraf for ‘‘selling Kashmir.’’
One day before the General’s speech, the report says, Qazi said that Musharraf was putting pressure on his party to support him on the ceasefire issue but he had refused.
Some close aides of Musharraf held an emergency meeting with Hurriyat and jehadi leaders a few hours before the speech. But the ceasefire proposal angered jehadi commanders. ‘‘We will not drink or eat anything in this meeting as a protest,’’ they declared, according to the report.
Only one leader from the Hurriyat, Mir Tahir Masood, supported the idea of ceasefire. Mir Tahir is a representative of Maulvi Abbas Ansari, a Shia leader from the Kashmir Valley.
The meeting organisers tried their best to convince United Jehad Council chief, Syed Salahuddin, who is also the chief commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen. But even that didn’t work.
An angry Salahuddin was reported as having said: ‘‘You are pushing us into another Tora Bora and Kunduz. They will butcher our boys after the ceasefire...What happened after we announced the ceasefire in July 2000? They tried to create differences among us and also killed two out of the five commanders who had announced ceasefire.’’
According to the report, Salahuddin asked three questions: ‘‘Was there any cross-border terrorism in 1983 when India invaded Siachen? Was there any cross-border terrorism in Gujarat; then why did Hindus kill thousands of Muslims there; and why did Bush keep mum on this massacre?’’
The meeting’s hosts found themselves in a corner and this hardline attitude derailed the meeting - and the proposal.

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

S Asia paid heavy price for Kashmir: Mush

RAJESH RAMACHANDRAN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ TUESDAY, JUNE 04, 2002 9:25:01 AM ]
ALMATY: The Indo-Pak deadlock continues. Pakistan has raised the Kashmir issue in an Asian leaders' summit here on Tuesday and has taken a belligerent stand that might take both the countries back to square one.
India's conditions for de-escalation and a probable de-mobilisation on the borders have been that Pakistan must permanently stop infiltration across the border and violence in Jammu & Kashmir.
But by justifying terrorist violence and upping the Kashmir ante and referring to the United Nations resolution on a referendum in J&K, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has not conveyed the message of peace.
Musharraf unleashed a scathing attack in his address to the Conference on interaction and confidence building measures in Asia (CICA), saying, "We cannot condone for any reason the rapacious policies of certain states that forcibly occupy territories and deny freedom to peoples for decades on end, with total disdain for Charter principles and decisions of the United States."
Of course, there is every possibility that Musharraf has addressed the hawks back home with his belligerence and that he might be actually taking measures on the ground to bring down infiltration and violence in J&K. Musharraf did say that Pakistan does not want war and will not initiate it.
"But if a war is imposed on us, we will defend ouserlves with the utmost resolution and determination. We have stated repeatedly that instead of accusations, threats and dangerous escalation, India should return to the path of dialogue and negotiations."
Though Musharraf said, "Pakistan will not allow its territory to be used for terrorism within or outside its borders," this statement was curiously missing in the text of his speech made available to the press here.
While claiming that he does not justify terrorism or killing of innocents, Musharraf set out to do exactly that in his speech saying that denial of freedom and the resulting desperation and humiliation are the breeding grounds for extremism.
He pointedly referred to India saying, "The people of South Asia continue to pay a heavy price for the refusal by India to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people." He also laid the blame of the failure of the Agra summit on India.
Obviously, the jehadi sentiments will be bolstered by Musharraf's statement that, "Global peace has remained hostage to the expansionist ambitions of such states and their ruthless campaigns to suppress, through brutal use of force, the legitimate struggles of peoples to gain their internationally recognized fundamental right to freedom and self determination. Terrorism by states... spawns spiral of violence and terrorism."

