Pakistan: Neither unwilling nor unable in Tirah Valley

By Zoon Ahmad Khan
SPEARHEAD RESEARCH

Tirah is a belt of valleys providing a convenient passage into Afghanistan, with a population of 1.5 million. Fertile for what Afghanis do best: opium, poppy fields have flourished in the region and the government has been for years trying to curb the epidemic. But the Tirah Valley people are slippery under the quivering thumb of the establishment since colonial times. It was in 2003 that the Pakistan Army entered the valley, that too after 9/11 and escalating Talibanization of the northern region when it was believed that Osama bin Laden could be hiding in one of these self governing regions.

For a month now, since March 2013, Tirah Valley has been making headlines. As over 300 militants have been eliminated and more than 30 army personnel have achieved martyrdom in less than thirty days. Due to fierce resistance, the military operation has gained momentum. Like the Swat operation, where Taliban had allied themselves with the local government promising better law enforcement and good riddance from the sloppy civil courts, in Tirah the emergence of TTP has also been gradual. Owing to poor infrastructure and isolation of the region (a tribal area that avoids foreign interference), news of the hundreds killed while resisting TTPs advancement in to the region, never reached mainstream media sources.

Three militant outfits are operating in the region presently: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), and Ansar ul Islam (AI) . The AI and LI have been battling with each other in the region for more than seven years over sectarian differences. When the LI joined hands with the TTP, AI reached out to the Pakistan army to protect its position against its adversary. It is noteworthy that the AI, a militant organization, has previously been banned for protecting the area from foreign influence (i.e. the government). How this support for the AI is any different from that of the Taliban back in the 1980s is not clear. For Pakistan, at the moment, fighting the Taliban is more crucial. What demons this war gives birth to can be dealt with later perhaps.

The TTP has not taken over the valley overnight, nor without assistance. Since last June, one step at a time the Tirah tribes have been coming under their fold. Even today, as the army marches against the Taliban with bursting force, launching aerial assaults to drive the Taliban out, few know the gravity of the situation. Few realize the dire consequences of this belt coming under full control of anti-state outfits. Thousands of the valley’s inhabitants have migrated out of their homes towards Peshawar. What will become of them and their families knowing the situation of IDPs amidst a fragile economy is another burden we are temporarily ignoring for a false peace of mind.

With three vital entry points: into Peshawar, Orakzai and the Khyber Pass (the main passageway for NATO supplies) the valley is an important stronghold for the TTP. With no road access, the army was initially only relying on aerial assaults. So far with scanty news, all we get a few days later is a death count of militants versus soldiers. Nothing about civilian casualties. Turns out we have an alternative for the drone strikes that have caused much discord between us and the United States. But the problems with an operation where only Pakistani blood is being spilt are manifold.

These quandaries can take the shape of a thought process. Firstly, Tirah was not above the regular drone drill. Rather the area has been a frequent target. Yet the LI joined hands with the Taliban, killed hundreds of civilians while fighting the local AI, took over the entire region over the course of a year. All of this while drone strikes were happening with unhampered discretion. Should this not make us question the effectiveness of drone strikes? The AI , temporary partner of the Government of Pakistan in this operation, is not our friend either. It is these temporary alliances with local militant outfits, and keeping our enemies ‘closer’ that has strengthened them to begin with. Before the Taliban took over completely, Ansar-ul-Islam were adamant that they could handle the situation. But with stiff resistance from TTP backed LI. Eventually the Pakistan army was forced to step in and save the region. The main question that arises from such situations is: why should we trust the security of such volatile and strategically important regions with militias who are not completely supportive of the government?

Initially when the wave of conflict erupted last month, media and ISPR reported that two militant groups were at war with each other and the death toll from both sides was being reported as “militant death toll”. TTP extended full support to LI, and AI was almost driven out of the region and increased TTP influence in the region was becoming evident. It was at this point when civilian casualties escalated and mass migration from the Tirah Valley started that the army stepped in. With General Elections only days away, it would have been catastrophic if hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of the valley had become IDPs. Additionally with Peshawar well within the range of rocket launchers the threat of TTP advancement in to the developed regions of the country had become too real. The AI-Army alliance is strategic and passing. Whether the army death toll includes the AI, or they aren’t dying at all is not certain. It is possible that the militant death include the AI, TTP, and LI, which would quite literally be true.

The new tagline for justifying drone strikes is ‘Unwilling and Unable’. The US claims that Pakistan is both, unwilling and unable to get rid of terrorists, and hence drones, are a final resort to secure their own national interest is justified. How they come up with new justifications for overstepping the boundaries and disrespecting sovereignty is fascinating. But after delegating the responsibility of keeping the terrorists out to anti-state elements, who haven’t pledged any loyalties to the region, what can we say about Pakistan’s sovereignty? Some argue that more than delegating authority the military and political establishments’ apparent absence was more about respecting the existing status quo that has been for centuries.

The expanding terrorism in the Northern areas can be solved not by drone attacks or killing the terrorists alone, rather by better law enforcement and presence of state sponsored security. The operation that Pakistan army troops are sacrificing their lives for concerns the US’ national security as well. After the drone method has proven ineffective and immoral both countries should look into alternatives. The US needs to decide: in or out? If out then they should completely rely on what the Pakistan army executes. But if they believe we are unwilling and unable then they must join in any battle against the Taliban, even if some blood will be spilt. But this would mean allowing US troops into our territory, and that is another breach of our sovereignty. And hence the dearth of solutions. As the army continues to sacrifice lives, while we acknowledge the courage it takes to execute such an operation, we must realize these lives and those of the civilians can be saved if preventive measures are taken. The upcoming government must get all local and foreign stakeholders on board and strategize better governance in the northern areas of Pakistan. The gun is only a temporary solution.

Divorcing the Taliban

By Nida Afaque
ZoneAsia-Pk

The long and short of the war in Afghanistan was to eliminate terrorists and reinstall social equality for the locals so that women can have a greater say, children can acquire education and the young Afghans can find a stable source of income. The decade long war has ripped Afghanistan limb from limb; thousands of people have died, millions have incurred lifelong crippling injuries, social security is non-existent and perpetual state of chaos has taken over the nation.

The politics of withdrawal of coalition forces has seen ups and downs. The Chicago summit underscored the sincerity of the coalition forces in exiting Afghanistan. Months prior and after the summit, NATO forces have been integrating the Afghan security forces in their daily routines. NATO agreed to carry out night raids via Afghan counterparts, stop aerial attacks on Afghan residential buildings and even basic literacy camps have been set up to educate the afghan troops. A dip in Taliban attacks was also recorded.

The past few months have witnessed resurgence in violence from the Taliban. Suicide attacks, gunfire and bombs have occurred near the bases of Coalition forces and the Afghan security forces. Western embassies have not been spared the terror either. The latest attack was at a hotel in a scenic locality of Kabul on the pretext of un-Islamic activities like alcohol consumption. Soon afterwards, a cross-border attack was launched on Pakistani check-post resulting in deaths of 8 soldiers and 17 Pakistani security armed forces personnel were
beheaded after being taken hostage.

These graphic attacks have sent strong messages to coalition forces, afghan forces and even neighboring Pakistan. Taliban have been quite stubborn in working for a peace process but they did cede to form a diplomatic office in Qatar. While coalition forces have repeatedly stressed on their determination to leave the battlefield, some like the French have promised to leave even before the set date.

Unfortunately some serious blunders have been committed by them too which has turned positive reinforcements sour and send the reconciliation process many steps behind. The burning of the Holy Quran was a major incident that brought disapproval from all over the world. Shortly afterwards, a US marine allegedly suffering from PTSD killed 17 afghan civilians. But perhaps the greatest irksome moment for the Taliban are the reports from western media that their power has been weakened.

Indeed, actions speak louder than words and these graphic images are not soon to be erased from the minds of the locals. The targets of these attacks were mainly soldiers and civilians in close proximity to these soldiers, physically and/or figuratively. It is important to realize that these attacks occurred at the same time negotiations were taking place with the coalition forces. Thereby, indicating that the 10 year war has hardened the hearts of the Taliban against foreign invaders. This could also mean that the Taliban would reassert themselves and carry out the same tribal code of ethics they followed back in their term.

Another distressing point is the attitude of the Taliban regarding aid workers and volunteers. Many foreign social workers have been kidnapped for heavy ransom which some believe funds their extremist attacks. A senior British aid worker, Khalil Dale, was even killed when the ransom was not paid. For human right activists this would signal the continuation of violations against women, children and minorities.

The Taliban also symbolize a big question mark for Pakistan’s security. The porous Pak-Afghan border will continue to remain a source of skirmishes and refuge for the militants. Some intelligence reports have claimed alliances between ISI and the afghan Taliban. Assuming that it is the truth, Pakistan’s strategy to gain the Taliban’s vote has failed. TTP, which have been marked as a terrorist group by Pakistan, has been maintaining sanctuaries in Afghanistan probably with the help of the Afghan Taliban. The latter has been terrorizing locals near the border. The TTP already idolizes the Taliban for fighting foreign forces. With a history of terrorist attacks all over Pakistan, if the afghan Taliban decide to use the TTP for their purposes, Pakistan is looking at a serious threat. The Afghan Taliban could use this to harm Pakistani forces. The Afghan Taliban have also started warming up to Indian presence, a blow to their relations with Pakistan.

