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Blood shed in Kashmir-I

Sir,

Apropos the Article by Mr. O P Modi titled "The Golden hearts of J&K", published in your esteemed daily dated 15-2-2001, I would like to lend my voice to the cries of the general people of the State for an end to this gory chapter of Blood-shed and mayhem. As one who has spent 6 (six) months in the Valley in the recent past and has been a witness to some of the horror-filled incidents, I am convinced that the so called war of Independence has lost its sanctity and grace in the eyes of the suffering millions of the region and they desperately long for peace and tranquillity. The occasional public agitations in the Valley are more born out of frustration for the failure of the Administration to restore peace and Rule of law than any support for the militancy. Nevertheless, the militants have succeeded in creating an atmosphere of terror, forcing most of the people to resign to the present State of uncertainty and chaos and into a dumbness of anguish. But, the time has come for all right thinking people to rise and register their protest as, otherwise, the situation will never improve and the interested quarters will continue to perpetuate their nefarious designs and play with the lives and sentiments of the people.

Yours etc...
S N Benerjee
Udhampur (J&K)

Blood shed in Kashmir-II

Sir,

The massacre of our six Sikh compatriots was the most heinous act of Pak mercenaries executed at Mehjoor Nagar. First, it were Kashmiri Pandits who were butchered, harassed and then successfully driven out of Kashmir valley. After that it is the third time Sikhs have been targeted by the mercenaries after Chittisingpora. As usual, this act was wisely condemned by all sections of the society and by all political parties irrespective of those who are at the helm of affairs and who can't escape the moral responsibilities of day to day killings.

Instead of providing security and building confidence among the minorities in J&K the respective State and Centre Governments are making false promises and fake condemnations to the terrorist activities and all the blame is put on Pak and its ISI for all the happenings in Kashmir. Perhaps during these twelve long years of insurgency our governments have forgotten that it is their responsibility to safeguard the interests of their compatriots at any cost and by any mean. And Pak can't be blamed for all the happenings along this side of border. As usual more committees and control teams would visit the state to review the situation and efforts would be done to restore the confidence of common man in the regime on different pretexts and lame excuses as it is being done after every incident.

While our revered PM has declared unilateral ceasefire, Pak organised Solidarity Day or say Kashmir Day to support the terrorist activities in Kashmir on Feb. 5. Ceasefire is being used by Pakistani troops to build the bunkers and make their defence more strong. In the Valley, it is time for terrorists to reorganise themselves and establish their base, networking and to build up for more attacks and resistance to security forces. The ceasefire initiative has only emboldened the terrorists. The security forces and the common people have become easy targets of mercenaries. It shows how much our government is concerned about the Army, security forces and common people.

Moreover, the Government has failed to counter ISI propaganda whether it is in Kashmir, Northeast or any other part of the country. ISI can carry its nefarious designs any where in the country without being detected. How ISI is carrying successful operations against India even from other countries like Bangladesh and Nepal and why we are a failure in our down country and what measures should be taken to make it ineffective is still a mystery. The persons at the helm of affairs always show different reasons and excuses for this continued tide of terror in the country. Ceasefire is only another futile exercise by our Government after Lahore Bus Diplomacy.

Yours etc....
R Choudhary
Jammu

Clarification

Sir,

Due to some error in transmission or transcription, an omission has occurred in the last line of the first paragraph of the last column of my write-up "Samprati's Naedim Number - A Preview" (Daily Excelsior, 11th February 2001). The sentence reads: He was a stylist who opened new vistas for Kashmiri poetry, an innovator who gave it novel; he was an experimenter who introduced Kashmiri to all genres of poetics; a master whose own versatility served to prove the versatility of Kashmiri language. It gives the impression that Naedim had also written some 'novel' which is neither a fact, nor was the intention. The sentence instead should have read: He was a stylist who opened new vistas for Kashmiri poetry, an innovator who gave it novel expressions; he was an experimenter who introduced Kashmiri to all genres of poetics; a master whose own versatility served to prove the versatility of Kashmiri language. The correction may kindly be noted so that any wrong impression that may have been connoted is dispelled.

Yours etc...
Dr. R L Bhat
Bohri, TT,
Jammu
rlbhat@nde.vsnl.net.in