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

India fears Mush may pull off media coup

RAJESH RAMACHANDRAN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, JUNE 03, 2002 8:04:11 PM ]
ALMATY: A war of nerves is on at the Kazakhstan Asian leaders summit where Prime Minister Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf are attending the CICA conference.
It is not cross-border terrorism that is troubling the Indian side most now, but the fear that Pakistan's President might stage another media coup. With his Agra performance fresh in their mind, Indian media managers are in reactive mode, waiting for Musharraf's first move.
On Monday evening, the Indian Ambassador held a reception for the PM at the Hyatt Regency here. Minutes before Vajpayee went in, Musharraf came out of the hotel. "We are from the Indian media, can we have a word with you?'' the Indian scribes asked. Musharraf replied, ``I will meet you tomorrow''. What did he expect from the summit? As he got into his waiting limousine, the General turned around and said, ``I will tell you tomorrow''.
Soon the Indian media managers got to know of this exchange. And there was some speculation about a Vajpayee press conference late Tuesday evening after the bilateral talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin. ``We will arrange something'', a senior PMO official promised.
During the summit meeting Tuesday morning, Vajpayee will speak after Musharraf and thus will get an opportunity to rebut Pakistan's allegations. But Musharraf's press conference later in the day would still be a thorn in the Indian flesh and hence the excitement in the Indian camp on how to react.
Meanwhile, India and Kazakhstan signed three agreements: An MoU on military and technology cooperation, an agreement on establishing joint working groups for combating terrorism and promoting tourism. ``Elements that create terror and religious extremism should not be allowed to grow. We expressed our concern on growing terrorism in this area with the Kazakhstan President'', said Vajpayee in a press interaction after the signing of the agreements.
The CICA summit will also see the adoption of an `Almaty Act' and a declaration on terrorism.

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

Summer games with nuclear bombs

ARUNDHATI ROY

[ MONDAY, JUNE 03, 2002 10:56:39 PM ]
As diplomats’ families and tourists disappear from the subcontinent, western journalists arrive in Delhi in droves. Many call me. “Why haven’t you left the city?” they ask. “Isn’t nuclear war a real possibility? Isn’t Delhi a prime target?
If nuclear weapons exist, then nuclear war is a real possibility. And Delhi is a prime target. It is. But where shall we go? Is it possible to go out and buy another life because this one’s not panning out? If I go away, and everything and everyone — every friend, every tree, every home, every dog, squirrel and bird that I have known and loved — is incinerated, how shall I live on? Who shall I love?
And who will love me back? Which society will welcome me and allow me to be the hooligan that I am here, at home? So we’re all staying. We huddle together. We realise how much we love each other. And we think, what a shame it would be to die now. Life’s normal only because the macabre has become normal.
While we wait for rain, for football, for justice, the old generals and eager boy-anchors on TV talk of first strike and second-strike capabilities as though they’re discussing a family board game.
My friends and I discuss Prophecy, the documentary about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The fireball. The dead bodies choking the river. The singed, bald children, still alive, their clothes burned into their bodies. The cancers, implanted genetically, a malignant letter to the unborn. We remember especially the man who just melted into the steps of a building. We imagine ourselves like that.
As stains on staircases. I imagine future generations of hushed schoolchildren pointing at my stain...that was a writer. Not She or He. That.