After these hiccups, Pakistan has to rethink its strategy for dealing with the Taliban. It has suffered immensely from being labeled as “part of the problem”. Domestic concerns are too pressing for Pakistan to be indulging in foreign battles. It’s time to end this insecurity by completely wiping out the presence of terrorists in Pakistan. Non-interventionists would recommend a strategy of negotiation. But the peace deal with the Taliban in Swat has proved how unreliable such accords can be.

The strategy of differentiating between the “good” terrorist and the “bad” terrorist can no longer continue. Discriminatory ethnic and religious movements be those of the Sipah-e-Sahaba or the Lashkar-e-Taiba will all have to end. For such a mass scale operation, foreign powers will be willing to help Pakistan achieve their common goal of regional and global peace. Furthermore, a new holistic strategy to be applicable after the operation has to be formulated, one that encompasses the presence and activities of these groups.

Such an aggressive strategy of uprooting the terrorist elements will also prove dangerous for the country’s politicians, armed forces and other law enforcement personell as always innocent civilians. It will invariably clamp down the nations’ freedom of speech and right to privacy but then nothing comes for free. Sadly, Pakistan has reached a point where a return to normalcy will cost them dearly but a radical operation like this can give it the chance to reestablish the writ of the state and get rid of the boulder blocking its economic and social prosperity.

Pres Zardari oped in Sunday’s Washington Post

By Asif Ali Zardari
Washington Post

Just days before her assassination, my wife, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, wrote presciently of the war within Islam and the potential for a clash between Islam and the West: “There is an internal tension within Muslim society. The failure to resolve that tension peacefully and rationally threatens to degenerate into a collision course of values spilling into a clash between Islam and the West. It is finding a solution to this internal debate within Islam – about democracy, about human rights, about the role of women in society, about respect for other religions and cultures, about technology and modernity – that shall shape future relations between Islam and the West.”

Two months ago my friend Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was cut down for standing up against religious intolerance and against those who would use debate about our laws to divide our people. On Tuesday, another leading member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minority affairs and the only Christian in our cabinet, was murdered by extremists tied to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

These assassinations painfully reinforce my wife’s words and serve as a warning that the battle between extremism and moderation in Pakistan affects the success of the civilized world’s confrontation with the terrorist menace.

A small but increasingly belligerent minority is intent on undoing the very principles of tolerance upon which our nation was founded in 1947; principles by which Pakistan’s founder, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, lived and died; and principles that are repeated over and over in the Koran. The extremists who murdered my wife and friends are the same who blew up the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad and who have blown up girls’ schools in the Swat Valley.

We will not be intimidated, nor will we retreat. Such acts will not deter the government from our calibrated and consistent efforts to eliminate extremism and terrorism. It is not only the future of Pakistan that is at stake but peace in our region and possibly the world.

Our nation is pressed by overlapping threats. We have lost more soldiers in the war against terrorism than all of NATO combined. We have lost 10 times the number of civilians who died on Sept. 11, 2001. Two thousand police officers have been killed. Our economic growth was stifled by the priorities of past dictatorial regimes that unfortunately were supported by the West. The worst floods in our history put millions out of their homes. The religious fanaticism behind our assassinations is a tinderbox poised to explode across Pakistan. The embers are fanned by the opportunism of those who seek advantages in domestic politics by violently polarizing society.

We in Pakistan know our challenges and seek the trust and confidence of our international allies, who sometimes lose patience and pile pressure on those of us who are already on the front lines of what is undeniably a long war. Our concern that we avoid steps that inadvertently help the fanatics is misinterpreted abroad as inaction or even cowardice. Instead of understanding the perilous situation in which we find ourselves, some well-meaning critics tend to forget the distinction between courage and foolhardiness. We are fighting terrorists for the soul of Pakistan and have paid a heavy price. Our desire to confront and deal with the menace in a manner that is effective in our context should not become the basis for questioning our commitment or ignoring our sacrifices.

If Pakistan and the United States are to work together against terrorism, we must avoid political incidents that could further inflame tensions and provide extremists or opportunists with a pretext for destabilizing our fledgling democracy. The Raymond Davis incident in Lahore, which directly resulted in the deaths of three Pakistani men and the suicide of a Pakistani woman, is a prime example of the unanticipated consequences of problematic behavior. We need not go into the legal, moral and political intricacies of this case. Suffice it to say that the actions of Davis and others like him inflame passions in our country and undermine respect and support for the United States among our people. We are committed to peaceful adjudication of the Davis case in accordance with the law. But it is in no one’s interest to allow this matter to be manipulated and exploited to weaken the government of Pakistan and damage further the U.S. image in our country.

Similarly counterproductive are threats to apply sanctions to Pakistan over the Davis affair by cutting off Kerry-Lugar development funds that were designed to build infrastructure, strengthen education and create jobs. It is a threat, written out of the playbook of America’s enemies, whose only result will be to undermine U.S. strategic interests in South and Central Asia. In an incendiary environment, hot rhetoric and dysfunctional warnings can start fires that will be difficult to extinguish.

The writer is president of Pakistan.

Zardari in Karachi: ‘This is an ideological war’

By Hafeez Tunio

Condemning murder of federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday that the killing was a manifestation of the continuity of the same ‘mindset’ which had assassinated Pakistan Peoples Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

President promises to elect one of murdered minister’s family members on his post

Addressing legislators of the Sindh Assembly at Bilawal House, he said that terrorists wanted to ‘defame’ Pakistan by committing such crimes and wrongly portray Pakistan as an ‘intolerant’ country. “But we will continue Shahbaz Bhatti’s mission by electing one of his family members on his seat,” he said.

The meeting was initially called to review progress made by PPP MPAs, but later it was converted into a condolence meeting.

The president said that they were ready to render sacrifices to save the country and would not surrender before terrorists. “This is an ideological war. We should try to develop a soft image of Pakistan,” he said.

Sources privy to the meeting said that the president directed MPAs who had severely criticised the Sharif brothers during a Sindh Assembly session a few days ago to ‘avoid’ what he termed ‘unparliamentary’ attitude.

During the 30-minute speech, the president talked about Bhatti, the party’s reconciliation policy and terrorism, besides briefing about his visits to Japan and the US.

Sources said that the president said that although Nawaz League had backtracked in Punjab, the PPP was still adhering to its reconciliation policy.

Former adviser Sharmila Farooqui briefed reporters about the meeting.

Earlier, President Zardari telephoned Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain. Sources said that both sides discussed petrol prices. The president assured the MQM leader that their concerns would be addressed. An MQM delegation is also likely to meet the federal finance minister.

Kashmir: A dangerous nuclear flashpoint

By Brig Asif Haroon Raja

Sixty three years have lapsed but Kashmir dispute remains unresolved. During this period, besides several military standoffs, two full fledged Indo-Pak wars and two localised conflictsin April 1965 and in summer of 1999 took place on account of Kashmir issue. India has been defying UN Resolutions on Kashmir and playing monkey tricks all these years to avoid resolving the dispute. Indian security forces have kept the people of Kashmir suppressed through use of brute force and has hid its gross human rights abuses under the cover of blatant lies and deceit. Today Kashmir has turned into a dangerous nuclear flashpoint.

The peace loving and docile Kashmiris patiently waited for 43 long years in the hope that India would fulfil its solemn commitment and hold a fair plebiscite but when they found that India will never give them their just right, they ultimately decided to pick up arms and push out Indian Security Forces (ISF) illegally occupying their land since 1947. Armed uprising in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) in end 1988 added fuel to fire to militancy in Pakistan, which had intensified during the eight-year Afghan Jihad.

Tens of die-hard Jihadi groups cropped up to assist the Kashmiri struggle. Large amount of funds were collected for the cause of Kashmir. The people of Pakistan who have always regarded IOK as part of Pakistan and an unfinished agenda of partition left behind by scheming British were deeply pained over the atrocities committed by ISF upon hapless Kashmiris. The ISF had been given a licence to kill and to use rape as a weapon to break the will of freedom fighters. The world took no notice of worst human rights abuses by ISF nor made any effort to find a political solution on the basis of UN Resolutions.

The US which had drawn closer to India after 1990 started changing its stance by undervaluing UN Resolutions and terming them as outdated. Israel which had also forged special ties with India imparted training to Black Cats Commandoes of India in specialised counter insurgency operations and taught them new methods of torturing detainees so as to break the back of movement. Indo-Israel propaganda machinery supplemented by western media started projecting Kashmiri freedom fighters as terrorists and Pakistan as an abettor of terrorism. Full throttle was given to the theme of cross border terrorism. Efforts were geared to get Pakistan branded as a terrorist state.

The religious right in Pakistan sympathised with Kashmir cause and took out rallies in their support and also took practical steps to alleviate their sufferings by providing financial and material assistance. The general public filled up money boxes placed in front of each mosque wholeheartedly. The seculars particularly the liberal elite by and large took least interest in the plight of Kashmiris. Rather, they subscribed to Indo-western propaganda and pressed the government to rein in Jihadists to appease India.

Reign of terror unleashed in IOK by over 700,000 ISF, Indian intelligence agencies and Hindu extremist groups have turned the vale of Kashmir into hell. The whole valley is drenched in human blood but the conscience of the international comity is dead. Shrieks and cries of ill-fated Kashmiri men, women and children get drowned under the din of gunfire, one-sided propaganda and patronage of USA and civilised west. Instead of cautioning India to restrain from human rights abuses, the entire pressure was exerted on Pakistan and held solely responsible for worsening security situation in IOK. Despite use of excessive force and worst form of torture, the flame of liberty lit by handful of Kashmiri fighters kept burning vigorously. No amount of brutality could weaken their resolve to keep fighting till the accomplishment of their due right of self determination as provided for in UN Resolutions.