I’m sorry if my thoughts are stray and disconnected, not always worthy. Often ridiculous. My husband’s writing a book on trees. He has a section on how figs are pollinated. Each fig only by its own specialised fig wasp.
There are nearly a thousand different species of fig wasps, each a precise, exquisite, synchrony, the product of millions of years of evolution. All the fig wasps will be nuked. Zzzz. Ash. And my husband. And his book.
A dear friend, who’s an activist in the Narmada Bachao Andolan, is on indefinite hunger strike protesting the forced eviction of villagers to make way for the Man Dam. Today is the fourteenth day of her fast.
What an act of faith and hope! How brave it is to believe that in today’s world, non-violent protest will register, will matter. Will it? To governments that are comfortable with the notion of a wasted world, what’s a wasted valley?
The threshold of horror has been ratcheted up so high that nothing short of genocide or the prospect of nuclear war merits mention. Peaceful resistance is treated with contempt. Terrorism’s the real thing.
The underlying principle of the War Against Terror, the very notion that war is an acceptable solution to terrorism, has ensured that terrorists in the subcontinent now have the power to trigger a nuclear war.
Displacement, dispossession, starvation, poverty, disease — these are now just the funnies, the comic-strip items. Our home minister says Amartya Sen has it all wrong — the key to India’s development is not education and health but Defence (and don’t forget the kickbacks, O Best Beloved).
Perhaps what he really meant was that war is the key to avert the world’s attention from fascism and genocide. To avoid dealing with any one single issue of real governance that urgently needs to be addressed. For the governments of India and Pakistan, Kashmir is not a problem, it’s their perennial and spectacularly successful solution. Kashmir is the rabbit they pull out of their hats every time they need one. It’s a radioactive rabbit now, and it’s careening out of control. No doubt there is Pakistan sponsored cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.
But there are other kinds of terror in the Valley. There’s the inchoate nexus between jehadi militants, ex-militants, foreign mercenaries, local mercenaries, underworld Mafiosi, security forces, arms dealers and criminalised politicians and officials on both sides of the border. There’s also rigged elections, daily humiliations, ‘disappearances’ and staged ‘encounters’.
And now the cry has gone up in the heartland: India is a Hindu country. Muslims can be murdered under the benign gaze of the state. Mass murderers will not be brought to justice. Indeed, they will stand for elections. Is India to be a Hindu nation in the heartland and a secular one around the edges?
Meanwhile the International Coalition Against Terror makes war and preaches restraint. Britain is busy arming both sides. Tony Blair’s ‘peace’ mission a few months ago was actually a business trip to discuss a one billion pound deal (and don’t forget the kickbacks, O Best Beloved) to sell Hawk fighter-bombers to India.
“Why isn’t there a peace movement?” western journalists ask me ingenuously. How can there be a peace movement when, for most people in India, peace means a daily battle: for food, for water, for shelter, for dignity? War, on the other hand, is something professional soldiers fight far away on the border.
And nuclear war — well, that’s completely outside the realm of most peoples’ comprehension. The last question every visiting journalist always asks me is: Are you writing another book? This talk of nuclear war displays such contempt for music, art, literature and everything else that defines civilisation. So what kind of book should I write?
It’s not just the one million soldiers on the border who are living on hair-trigger alert. It’s all of us. That’s what nuclear bombs do. Whether they’re used or not, they violate everything that is humane. They alter the meaning of life itself.
Why do we tolerate them? Why do we tolerate the men who use nuclear weapons to blackmail the entire human race?

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The Times of India, June 4, 2002

Say No to Nukes: Interview with Pervez Hoodbhoy

[ MONDAY, JUNE 03, 2002 11:17:16 PM ]
Pakistan's leading nuclear physicist, Pervez Hoodbhoy, has written and spoken extensively on topics ranging from science in Islam to education issues in Pakistan. An ardent pacifist, Hoodbhoy tells Rashme Sehgal that there is a worryingly high degree of ignorance in the subcontinent about the implications of a nuclear exchange:

Pakistan’s newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, recently said that it reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if India resorts to conventional warfare. Is this indeed an option or just bluster?
Actually, Munir Akram said nothing new. Pakistan has for long said that it would not agree to a no-first-use agreement, and reserves the right to strike first. But I wish he hadn’t rattled the nuclear sabre. It doesn’t help at a time of deep crisis like this, when we need conciliatory statements from both sides, not inflammatory ones. I personally think that Pakistan will not strike until it is convinced that defeat is at hand.
However, with loose nukes all over the place, can anyone guarantee that some mobile missile unit commander — Pakistani or Indian — will not act on his own accord? Has the balance of mutual terror failed?
Obviously it hasn’t failed yet, but I find it terribly worrying that there is insufficient fear of the nuclear holocaust that could soon visit us. The efficacy of nuclear deterrence is predicated on the ability of these weapons to induce terror.
But what if people just aren’t afraid?
The bulk of people in the street simply don’t have a clue to what these doomsday weapons can do. Only a minuscule number know of nuclear fireballs, radioactivity, and long-term effects. Even for those who have heard of Hiroshima, nuclear war is an abstraction. But perhaps more importantly, the subcontinental culture is deeply fatalistic. So many people say, ‘‘what will be, will be’’.
Pakistan has given active support to militants for the last decade. Doesn’t India have the right to take retaliatory measures?
I say unequivocally — as indeed many of us here in Pakistan have been openly saying for years — that infiltration must stop. This kind of covert war can only complicate, and never solve the Kashmir issue. For too long, Pakistan has lied to the world that it does not house training camps for militants within its borders. However, do not mistake this criticism of Pakistani policy for endorsement of India’s position. The suffering in Kashmir owes much to Indian intransigence in negotiating a settlement.
Violence begets violence. Let there be a negotiated solution and let us leave the people of Kashmir to themselves. The jehadis should get out of Kashmir. So should the Indian forces. Let us cool Kashmir down for a period of five to 10 years before reaching a final settlement.
Are foreign nations really serious about resolving this present crisis between our two countries?
Having cut off all direct means of negotiation, India and Pakistan have placed the fate of their people in the hands of foreign diplomats and third-tier leaders. What a shame! On May 28, 1998 — the day Pakistan carried out its tit-for-tat nuclear tests — when I turned on the TV in Boston, the top story of the day was about a dog which had drowned in Lake Erie. That should show how concerned the West is about our fate.
You have spoken about Indian experts trying to trivialise Pakistan’s nuclear capability, especially in terms of its operational capability and usability. On what basis have you arrived at such a conclusion?
Some Indian experts have been saying that Indians can sleep in peace because if Pakistan attempts to push the button, the Americans will destroy Pakistani nukes. What a wild flight of fancy! These people presume that America is God, that it knows where all the Pakistani nukes are, and it has both the will and power to destroy them.
I met I K Gujral two months before the May 1998 nuclear tests. In response to my expression of worry about a nuclear catastrophe on the subcontinent, he repeatedly assured me that Pakistan did not have the capability of making atomic bombs. Senior Indian defence analysts like P R Chari also believed this, as did the former chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, Raja Ramanna.
Do you think the public of either country has been well served by both nations going nuclear?
The evidence is before us: relations between the two countries have become far more belligerent and hostile after 1998. We are at the brink of a war that may well be the last one. Kargil was a direct consequence of nuclearisation and of Pakistan’s new-found confidence. Note also that Indian military spending has skyrocketed since 1998. Pakistan would have liked to follow suit except that its economic constraints are much tighter. Nuclearisation has been an unmitigated disaster for our peoples, and we are yet to see what else it will lead to.
Why have peace-loving people in both countries been marginalised? Is it a failure of leadership or are there more fundamental reasons for this terrible state of affairs?
Religious fundamentalism — Islamic and Hindu — has devastated both countries. Surrender to primal loyalties is destroying our civilisation and culture, replacing tolerance and plurality with fanaticism.

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Asian Human Rights Commission, June 4, 2002
URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

Clouds of war and killing of innocent civilians across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

4 June 2002
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UA-20-2002: Clouds of war and killing of innocent civilians across the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir
KASHMIR (INDIA/PAKISTAN): Gross human rights violations - Stop the cross-border shelling and need of UN intervention
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There have been at least 150 people killed, 400 injured and 100,000 people have left their homes and migrated in Kashmir since mid-May 2002. Heavy weapons are killing daily innocent civilians and destroying homes and other public and private property, and civilians are being forced to flee on both sides of the LOC. After the statement of Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bahari Vajpayee that India is going to start a decisive war against Pakistan, panic has spread among the public, particularly in Kashmir.
We must not allow both India and Pakistan to kill innocent civilians in Kashmir. Therefore, in this alarming situation, we urge you to write letters to the Prime Minister and President of India and the President of Pakistan to stop the shelling along the LOC and to begin dialogue and also ask the secretary-general of the United Nations to take immediate intervention.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1) Present Status of Kashmir

Since 1947, the State of Kashmir has been a disputed territory whose future is to be decided through a plebiscite held under the auspices of the United Nations. It comprises an area of 84,471 square miles and has a population of 15 million. It is divided into Indian-administrated Kashmir (52,000 square miles) and Pakistani-administrated Kashmir (32,000 square miles).

2) Indian and Pakistani Claims

The official claim of the Indian authorities is that Kashmir is an integral part of India and that Pakistan has occupied her territory while Pakistan maintains that Kashmir is a Muslim-majority state and accordingly it should be part of Pakistan.

3) The Facts

The fact is that Kashmir is neither part of India or does it belong to Pakistan. It is a disputed territory, and the United Nations has promised to provide Kashmiris an opportunity to decide their future.