Indian inhuman cruelty alienated the Kashmiris and their hatred for India touched new heights. Except for insignificant number of Indian toadies enjoying fruits of power at the cost of enslavement of five million Kashmiris, each and every Kashmiri yearns to get rid of India. Having seen the ugly face of India and miserable plight of Indian Muslims, they have lost all trust in duplicitous Indian leaders. Conversely, their love for Pakistan is growing by leaps and bounds. They want to be part of Muslim Pakistan and not of Hindu India where Muslims are treated as second rated citizens. They know that secularism in India is a big farce since Hindu extremist forces are far more powerful than Hindu secularists who are too weak to question them.

Takeover of power by Gen Musharraf in October 1999 brought smiles on the faces of depressed seculars particularly when he came out with his concept of enlightened moderation. The fortunes of Kashmiri resistance forces that were giving a real tough time to 700,000 ISF as well as Jihadi forces in Pakistan plummeted in the aftermath of 9/11. New laws framed by USA on terrorism changed the complexion of freedom movements within Muslim world overnight and freedom fighters were branded as terrorists. This rule was applied in IOK as well which impelled India to apply full pressure on Musharraf to change its policy on Kashmir.

Ten month military standoff in 2002 followed by the US pressure forced him to ban six Kashmir oriented Jihadi groups and to freeze their accounts. Besides allowing India to fence the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, he took stringent measures to control cross LoC movement and also started hounding extremists. He also took on board moderate leaders of All Parties Hurriat Conference promising them an out of box solution to the dispute falling outside the ambit of UN Resolutions. These measures favoured India but went against the interest of Pakistan and resultantly rolled back the momentum of liberation movement. Indian military hastened to claim that it had succeeded in crushing insurgency in Kashmir. Pakistan thus lost the lone card of Kashmir which it could play against India which held several cards.

As a consequent to blocking Jihadi groups from assisting Kashmiris, these groups in revenge joined hands with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and TNSM and started fighting Pak security forces, thus compounding Pakistan’s security problems. These groups facilitated TTP in launching suicide and group attacks within cities. Kashmiris saved the day for Pakistan when they bounced back in the valley in 2008 in the form of violent strikes and protest marches which flabbergasted India. Mumbai attacks were hastily engineered in November 2008 to distract the attention of the world from Kashmir, to put off Indo-Pak composite dialogue which was in advanced stages and to exert pressure on Pakistan to stay away from Kashmir.

Kashmiri movement took a new turn in 2010 when the teenagers with stones in their fists came in the forefront and kept raising anti-India and ‘freedom from India’ slogans despite being ruthlessly killed and tortured by ISF. Unarmed movement of tender age boys captured the attention of the world and for the fist time India found itself short of lame excuses. It could not possibly dub unarmed small boys as young as 8-15 years as terrorists. Nor could it justify its brutal actions against them. Apart from many in western countries, several intellectuals and human rights activists within India have started to sympathize with Kashmiris and are condemning ISF brutalities. Arundhati Roy has taken the lead and has not minced her words in saying that Kashmir is not part of India as claimed by Brahman Indian leaders and that justice should be meted to the people of Kashmir.

In a seminar recently organized in British Parliament, the parliamentarians lent unflinching support to the right of self determination of Kashmiris and have stressed upon their government to use its good offices to solve this chronic dispute. They also called upon India to withdraw its forces from IOK and to facilitate granting right of self determination to Kashmiris. Black day was organized by Kashmiris on both sides of the divide on 27 January and also in Pakistan and other parts of the world reminding India to prevent its forces from massacring innocent Kashmiris and to grant right of self determination to Kashmiris. Rumbling within India for a solution is getting louder.

Indian leadership will never risk holding a plebiscite since it knows that the result would be to its disfavor. It will keep dragging its feet until it is forced to give up its obduracy. The US must play its role to solve this dispute to avoid a nuclear holocaust in the future.

Indian Generals Steal From Their Own Dead Soldiers

Apartments built for widows of Kargil War martyrs allotted to living Generals | Former Indian Army Chiefs, Navy Chief, amongst the beneficiaries of the buildings built for the war widows | Indian Generals blackmailed Society management to get apartments allotted | Army, Navy knew about the scam but remained mum after getting share | CBI probes how prime Defence land was illegally sold for commercial purposes

From Christina Palmer and Ajay Mehta

NEW DELHI - While the Indians are still licking the wounds of the Kargil fiasco, the Indian Army leadership is engulfed by yet another corruption scam with Generals greasing their palms with the blood of the Kargil martyrs of the Indian Army, reveal the latest findings of The Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail’s investigations show that authorities concerned here in India are investigating as to how the Adarsh Society in upscale Colaba, Mumbai, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil War heroes and widows, got converted into a 31-storey luxurious building.

These findings further indicate that the highrise is built on 6,450 sq metres within the Colaba naval area and was cleared on the condition of housing war veterans but now has 104 members including senior army commanders, a former environment minister, legislators and state bureaucrats.

A letter, addressed to the then Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor by former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, approves the membership of Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society Ltd

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that instead of allotting the apartments to the widows of Kargil martyrs, the top leadership of the Indian Army, including former Army Chief, General Deepak Kapoor, former Army ChieF General N.C. Vij and former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Madhavendra Singh etc, with the criminal connivance of the management of the Adarsh Society managed to get their share of apartments; otherwise built to accommodate the widows and families of those who were killed during the Kargil War with Pakistan.

The Daily Mail’s investigations further reveal that the scam-hit upscale Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society was also under a CBI probe on how it got prime Defence land here, but the Society claimed the land belonged to the Maharashtra government.

Facsimile of the warning letter sent to Indian Navy authorities warning about housing scam.

Against the backdrop of the Adarsh controversy, Defence Minister A.K. Antony met Congress President, Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, was also present at the meeting.

The Daily Mail’s findings also show that Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan’s link to the Society has also caused some unease in the Congress, with the name of his late mother-in-law, Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma, figuring in the list of its members. Chavan was not available for comment but he has sought information on the controversy.

The controversy has erupted at a time when the issue is becoming an embarrassment for the party, which is leading the coalition gov ernment in Maharashtra. Antony has already said the government was “seriously examining” the issue.

The Daily Mail’s investigations also shed more light which shows that the Society in the posh Colaba area, on its part claimed that the land where its 31-storied building stands, belongs to the Maharashtra Government and has “nothing to do with the Defence department” while the CBI said it has set a one-week deadline for the Society to provide relevant documents failing which the agency would proceed with the investigation in accordance with the law of the land.

These investigations also elaborate that the Housing Society, built on prime Defence land, has been constructed in an alleged violation of rules. The Environment Ministry of India washed its hands of alleged irregularities in the Adarsh Society and sought to blame the Maharashtra Government for violation of coastal regulation zones.

In a bid to make it clear that it never gave a green nod to the Society, the Ministry in a statement issued in New Delhi, referred to the details of the communication undertaken way back in 2003 with the Maharasthra Urban Development Department, which had sought queries on clearances.

The Daily Mail’s investigations even go deeper pointing out that the CBI was also investigating how the beneficiaries, including former services chiefs, politicians and bureaucrats, raised money to buy apartments meant for the Kargil War heroes and their families in the posh Colaba area in South Mumbai. The agency, which had begun its probe, has sought documents relating to the Society.

These investigations also establish that former Indian Army Vice Chief, Lt. Gen. Shantanu Chowdhary, former Union Minister and Shiv Sena MP, Suresh Prabhu, are among those who have been alloted flats in the 31-storey building.

“We had sought all documents pertaining to the Society from the city collector, the Society’s general secretary and authorities of the Indian Navy and Army in early October,” a senior CBI official said, when contacted by The Daily Mail.

“While we have received around a 4,000-page document from the collector’s office, there has been no response from the other concerned agencies,” the official remarked.

The Daily Mail’s findings even prove that the CBI, which has been unofficially conducting a probe into the scam, is trying to procure details of R.C. Thakur, a military sub-divisional estate officer in the Colaba division. in the year 2000. Thakur allegedly managed to influence senior officials of the armed forces to incorporate them into the Housing Society and allot them houses.

The CBI, which believes that Thakur holds the key to unearthing details of the scam, will try to probe the extent of the fraud in terms of money and how Thakur may have gained by way of commission, from those allotted flats in the Society.

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that in 1999-2000, when the Society came up with an application, Thakur was merely a sub-divisional officer and later went on to retire as an Assistant Defence Estate Officer of the Indian Army.

This has left CBI officials wondering how a junior officer was able to interact with officials of the highest rank in the hierarchy-conscious armed forces of India.

“It seems incredible that an official of his stature would have pulled off a scam of this level single-handedly. We even believe that Thakur could just be a front man for big fish in the armed forces or from the state,” said a CBI official.

Though the CBI is yet to be officially told to investigate the scam, it conducted preliminary inquiries and collected information, after it became known that Defence land had been converted, to develop the plot into a housing society.

Since there has been no official direction from the Government of India and it is yet to be cleared whether the land is Defence land, CBI officials have been treading cautiously.

“If it is reasonably proven that it was Defence land, we can probe every aspect of the land deal. But if proved otherwise, then the CBI can only investigate the acts and omissions of officials of the armed forces,” a CBI official named Kapoor, said.

“As of now, it is reasonably proved that the Khukri Eco Park, which was maintained and developed by the Army in 1996, was later made a part of the development of the Society.

The Army protected the park. Now we have to investigate thoroughly to know how the land was converted into a general plot from Defence land. We have also been told that the park land was demanded by the armed forces in lieu of land given up by the armed forces at Santa Cruz,” the CBI official added.

The Daily Mail’s investigations further disclose that the Indian Navy and Indian Army were told about the scam, but the leadership at both the Defence establishments of India remained mum on the issue, after the Naval Chief and Army Chiefs were blessed. Simpreet Singh (30), one of the whistle-blowers of the Adarsh Housing Society scam, has said that advance warnings issued by him to try and avert the scandal were ignored by the naval command. However, yesterday, the Navy took a virtual U-turn on the issue by admitting that the building was illegal.

The Daily Mail’s investigations also indicate that in 2008, Singh had sent letters to Naval authorities, stating that the building was a security threat given its sensitive location. He says that his words of caution fell on deaf ears as senior officials from the Navy claimed that the apartments had nothing to do with the Naval command.

“When I went through the documents I procured under the Right to Information (RTI)Act in 2007, I learnt about the magnitude of the scam and decided to bring it to the notice of the concerned authorities. I was hoping that they would take immediate action but my pleas were ignored,” said Singh.

He added that the same letters were sent to the Urban Development and State Environment ministries. They highlighted that the Adarsh building was being constructed violating various norms, including the coastal zone regulation, and could be a high security threat because of the vulnerability of its location, yet no action was taken.

The letter states that the complaint categorically mentioned that “Illegal action of the Navy, to accord favours to powerful private persons, by permitting private high-rise construction in Navy Nagar. Request you to stop construction of the building of Adarsh on the lines done for the small naval establishment INS Trata in Worli.”

A letter to Singh by S.H. Subramanian, Commodore, Command Works Officer, stated, that “The plot on which the 30-storey tower (Adarsh Society) is slated to come up is next to Backbay Bus Depot and is not under the Navy’s control. No NOC has been sought from or accorded by the Navy. “Had they (government agencies) acted on our information, the Adarsh building scam could have been averted,” claimed Singh.

The Daily Mail’s investigations go on to throw more light on the matter, revealing that the Indian Army had pointed out in 2005 that the Adarsh building could be a security concern and had even written a letter to the then City Collector. But, the moment Army Generals, Deepak Kapoor, and N.C. Vij, were enrolled in the list of members of Adarsh Society, even the army remained mum, a fact that proves how the Indian Army Generals blackmailed the Adarsh Society management to get their pie in the scam

IPS officer-turned-lawyer, Y.P. Singh, upon being contacted said: “The Navy is displaying double standards. It kept on protecting Adarsh illegally until a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed on March 21 this year. It then took an about turn, changed its stand and admitted that the Adarsh building was indeed a security threat.”

The Daily Mail’s investigations further establish that the applications of former Army Chief of Staff, General Deepak Kapoor and General N C Vij, initially rejected for the membership of the Society, had been approved by former Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh. The Army officials’ names are among the nine Defence personnel applicants, who were initially rejected the Society’s membership.

The former CM, Deshmukh, when contacted, however said that he did approve the “Letter of Intent (LoI)” of the 20 people, who wanted to become members of the Society but that he did so only after Ashok Chavan, the then state Revenue Minister, allegedly made a recommendation. “The list had come for my approval only for counter signature and you do it in good faith,” he said.

These findings further indicate that Adarsh Society had received 94 applications by 2008, of which the state government approved 80. The remaining 14, including nine nominations of Defence officials, and five others, were cancelled and sent for clearance to Mantralaya.

12 killed in Orakzai, Mohmand clashes

Tariq Saeed

Peshawar - As the clashes between the insurgents and the security forces continued in the Pakistani volatile tribal belt, a dozen more militants were killed and many others sustained wound on Tuesday in Orakzai and Mohmand agencies. However, the skirmishes also resulted in martyrdom of a man in uniform while two others wounded seriously.

On the other hand the security forces Tuesday claimed to have cleared almost 90 percent area of the Orakzai Agency from terrorists, saying over 600 terrorists were killed and more than 67 security men martyred in the operation. The restive Orakzai Agency which has been in the grip of worst kind of violence for the last couple of weeks, as the reports reaching here said, continued to bleed on Tuesday and a soldier was killed and two others sustained serious injuries when the security forces convoy was ambushed by the miscreants who resorted to indiscriminate firing at Saanda area in Lower Orakzai Agency in the morning. The retaliatory fire by the security forces, according to official sources, eventually left at least six alleged terrorists dead and many others wounded.

Only a day earlier, it may be recalled a road side explosion in Kalaat area of Orakzai Agency had resulted in killing of as many as three people and wounding equal number of others while militants assault on the security forces convoy in Yakh Kandao area in Upper Orakzai Agency last week resulted in martyrdom of a serving colonel of the Pak army and five soldiers.

In the meanwhile, the forces Tuesday struck hard on the militant’s positions in Mohmand Agency Tuesday morning leaving around six militants dead. The forces as the reports said, heavily shelled the alleged terrorist’s hide outs in Kareer area of Tehsil Saafi in Mohmand Agency and destroyed a militant’s den as six trouble makers were gunned down and equal number of others received injuries. In Swat the security forces foiled an attempt of the militants to destroy a government school in Koza Bandai. The school building sustained partial damages. The forces soon after the incident launched massive search operation in the hub of Taliban Imam Dheri and Koza Bandai.

The security forces Tuesday said 90 percent area of the Orakzai Agency was cleared from the terrorists as the operation left over 600 terrorists dead and more than 67 security men martyred in action against the militants.

Briefing media men the Inspector General Frontier Corps (FC) Nadir Zeb said a limited operation was still underway against the terrorists in Upper Orakzai Agency area of Mamozai adding the operation would continue till the time the trouble makers were flushed from the region. He admitted that during the surgery in Orakzai at least 67 personnel of the security forces embraced martyrdom were razed down which were being restored in shelters.

To a query he said clues were found regarding Al-Qaeda presence in Orakzai; however, most of their operatives have been killed or fled the region. He further claimed that the terror activities in the country were planned also in Orakzai Agency but most of the plots were foiled by the security forces well in time. Likewise, he said, as many as 654 terrorists were killed and 250 others injured in the operation adding at least 32000 families were forced to leave their houses.

Crunch time in Kashmir

By Irfan Husain

Slowly, ever so slowly, the ongoing crisis in Kashmir is seeping into the world’s consciousness.

Indian police and paramilitary soldiers watch Kashmiri Muslim protesters from a distance during a protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Sept. 3, 2010. Indian police fired tear gas shells Friday to disperse protesters. – Photo by AP.

For years, this unfolding tragedy was explained away through Indian charges of Pakistani involvement in the freedom movement. Much of this was true, as official and unofficial players supported an armed insurgency. But what is happening now in the Valley has nothing to do with cross-border incursions by jihadi militants.

The ongoing protest movement is spearheaded by teenagers armed with nothing except stones and the strength of their convictions. The only shots that have been fired have been by Indian security forces who have caused scores of deaths and injuries among these unarmed protesters. The problem for an uncaring Indian government is that this movement shows no signs of flagging.

If these protests have placed New Delhi in a quandary, they have also marginalised Islamabad. Suddenly, shadowy spooks and Islamic militant groups in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir find themselves sidelined by an amorphous, popular uprising that has no time for home-grown or Pakistani terrorists.

In a recent article (London Review of Books, July 22), Tariq Ali wrote: “Now a new generation of Kashmiri youth is on the march. They fight, like the young Palestinians, with stones. Many have lost their fear of death and will not surrender. Ignored by politicians at home, abandoned by Pakistan, they are developing the independence of spirit that comes with isolation and it will not easily be quelled. It’s unlikely, however, that the prime minister of India and his colleagues will pay any attention to them….”

The Palestinian analogy is apt. There, young stone-throwing protesters have forced their struggle on to the international agenda, as the latest American effort to promote a settlement of the dispute gets under way in Washington. However, the difference lies in how these two conflicts are viewed by the world: the death of a Palestinian protester makes headlines, while several Kashmiris can be killed without any media attention.

Why this difference in how the global media covers these two freedom movements? One reason lies in the fact that while Palestine is viewed as Israeli-occupied territory, Kashmir is considered an integral part of India. Another factor is that India is seen as a reasonable, humane country. As home to Mahatma Gandhi, most people in the West have been influenced by India’s hugely successful projection of its soft power. So much so that people are often blind to its use of hard power.

New Delhi’s crude attempts to crush the movement have resulted in thousands of deaths over the last two decades. An Indian reader recently asked me how the government should deal with the uprising. I suggested that it needs to talk with Kashmiri leaders, and not just lock them up or shoot them. The problem is that the Indian establishment views the ongoing protests as a security issue, not a political one. Indians often see protesters as traitors, and treat them as such.

However, the situation has changed with Pakistan’s virtual absence from the equation. For years, India had accused Islamabad – often with justification – of trying to force a change in the status quo by force. This no longer holds true. Now, even the most rabid Indian nationalist concedes the indigenous nature of the movement.