4) Brief History of the Conflict

In 1947 when India and Pakistan came into being, there were 564 princely states on the subcontinent. According to a plan of division of the subcontinent (June 3, 1947), these states were allowed to accede to either India or Pakistan, but the situation of Kashmir was entirely different. Kashmir was an independent state at that time as it was sold by Britain to Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1846 (Treaty of Amritsar). From 1846 to 1947, the family of Gulab Singh ruled Kashmir. There was a strong movement for the democratic rights of the Kashmiri people beginning in 1925, however, a movement that reached its peak in 1931. The army of the state of Kashmir crushed this democratic movement though by killing several activists of the movement. After the division of the subcontinent, the ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, decided to remain independent. Both India and Pakistan signed the Standst cepted the independent status of the State of Jammu Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan invaded Kashmir, however, in October 1947, claiming Kashmir to be part of their new nations. After the massacre of thousands of civilians on both sides, India went to the United Nations in 1948. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in which both India and Pakistan agreed on a cease-fire, and the U.N. Security Council announced that a fair plebiscite would be held to allow the Kashmiri people to exercise their right of self-determination (Aug. 13, 1948).

5) Line of Control (LOC)

After the involvement of the United Nations in 1948, a cease-fire line was drawn between the two parts of Kashmir. This was a temporary line of division just to restore peace in both the parts. The United Nations could not implement its resolutions due to a lack of cooperation by both India and Pakistan. After the war of 1971 between India and Pakistan, an agreement was signed by the prime minister of India and the president of Pakistan on July, 2, 1972, at Simla, which is historically known as the Simla Accord. It was the Simla Accord in which both countries agreed to change the status of the cease-fire line in Kashmir and named it the line of control (LOC).

6) Armed Struggle and Violation of Human Rights

In 1988, Kashmiris began an armed struggle for the freedom of Kashmir, and there has been a severe violation of human rights since then. More than 60,000 human beings have been killed, thousands of women have been raped and more than 4,000 custodial deaths have occurred in Indian-held Kashmir alone. Civilians living on both sides of the LOC have suffered a great deal since 1988 as the entire LOC (650 kilometers) has been under cross-border shelling for the last 14 years. This shelling has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians on both sides, public and private property has been destroyed and civilians have been forced to migrate. Thousands of civilians are now living in refugee camps and in other areas away from the LOC, and thus, Kashmiris are now refugees in their own land. Those who do not have enough resources to move to safer places are still living in dangerous spots with ing cross-border shelling, the main victims are civilians on both sides of the LOC.

7) The Latest Situation

Since Dec. 13, 2001, when the attack on the Indian Parliament took place, both India and Pakistan have deployed their troops along the LOC and have begun heavy shelling across the LOC in which hundreds of civilians have lost their lives, including women and children. During the past three weeks, there have been more than 150 causalities reported so far, and more than 400 civilians have been killed on both sides. More than 100,000 families have migrated to safer places from both sides, and thousands of families are still living along the LOC without any place to go.
Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bahari Vajpayee has recently said that he is committed to beginning a decisive war against Pakistan, and Pakistani troops are prepared to face the situation. Presently a total of one million troops have been deployed by both sides with most of them deployed along the LOC. Every day along the LOC there are civilian causalities reported by the international electronic and print media. Clouds of war are hovering over Pakistan and India. A small incident can spark a war at any time. Both nuclear rivals have massed a total of one million forces on their borders, particularly on the LOC in Kashmir. These forces exchange daily mortar and artillery fire along the LOC and kill innocent Kashmiris on both sides.
Now war appears to be imminent between both countries, but they want to make Kashmir the battlefield. In this case, they will kill the people of Kashmir and destroy more public and private property while the people of both countries will watch the war from the sidelines, but the Kashmiri people will become the fodder of this war. Already dozens of people who have been wounded and killed by troops have been brought to the hospitals daily. The United Nations and world community must take notice of these killings and must pressure both countries to restrain the present shooting along the LOC and to refrain from escalating this violence further into a full-blown war. Otherwise, war hysteria in India and Pakistan will prove to be the genocide of the Kashmiri people. In case of war, the objectives of the political leaders of India and Pakistan will be fulfilled as the leaders of neither c ition, both countries might test their nuclear weapons in Kashmir. There is presently the greatest danger of the repetition of the history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki since the end of World War II.
The world community, particularly the people of India and Pakistan, must acknowledge this fact and play their due role to save the Kashmiri people from bombardment and cross-firing along the LOC. Otherwise, they will have equal responsibility for this bloodshed.
We appeal to the people of the subcontinent to stand against war and terrorism. War never brings good fruits but rather only destruction, death, tears, starvation and devastation. At this time, India and Pakistan should fight against the poverty, unemployment and illiteracy in their countries, but some extremist elements and rulers of both countries are bent upon pushing innocent people into the chimney of war. Liberals, democrats, secular and moderate personalities must play their role and persuade the rulers and military heads of these two countries to show patience and tolerance and to cooperate to eradicate poverty from the region. If war breaks out, then no one can control it. Both countries will regress to a state not seen for centuries.
Further information on the situation in Kashmir is available at AHRC's Kashmir Human Rights Site, www.kashmir-hr.net. See also the web site of the Kashmir Record and Research Council at www.krrc.org and www.kanger.net for further links.