So what are the options open to the Indian government? The truth is that there is little sympathy in India for the Kashmiri protesters. Left and liberal forces are largely silent on the issue. They may feel uncomfortable over the use of lethal force against unarmed teenagers, but do not really want to confront the core issue of azadi, or freedom, the Kashmiris are demanding.

To be sure, India is not going to give an inch on the question of Kashmiri independence. Over the last 60 years, the Indian position has hardened to the point of becoming a central plank in its national consensus. No Indian politician is prepared to make any concessions. So does this mean an endless use of force to crush a popular, largely peaceful movement? The Economist sees a glimmer of hope. In its Banyan column, the UK weekly says:

“Eventually, however, India may have to contemplate a political solution, for two reasons. One is that small cracks are already appearing in the national consensus behind its repressive policies. So long as it was fighting Pakistan, even liberal Indian opinion seemed ready to tolerate a heavy hand in Kashmir. Less so now that its troops are killing children armed only with stones. Secondly, without change, the cycle of protests will resume.…”

Given India’s refusal to countenance any changes to the political frontiers of Kashmir, and the popular demand for azadi, how can these extreme positions be bridged? Thus far, little attempt has been made to improve life for the impoverished people of the Valley. Civil unrest and two decades of terrorism have kept tourists away. There is an acute and chronic power shortage in the disputed territory that generates a lot of hydro-electric power, most of which is taken elsewhere. Very little private investment comes to the troubled Valley. Unemployment is rife.

Under these conditions, nobody should be surprised that young people have risen in revolt. But even more than economic factors, it is the oppressive presence of over half a million security personnel in the disputed territory that infuriates Kashmiris. Indian officials point out that most of their soldiers are deployed along the Line of Control to counter the Pakistani military presence there.

All the greater need, then, to talk to Pakistan and sort out outstanding border issues, and discuss autonomy issues with Kashmiri leaders. In the original agreements between Britain, India and Pakistan, states at the time of independence only had the option of joining India or Pakistan. But after years of indifference, downright neglect, and repression, Kashmiri attitudes have hardened, too. Now, it seems that the young protesters want nothing to do with either India or Pakistan.

However, in the real world, we seldom get exactly what we want. If India wants to resolve this intractable issue, just wishing it will go away on its own is no longer an option.

irfan.husain@gmail.com

Kashmir shoot on sight-BBC Urdu Video-July, 2010

YouTube

Six killed, 73 njured as police open fire in Srinagar

1 AUG 2010 : 5 Gunned Down at Pampore including 15 year old girl, Kashmir on Boil

5 Gunned Down at Pampore including 15 year old girl, Kashmir on Boil

General Kayani: The Party Pooper

Dan Qayyum

The stage had been set for another round of the cordial, cosmetic but utterly pointless exercise at the behest of Washington as the US and NATO try and control the India-Pakistan proxy war on Afghan soil and convince Pakistan to shift its focus to the Western border. A lot of groundwork had been done to project the gradual normalization of relations between India and Pakistan in the run-up to the foreign minister-level talks.

However, India’s Home Minister GK Pillai’s direct allegation on the eve of the talks that Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) was ‘literally controlling and coordinating it (the Mumbai attacks) from the beginning till the end’ – had doomed the latest round of talks even before they commenced.

Pillai Unleashed

The latest outburst by Pillai – who had also recently blamed the unrest in occupied Kashmir on the ISI while absolving the trigger-happy Indian security forces of any blame – was part of a calculated attempt to undermine and pressure the ISI as the rift between it and the CIA continues to grow over Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s ‘democratically elected’ leaders, implanted at Washington and London’s behest, had been all set to play their part in this malarkey as they have done in the past, most noticeably when they attempted (and failed) to clip the ISI’s wings by pushing it under Rehman Malik’s interior ministry in the early days of Zardari’s government.

SM Krishna and Shah Mehmood Qureshi appeared quite relaxed and happy when they broke for lunch around 1300 hrs (Pakistan Standard Time) after the first round of talks. After having painstakingly worked out numerous CBM agreements and cosmetic gestures during Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s visit to Islamabad last month, both Foreign Ministers were set to announce these agreements. A draft joint-statement was also ready in which the Pakistani side had appeared to give more concessions than they got in return – namely more promises to reign in JuD and Hafiz Saeed yet no word of protest on the Indian attempts to implicate the ISI in terrorism or to include Kashmir in talks.

This is when Kayani was forced to step into the picture and hold separate meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, making it absolutely clear on the two that Pakistan will not let itself be bullied, and there will be no further talks unless the following issues were included in discussion:

1. India’s human rights abuses in Kashmir
2. India’s covert support to TTP terrorists and Baloch separatists
3. India’s continued attempts to point the finger at Pakistan’s military establishment, as evident by Pillai’s statement

Krishna’s schedule was to leave at 3.20 pm and reach Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s office to meet him at 3.30 pm. The call on President Asif Ali Zardari was to follow at 5.30 pm at the Presidential palace.

Just 15 minutes prior to his departure, Krishna was informed that the order has been reversed and the call on Zardari will precede.

In the time slot Krishna was to meet Gilani, Kayani met the Prime Minister after having met with Zardari earlier.

According to the official release issued after Kayani’s meetings with Pakistan’s political leadership, the army chief discussed the security situation in the country and operational matters of the army.

However, when the talks resumed after Krishna’s two call-ons, the atmosphere totally changed.

Qureshi’s Switch

The tone and tenor of Qureshi changed at the third and final rounds of the marathon talks. He is said to have demanded on the time frame for settlement of various issues, as well as a resumption of the composite dialogue on Kashmir. He also raised the issue of India’s covert support to terrorists in Pakistan and the role its consulates in Afghanistan are playing in arming and training terrorists from the TTP and various Baloch separatist groups. Finally, Pakistan responded to India’s requests of blocking Hafiz Saeed’s right to speak publicly by telling the Indian contingent to put a leash on India’s official state actors such as Pillai and stop them from making statements that can only further strain the relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

India Caught with its Pants Down

To say that the sudden shift caught the Indian contingent as well as the country’s media and analyst’s off-guard would be an understatement. Heads were scratched and editorials were hurriedly scribbled trying to decipher what prompted the sudden change in Pakistan’s stance, from being apologetic in recent months to the new ‘take it or leave it’ posture which sent alarm bells ringing not just in Delhi but as far as Washington and Langley.

In Qureshi’s defense, he went far and above the call of duty and warned India not to expect him to come over to India for the next round of talks unless India was prepared to actually discuss all unresolved issues including Kashmir, and not use Mumbai as a stalling tactic which it has done successfully for the last couple of years.

With the endgame for US being spelt out in the mountains of Afghanistan, this is the latest signal in the gradual shift of power in the region – one where Pakistan can and will dictate terms as per its own national interest – even if it takes an Army chief to hold the US-backed puppet government to task to protect the national interest, just as when Kayani forced the reversal of the order that would have put the ISI under Rehman Malik’s control almost exactly 2 years ago.

Dan Qayyum is an Afghanistan and India analyst for PakistanKaKhudaHafiz.com, Pakistan’s leading online alternative news website, as well as for the defense and security publication Fortress Magazine, published out of Karachi, Pakistan.

Krishna should visit Srinagar instead

By Jawed Naqvi

In our world of mealy-mouthed morality, diplomatic subterfuge and spurious ideological grandstanding go together. A Sinhalese minister is applauded for going on a Gandhi-like fast to stop a UN team from probing the alleged massacre of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan troops.

If Mr Krishna doesn’t trust the angry petitions filed by fellow Indians to his government, then he might consider visiting Srinagar on a fact-finding tour before embarking on a globally watched trip to Islamabad. – Photo by AP.

A peace flotilla is attacked by Israeli commandos and the blame is put on its unarmed occupants who are not only killed but are painted by the global media as agent provocateurs. A gaggle of schoolchildren are slaughtered in Kashmir by paramilitary forces roaming their homeland and get described as cohorts of Pakistani terrorists. Champions of peaceful struggles please note.

Closer to our purposes, a front-page blurb about this week’s visit to Islamabad by Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna requires urgent attention. After declaring that India and Pakistan were set to resume their “dialogue process” on Thursday, The Sunday Express clarified that Mr Krishna’s talks with Pakistan’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi would “start on a bunch of issues barring Kashmir (and) Siachen”. It said the Indian government had briefed its parliament panel on the matter.

With the Kashmir Valley in turmoil as seldom seen before, could there be anything more ostrich-like than to hold any talks that, as implied by the Express report, would at best describe the water when people are drowning in it? Citing the foreign secretary’s briefing to the parliament panel (headed incidentally by a BJP hawk) the Express listed proposals ranging from a commerce secretary-level meeting to cross-LOC trade with issues such as Sir Creek, culture and water resources thrown in for good effect. Mercifully the two guilty parties would also cover (and hopefully resolve) the nasty matter of innocent visa transgressors and fishermen who so often rot in their jails.

The good news is that India has not blamed Pakistan for the mess in the Valley although it has accused groups like Jamaatud Dawa for fomenting violence. On the other hand private opinion-makers have claimed that Islamabad was generating the unrest so as to mount pressure on New Delhi to come prepared to Islamabad to discuss the Kashmir dispute. Nothing is more nauseating and cynical than states and governments, be it India or Pakistan, inciting violence to get even with their rivals, all the more so if it leads to the unconscionable death of schoolgoing children.

There is of course the hope that given their strategic nature the issues of Kashmir and Siachen are taken up at a higher level, possibly in the so-called shepherding the interlocutors along. If this is to be the case the fact that the talks are or will be under way needs to be shared with the people on both sides, not the least with the Kashmiris so that they are sanguine that a serious initiative is on to address the cause of their suffering.

While India and Pakistan engage in diplomatic jostling to appear better than they are to the rest of the worried world, they go on tormenting Kashmir to score points in what can be described as their domestic league matches. The young chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir is quite possibly the most articulate politician of his generation albeit on the wrong side of the ideological fence. He has been made to eat crow by his rivals in the valley and worse by his allies in Delhi.

Omar Abdullah first helplessly watched the Central Reserve Police Force (whose training unlike the Border Security Force is not to shoot to kill) firing recklessly at crowds and then he called in the army whose job is to use maximum force with no hesitation whatsoever to kill. That the army has succeeded in curbing the angry crowds without further bloodletting so far is a tribute to the state terror reigning in its most naked form in Kashmir. Sweeping press censorship is one of its conduits.

And yet in an essential way India has an indomitably humane spirit which soars far above than the shenanigans of the small-hearted men and women who rule it. In a spontaneous burgeoning that engaged ideologues from virtually every political and intellectual corner there have come up a spate of strongly worded missives to the government, to relevant UN rapporteurs and human rights bodies asking them to stop the blood-letting in Kashmir forthwith and to resolve the issues that have alienated its people beyond the ken of easy remedies.

One of the petitions involving Indian signatories and others called upon the UN, “which has a long association with the Kashmir issue”, to press the Indian government to:”End its militarised governance of Kashmir, and withdraw army from populated areas; Revoke the draconian Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), which gives Indian troops immunity from civil legal action and promotes HR violations; End oppression of Kashmiri people, release political prisoners and young boys from jails, and lift the overwhelming security apparatus from Kashmir; Initiate meaningful plans to democratically resolve the issue, and include Kashmiris as the primary party to such a process.”

A separate petition to the Indian government, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, the National Human Rights Commission and others pressed them to: “Take steps to put an immediate end to the violence perpetrated by the security forces during the last three weeks; Refrain from attacking civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and ambulances; Ensure that the security forces respect the principle of proportionality in framing and executing their objectives while responding to the civilian protests; Initiate independent and impartial investigations into the killings of peaceful protesters, several of whom were children; Initiate inquiry into instances of attacks on ambulance services; Ensure that the inquiry is conducted in a time-bound manner and the report of the inquiry is made public; Initiate legal and punitive action against persons who are found responsible for the killings of civilians; Establish an independent inquiry commission to investigate the allegations of serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, killings, torture, rape and sexual violence since 1989; Invite and permit the relevant UN Rapporteurs, UN Special Representatives and members of the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearance to investigate the allegations of human rights abuses in the region; Initiate a general debate involving members of the Kashmiri civil society and others on impunity and AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), and possible mechanisms to respond to the prevailing impunity.”A third petition in which I was heartened to see at least one name of a BJP officer bearer and some associated with Jamaat I Islami and other Muslim outfits, had this to say:

“The Prime Minister’s recent visit to the Valley only underlined the visionless policy of protecting the status quo at any cost. With all emphasis at our command, we urge the central government to at once send the army back to the barracks and out of all inhabited areas in the Valley, release all arrested political leaders, activists and protesters, repeal the black AFPSA which has allowed the army to kill with impunity, and urgently start a real dialogue with both the stakeholders in the Valley as well as with Pakistan to solve this vexed issue once and for all. We believe the situation in Kashmir demands a political, not a military, solution. We hope the (current government) will not leave this issue burning for another generation to solve it.”

It makes little sense under the circumstances for Mr Krishna to not discuss the raging problem in Kashmir with Pakistan. If he doesn’t trust the angry petitions filed by fellow Indians to his government, then he might consider visiting Srinagar on a fact-finding tour before embarking on a globally watched trip to Islamabad.

jawednaqvi@gmail.com

Rage of a lost generation

By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE – Kashmir is on the boil again. Some 15 people, mostly teenagers, have died in police firing over the past month. In an attempt at quelling the unrest, the government called out the army last week in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first time ever that the army has been called out in Srinagar for crowd control.

The decision to send in the army was taken when even the imposition of curfew on an angry city failed to get protesters off the streets. The curfew, imposed last Wednesday, was lifted on Sunday.

According to Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, the army has been sent in to Srinagar to act as a “deterrent”. Confrontation of protesters on the streets will continue to be tackled by the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state’s police.

The Kashmir Valley has been caught in an ugly cycle of violence and counter-violence since a month ago, when the first of many civilian deaths took place following the CRPF’s firing on protesters. A 17-year-old boy returning home from school was killed when a tear gas shell landed squarely on his head. Since then protests have become a daily occurrence with stone-pelting mobs fighting pitched battles with police on the streets of Srinagar and other towns. Over the past fortnight, at least one civilian death a day has been reported.

The CRPF has come under fire for trigger-happy handling of pebble-pelting mobs and criticized for shooting at unarmed protesters. Several of those who fell to CRPF bullets were not even participating in the protests. A 25-year-old woman who was watching the protests from the window of her house was shot dead. Many of the victims were boys; one just nine years old.

While an uneasy calm has descended over Srinagar following the deployment of the army, the rest of the valley remains restive.

The Kashmir Valley is the main bone of contention in the India-Pakistan dispute over the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which both countries claim in its entirety. India is in control of two-thirds of the territory, including the valley. The valley has been in the grip of a powerful armed uprising against Indian rule since 1989.

Militancy has been on the decline since 2001. But mass protest have broken out in the state periodically as, for instance, in 2008, when an agitation erupted in the Muslim-dominated valley over a decision of the local government to transfer some land to a Hindu religious trust. More often than not, such protests have been triggered by the killing of civilians in “encounters” faked by the security forces.

In May, for instance, protests broke out in several towns over the killing of three youth in Kupwara by an army major and his subordinates. The army had claimed that the three were “terrorists” and had been killed after a gunfight. It emerged subsequently that the three had been abducted and shot at point blank range.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly spoken of his government’s “zero tolerance of human-rights violations” by the security forces. However, the extra-judicial killings continue. Protected by special laws giving them extraordinary powers to deal with terrorism, the security forces are acting without accountability to civilians.

Anti-India sentiment in the valley seemed on the decline following public disgust with militancy, but is now gaining ground. The CRPF killing of civilian protestors has fueled public rage.

Even at the height of the insurgency in the early 1990s, the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF), not the Indian army, was responsible for Srinagar’s security. The army was called in a couple of times, but these were to deal with crisis situations – as in 1993 when militants took control of the Hazratbal mosque, which is believed to house a strand of Prophet Mohammed’s hair, and in 1999 when militants took control of the offices of the Special Operations Group, an anti-terrorism wing of the Jammu and Kashmir state police in Srinagar.

The decision to summon the army now indicates that Delhi now views the protests as a serious crisis. Some have questioned the wisdom of calling into Srinagar army personnel who have been trained to shoot to kill rather than to quell unrest. Others see the army as the “most disciplined force”, more effective in dealing with the crisis than the overworked, under-equipped and excessively stressed CRPF.

Memories of the mass protests that preceded the armed uprising in 1990 remain vivid in the Indian establishment. Decision-makers in Delhi and Srinagar do not want a repeat now. “Calling in the army is as much about deterring the stone pelters as it is about preventing the emergence of an environment conducive to militancy raising its ugly head again in the valley,” a Home Ministry official told Asia Times Online.

Stone-throwing as a form of protest has a long history in the valley going back to the 16th century. In parts of downtown Srinagar, stone-pelting at police has been a bit of a ritual. Especially after Friday prayers, youth coming out of mosques in downtown Srinagar would hurl stones at police posts. A cat and mouse game would ensue, with police chasing the boys through the maze of lanes in crowded neighborhoods like Maisuma and Batmaloo. Police would refer to these confrontations as “limited-over cricket matches”; the two sides would fight it out on the streets and it would end before long. After the brief confrontation, “Kashmir’s Gaza Strip”, as these areas are called, would return to normal.

That is no more the case. Over the past two years and especially over the past month, the stone pelters haven’t gotten off the streets easily. They held their ground and it has taken the curfew and the army’s presence to clear them.

The pebble protests present India with a huge dilemma. The participants are angry youth, not terrorists. They are armed with stones, not Kalashnikovs. But they have used stones with lethal effect. Over 1,200, including cops and civilians, have been injured by the stones. An 11-day-old infant was among those killed by stone pelting.

Besides, the protests are not all spontaneous. They are believed to be orchestrated by leaders of the hardline, pro-Pakistan faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference. The protests are being funded with stone pelters reportedly receiving around US$3-$6 for a day’s “work”.

The home minister has accused the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba of fomenting the protests. Intelligence intercepts of conversations between members of terror outfits, Hurriyat activists and protesters indicate that protesters are being instructed “to martyr a few civilians” during demonstrations to fuel further unrest.
That the separatists, the militants and their handlers in Pakistan are brewing up trouble and could be behind at least a few of the killings in recent weeks cannot be ruled out. These sections have had a long history of fishing in Kashmir’s troubled waters. Certainly for the Hurriyat, which has been sidelined in Kashmiri politics for some years, the ongoing protests present an opportunity for a fresh lease of life.