SUGGESTED ACTION

The present tense situation can be eased only through meaningful dialogue between Kashmiris and the Indian and Pakistani authorities in the presence of reasonable mediators.
Please write to Atal Bahari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, Shri Narayanan, President of India and Gen. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, to stop the shelling along the LOC and to begin meaningful dialogue with Kashmiris to ensure permanent peace in this region. Also send copy of your letter to Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations and Mary Robinson, high commissioner for human right. A sample letter follows.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear

Re: Violence and Tension along the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir

I am writing to express my deep concern about the recent escalating violence and shelling along the line of control (LOC) in Kashmir. This is killing hundreds of innocent civilians and destroying the lives of thousands of others and making refugees out of these innocent people. It is also creating terror in the hearts of the people of both countries and is alarming the leaders and other people around the world who fear that the present heightened tension will lead to a conventional war that will tragically become a nuclear war.
We call upon you to step back from the brink of war and to let calmer reason to prevail over the emotions that are now running at a feverish pitch; for if India and Pakistan go to war, there will be no winner, only potentially millions of people who will lose their lives.
The dispute over Kashmir has now gone on long enough. Too many people in Kashmir have died in the past half-century. Until this dispute is resolved, there will always be tension between India and Pakistan, and the subcontinent will continue to be held hostage to this issue.
I trust that you will make a wise decision to resolve the present tense and violent situation.
Thank you for your kind attention to this important issue that affects the lives of literally billions of people.

Sincerely yours,

SEND LETTER TO:

1. H.E. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Prime Minister
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi, India-110 011
INDIA
Fax: 91-11-3019545 / 91-11-3016857
Email: eindun@undp.org

2. Shri K. R. Narayanan
President of India
H.E. President of India
Office of the President
Rashtrapati Bhawan
New Delhi, 110004
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 301-7290
E-mail: pressecy@alpha.nic.in

3. General Pervez Musharraf
President of Pakistan
Islamic of Republic of Pakistan
Prime Minister House, Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 051 920-1893/1835 or 4632
E-mail: CE@pak.gov.pk
Salutation: Dear Gen. Musharraf

SEND A COPY TO:

1. Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
United Nations Room S-3800
New York NY 10017
U.S.A.
Fax: +1 212 963 4879/2155
E-mail: ecu@un.org

2. Mrs. Mary Robinson
High Commissioner for Human Rights.
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9012
E-mail: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
[PLEASE MARK: ATTENTION - HIGH COMMISSIONER MARY ROBINSON]

Please send a copy of your letter to AHRC Urgent Appeals:
Email: <ua@ahrchk.org>
Fax: +(852) - 26986367

Please contact the Urgent Appeals coordinator if you require more information or wish to report human rights violations.
===========================================================
AHRC Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
Unit D, 7th Floor, Mongkok Commercial Centre,
16 - 16B Argyle Street, Kowloon, HONGKONG
Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339
Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367
E-mail: ua@ahrchk.org

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The Hindustan Times, June 4, 2002

UK fears refugee flood from Indo-Pak war

London, June 3: BRITISH HOME Secretray David Blunkett is to ask Europe to share the burden of influx of 150,000 refugees from India and Pakistan which he expects in case of an Indo-Pakistan war. Whitehall is said to be alarmed at such a prospect, while the Home Office has indicated that its budget for asylum-seekers has reached its limit. In 2001-02 £500 million was over-spent and according to the opposition a bail out of f one billion could be needed this year. Nevertheless, the British government has reportedly drawn up an emergency plan for dealing with a fresh wave of asylum-seekers from the sub-continent. There are only about 21,000 British passport holders in the region but the government has presumed that over 125,000 who have relatives in Britain and might seek to come here.



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Landelijke India Werkgroep - 7 juni 2002