Yet the rage evident on the streets of Srinagar cannot be blamed on them alone.

Those out on the streets today belong to a generation born during the militancy. All they have seen is violence by state and non-state actors. The face of India they have seen in Kashmir is that of its coercive apparatus. It is true that they have also seen a bit of democracy – when politicians make grand promises during elections. But democracy has brought them no jobs, no security, and no future. That frustration is exploding on the streets in such circumstances is not surprising.

Angry boys are picking up pebbles to hurl against the Indian state and its functionaries. They could reach out for the gun soon.

India measures the seriousness of the militancy in terms of militancy-related fatalities. This has fallen steadily in recent years. It celebrates the return of normalcy by looking at tourist arrivals. What it needs to look at is the depth of discontent, especially among youth. This is serious. Mass discontent should worry the Indian state far more than militancy.

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.

(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

SO WHY ARE THESE MEN IN JAIL?

Pragya Tiwari

Thirteen persons have been arrested in Gujarat as Maoists since February. But they are merely human rights activists, not Reds.

Climate of fear Shrinivas Kurapati, an employee of NGO Darshan, arrested from Ahmedabad in May

ALL OF June 17, Anju had no idea where her husband was. She couldn’t have imagined even in a nightmare that 41-year-old Abdul Shakeel Basha had been picked up from near his house in RK Puram by the Special Cell of Delhi Police as he was leaving for work.

Later that evening they brought him back to his house. The plainclothes policemen told her nothing except that they were from the Special Cell, taking her to a separate room for interrogation. After a thorough search, they confiscated Basha’s passport, credit cards, laptop and some books. No search or arrest warrant or seizure memo was produced, and despite Anju’s pleas she was not told why her husband was being taken away again.

Through the night, Basha’s wife and friends including some lawyers tried to ascertain whether he was detained by the Special Cell and why. No information whatsoever was forthcoming. Next morning, they woke up to media reports that a ‘wanted’ Maoist by the name of Shakeel Pasha had been arrested in Delhi.

Clearly, police sources were less reticent in telling the media about Shakeel’s arrest than they were in letting his family in on it. But there was more than one discrepancy in their account. To begin with, his last name is Basha, not Pasha. He is known to Delhi’s civil society as anything but a ‘Maoist’.

In the preceding months, similar stories have played out in several homes in Gujarat. Basha is 13th in a line of people arrested under FIR number 1-37/2010 Police station Kamrej, Surat range, dated 26th of February, u/s 120(B), 121(A), 124(A), 153 A&B of the IPC, and Sec 38, 39 and 40 of the UAPA, 2004. The police claim all the detainees are involved in a conspiracy to start a Maoist revolution in Gujarat and parts of north Maharashtra. But there is little evidence to support this claim. On the contrary, most of these people are widely known for their social activism in one of two areas – tribal welfare or rights of industrial workers.

In December 1992, as Mumbai burnt, Abdul Shakeel Basha, the son of an army man from a middle- class family, decided to take a break from postgraduate studies and volunteer to help rehabilitate riot victims. Soon he would travel to Gujarat and take up the cause of mill workers, moving on to campaign for legal justice for victims of the 2002 Godhra riots as part of Nyayagraha, (a campaign by Aman Biradari, an NGO started by writer and member of the National Advisory Council Harsh Mander.)

‘Modi’s agenda is a bhelpuri of Hindutva, regional parochialism and Vibrant Gujarat – his brand of anti-poor development’
ACHYUT YAGNIK, Political analyst and writer

In 2004, he got married and moved to Delhi to set up home. Hereon he worked extensively to alleviate the plight of the homeless – first as part of Aman Biradari’s Dil Se campaign for street kids and later as the architect of an independent programme called Haq for homeless adults.

As he moved from one cause to another, he strengthened the faith of colleagues. Nyayagraha in Gujarat is still fighting 200-odd cases for the victims of state terror – a fact that underpins the myriad ironies of Basha’s story, as his family and friends struggle to garner legal and civil support to get him out of Surat jail, where he is serving time with the other 12. Even before his first hearing, it is apparent that getting out of jail would be a difficult proposition. To call the accused, the reader announced: ‘Maowadi ko lao’ (Bring the Maoist), sealing the smear campaign that was all over the national media even before a chargesheet had been filed.

SO FAR, chargesheets have been filed in 11 out of the 13 cases. Shrinivas Kurapati, 34, arrested from Ahmedabad, awaits his chargesheet along with Basha. On May 30, he was picked up from near his in-laws’ house in Gomtipur. End-June, the Gujarat police called his wife Hansa’s uncle Ambubhai Waghela for questioning. Ambubhai, a widely known cultural activist, has taken on the VHP and RSS head-on to counter their attempt to polarise Dalits against Muslims in the ghettoes they cohabit. He assured the police of Shrinivas’ innocence and offered to bring him to the police station to clarify. The police refused this offer, choosing instead to pick him up themselves, creating a spectacle for the local media to broadcast.

Hours after his arrest, Hansa’s entire family including her little sisters and old aunt, were summoned to the police station. While the others were allowed to leave late that night, Hansa and Ambubhai were illegally detained for two nights and three days for further questioning. Soon the local newspapers started carrying reports saying Hansa was forced into marrying Shrinivas by ‘Maoists’ and that she would possibly be the prime witness against him. Huddled with her family in a tiny ground floor flat, Hansa tells a very different story. “I married Shrinivas because I fell in love with him after we met at a protest march. He spent all his time outside of work with me and our son Viplav, cooking dinner and helping me with chores. When would he have time to plan Naxal activities?”

‘All major allegations are innocuous and attached to non-violent social acts like association with certain organisations’
KIRIT PANWALA, Defence counsel in 10 of 13 cases

HIREN GANDHI who runs Darshan, the NGO where Shrinivas worked, remembers the man came to him in 2006 tormented by poverty and asked for any work at all. “There is no way he was involved in Maoist activities during the time he worked with me. He borrowed money from everywhere to buy a simple house. Would he be so hard-pressed if he were with a movement?” he asks.

But where answers do not exist, they can be manufactured. Hansa says she was beaten up in detention and made to sign statements she did not read: “In Ahmedabad they hit me with a danda (baton) when I got confused answering a question. In all they must have struck me about four times but I didn’t cry,” she says, leaving one speechless.

The case of Avinash Kulkarni (57) is even more baffling. For over 20 years, Kulkarni, an MPhil in Political Science, currently writing his PhD thesis, has been working in the Adivasi district of Dangs. There is hardly anyone in the academic and civil circuits of Gujarat who will not vouch for him personally. From 1998, the saffron brigade led by Swami Aseemanad (now wanted in the Malegaon blasts case) unleashed its two-pronged communal agenda in Dangs – superimposing Hindutva on tribal culture on one hand and attempting to instigate tribals against other minorities on the other. Kulkarni fervently opposed this agenda with his colleagues, succeeding in checking divisions and riots in the areas he was active in.

As part of organisations like Adivasi Mahasabha and Dangi Mazdoor Union, Kulkarni campaigned for the land rights of tribals. Instrumental in the passage of the Forest Rights Act 2006, he later helped tribals file claims to land. Raju Solanki, author of Blood Under Saffron, a book on the communal agenda of the state, says about Kulkarni, “One day he told me: ‘I hope the PWG don’t land up in these forests. What will become of the villagers then?’ How can he be accused of being a Naxalite?”

Kulkarni is spoken of as pacific and upright to a fault. Which must be right, for two months ago when some prisoners broke out of the barrack Kulkarni was imprisoned in, he stayed back. It was once said of Binayak Sen (the public health activist arrested in Chhattisgarh in 2007 on charges of being a Maoist) that even if his supporters stormed the jail to free him, he would stay back. If that hypothesis was testimony for Sen’s character, this incident certainly establishes Kulkarni’s.

EARLY WARNING SIGN

This Gujarat government publication of 2006 says on its cover Activiston Savdhan – Aa Gujarat che (Beware Activists – This is Gujarat). Inside there are cartoons projecting Medha Patkar as anti-development and anti-tribal welfare. On the last page is a poem lampooning activists, written by Bhagyesh Jha who was then the director of information in the government. Roughly translated its first few lines read: We (activists) twist/What the meaning of good and better/That is our manifesto/What to do? All you need/Is some borrowed English/A plain car, some slogans, some crowds/And a dirty old sari

BHARAT PAWAR (40) also arrested from Dangs, was a local resident who housed Kulkarni. Jesuit priest Father Stanley Pinto knew Bharat from when the former was researching his PhD in the area. He says, “Bharat knew every government official around. He would walk into offices and demand an explanation when there was injustice.” Bharat worked for the rights of bamboo workers, tribal farmers, village lawkeepers (Police Patils), and housed victims of communal riots. His wife would cook for all of them despite a hand-tomouth existence. His daughter, who works as a tailor, is the sole breadwinner of the family.

Similar narratives echo when you talk to the family, friends and colleagues of the others arrested. Makabhai Chaudhuri (49) and Jayaram Goswami (52) fought for the rights of quarry workers and diamond labour, organising them to protest and fight legal battles in the Songadh area of South Gujarat. Their wives, less articulate, tell the story of their husband’s arrests, which mirror the tales told by Anju and Hansa.

Satyamrao Ambade (47) and Niranjan Mahapatra (37), arrested from Surat, worked with textile workers’ trade unions. Living in a single room with no electricity, Mahapatra also edited a local magazine. He was extremely popular for his work with migrant labourers. Textile workers are exploited by their contractors who deny them permanent status and wages prescribed by law despite making them work 12 hours a day. Today, sources who refuse to be quoted for fear of harassment say some of these workers are being coerced by the Gujarat police to testify against Mahapatra and Satyamrao. They have been threatened with arrest if they don’t toe the police line.

KN Singh (47), arrested from Bhavnagar, worked for a mix of local and migrant industrial workers, representing individual cases in labour courts. Alang and other parts of Bhavnagar are notorious for the abysmal conditions of workers in the area. Prakash Patel, an advocate from Bhavnagar who has known Singh since the 1980s and is named as a witness in the chargesheet, vehemently denies Singh’s involvement in any kind of violent activity.

EACH ONE of these people has worked for years in specific regions of Gujarat to look for solutions to problems of the poor within the framework of law. All of them were overground and known to Gujarati civil society and the administration. Why then have they suddenly been branded enemies of the state and put behind bars?

This question should be answered when the chargesheet, remand applications and FIR are read in conjunction. Instead, it becomes more pronounced in the process. None of these people have any previous criminal record nor have they been charged with any specific instance of violence. No weapons have been recovered from any of them.

Kirit Panwala, defence counsel in 10 of the 13 cases, says, “All major allegations are innocuous and attached to non-violent social acts like association with certain organisations. 10 out of the 13 were alleged members of the CPI (Janashakti) party, which the police claim is a front for the banned People’s War Group.” But Janashakti is an overground party that contests elections. Panwala explains, “The case under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act does not hold because the Act clearly states that for an offence to be committed the organisation should be banned under the schedule, which Janashakti is not. As for PWG associations, they are all alleged before 2004 when the Act which outlaws the PWG had not come into place.”

The most serious charge is that a few of the detainees attended training camps for warfare. However, the chargesheet does not give any details or evidence of this activity. Other charges are pegged on alleged ‘secret’ meetings and recovery of incriminating literature. The police claim that Shrinivas and Basha helped draft a document that lays out a conspiracy to start a Maoist revolution in Gujarat, called the Surat Perspective Plan.

Panwala points to lack of evidence yet again, “Under Section 120 (b) of the IPC very little evidence is required to establish conspiracy. Kehar Singh was executed in the Indira Gandhi assassination trial with meagre evidence. But even in that case, there was an actual event to link the evidence with. Given that nothing has been executed here, the charges of conspiracy will be difficult to prove.”

The most gaping hole in the prosecution’s case is the absence of any prominent instance of Maoist violence in the state of Gujarat. But there is little chance the accused will get bail. Veteran Ahmedabad- based lawyer Girish Patel says, “One could have even tried to quash this faulty FIR if the Centre had not politicised the issue so much.” Panwala adds, “10 years ago it would have been easy to get bail in the case, but the judiciary in Gujarat no longer believes in personal freedom as laid out by Article 21 of the Constitution. There is presumption of guilt until proven innocent.”

Colin Gonsalves, Founder of Human Rights Law Network, expresses concern over the logic of this case: “When all over the country actual Naxal warriors are being offered money and rehabilitation to surrender, why is the Gujarat police anxious to prosecute social workers whose alleged connection with Maoists and that too of many years ago is highly disputed? “

Political analyst Achyut Yagnik offers a disturbing answer to this question, “Modi’s agenda is a bhelpuri of Hindutva, regional parochialism and ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ – his brand of anti-poor economic development. By putting away activists who advocated the rights of tribals and labourers, he wants to improve the investment climate of the state.”

Uttam Parmar, activist for social justice is more specific. “The state wants the tribal corridor from Omargaon to Ambaji cleared of activists so the land can be usurped for corporates,” he says. This claim is backed by a statement made at a press conference in April by Tushar Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs (elected from Bardoli) who accused the Gujarat government of sabotaging the Forest Rights Act by denying claims under it en masse.

Mukul Sinha, eminent lawyer from Ahmedabad says, “Ignorance can be due to lack of information or absence of actuality. My ignorance of any such movement in Gujarat is due to the latter. With POTA the government was ‘producing’ terrorists rather than ‘preventing’ them. One gets a sense the same thing is being done with the UAPA in the case of these so-called Naxals. The problem with the Act is that it criminalises any sort of connection with a banned organisation – financial, ideological, perhaps even a pat on someone’s back!”

Civil rights activists are comparing this to the Emergency era when Indira Gandhi used oppressive laws to suppress political rebellion. But perhaps this is worse in that it seeks to curb not just political but also social dissent.

Yagnik believes Modi thrives by creating a fear psychosis to project himself as a saviour. “Muslimand Pakistan-bashing are passe now and are alienating him from the Western markets, so a new enemy has been invented,” he says. The propaganda also promises to legitimise attacks the state has been making on activists for years now.

Consider an incident that took place in Bhavnagar district in February. The government had sanctioned land from the fertile area of Mahuva to Nirma Ltd for a cement plant and limestone mining. The project is likely to have an adverse effect on the lives of over 50,000 people who live there.

AFTER A year of unheeded peaceful protests, 11,115 people signed in blood on a petition to the CM. On the 20th of February 2010, some 8,000 people took out a silent march in the district. Police lathi-charged this procession, injuring a number of villagers. A day later, local MLA Kanubhai Kalsariya who was supporting the protesters was attacked by assailants believed to be company goons, landing him and his wife in hospital. Incidents like this are commonplace in the state, where land is constantly being acquired for industrialisation at the cost of small farmers and farm labourers.

Earlier this month, the Gujarat government asserted that less than 10 percent of claims by tribals under the FRA are genuine. Prasad Chacko, human rights activist, believes this outrageous statement has not met with opposition from the tribal leadership because of the climate of fear created by these arrests. With rumours of a spate of prospective arrests in the air and major NGOs and academic institutions under the scanner, there is apprehension that even speaking for the poor can brand you a Naxalite.

Meanwhile in the forests and industrial underbelly, the poorest of poor are running out of representatives in our democracy, even as the state’s oppressors intensify the attack on their lives and livelihood. This is exactly the kind of circumstance that proponents of violent movements look for. If their frustration is not allowed legitimate channels, Modi might soon really be up against the wolf of extremism he has been crying about

‘They led double lives by hiding their past’

AK Singh, IG Surat Range, says the police conducted thorough investigations before making arrests

The general mood within civil society is that the activists who have been arrested are being persecuted for the good work they have done. How would you respond to that?

I don’t agree that this is the general mood because a large amount of reports in the media put our work in correct perspective.

But there have been protest meetings and marches all over the state by activists who knew a lot of these people personally.

Many of these people got entrenched in various roles which had an external appearance. So it is quite natural for people who have come into contact with them to base their judgement on that. But we added another perspective based on the covert life which they had led. Now civil society – and more importantly the judiciary – have to make up their minds based on the [covert] roles they played.

At a time when the GoI is looking for channels to talk with the Maoist leadership and giving actual warriors incentive to surrender, even if it can be proved that these people have had associations in the past, don’t you think they should be given another chance given that they are now working as activists for the poor?

I am only a law enforcement officer and I have a limited brief and a limited role, but in my personal capacity I feel very positively about any surrender or reform policy that can contribute to a national resolution of this issue.

But let us not give credit to any of these people by saying they had reformed because none of them came clean to a law enforcement agency and said ‘We were so-and-so and now we want to give up.’ In contrast there were some others in Surat itself who have surrendered to the police in Andhra Pradesh and are being given the benefit of a surrender policy. There is a difference between someone who comes clean about what he believed in once and someone who continues to lead a double life by hiding his present and past.

Curfew in more areas of Kashmir Valley, flag march by Army

PTI

SRINAGAR: Curfew was today clamped in more areas of the Kashmir Valley which witnessed stray incidents of violence as the Army carried out a flag march in Srinagar to maintain law and order.

An army vehicle at a street in Srinagar on Wednesday. Sopore town and old parts of Baramulla were placed under curfew today as a precautionary measure, official sources said. Photo: NIssar Ahmad

Sopore town and old parts of Baramulla were placed under curfew as a precautionary measure, official sources said.

Curfew was also being enforced strictly in Srinagar, where three persons were killed in alleged firing by security forces on Tuesday.

The sources said that there was no curfew in Baramulla town, Handwara, Shopian, Ganderbal and Budgam.

A group of protestors had attempted to gather in Batmaloo area of Srinagar during the night but were peacefully dispersed by the security forces, they said.

Protestors had also tried to attack a bus carrying new police recruits in the outskirts of Srinagar but the attempt was thwarted.

The Army had yesterday moved 17 columns (about 1,700 personnel) into various parts of the city to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order.

Srinagar, which was bustling with tourists before the trouble started, looked like a lifeless city with empty streets, closed shops and deserted shikaras amid the heavy presence of security forces.

The state government had sought help of the Army in the wake of spiralling protests in the city.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had yesterday spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over phone and briefed him on the law and order situation in the Valley.

Omar had apprised the Prime Minister about the steps being taken in restoring normalcy which included cracking down on mischief-makers and miscreants, sources said.

The Chief Minister had also spoken twice to Home Minister P Chidambaram and also to Defence Minister A K Antony about the developments.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, who had flown in here yesterday from Delhi along with Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen A M Verma, had met the Chief Minister and reviewed the overall law and order situation.