Daily Excelsior....News Page

2 militants killed in Beerwah, 2 in Tral
Militants occupy Anantnag mosque for another safe passage

From Ahmed Ali Fayaz

SRINAGAR, June 10: After an attack on Army and killing a counter-insurgent in the gunbattle, a group of five pro-Pakistan militants this evening occupied a mosque at Shangus, in Anantnag district. Meanwhile, security forces today eliminated four militants of Hizbul Mujahideen in two encounters at Badran village in Beerwah and Lurgam in Tral while as one soldier died in an encounter at Wogabal, in Kupwara district.

Informed sources in south Kashmir told EXCELSIOR that, on the basis of a tip off, troops of Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group (SOG) Anantnag laid siege to Ganai Mohalla locality of Shangus at 6.00 p.m. this evening. As soon as the troops zeroed in on a hideout, militants opened heavy gunfire and killed a counter-insurgent source of the security forces. Troops retaliated with ferocity but all the five militants, trapped in the village, ran away and took shelter in the local mosque.

After getting safe passage in a mosque at Kharwar village in Shopian area of south Kashmir early this month, militants holed up in search operations have adopted the strategy of taking shelter in places of worship. A group of Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were granted safe passage as they had occupied the place of worship after killing two security forces personnel. The decision, reportedly taken by Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah and Commander of 15 Corps, Lt Gen J R Mukherjee, was trumpetted by official media and agencies for several days.

Within days of the Shopian safe passage, a group of holed up militants engaged security forces in a daylong gunbattle in Sopore last week and made desperate attempts to occupy the adajacent mosque. However, troops and Police resisted their attempts and eliminated both the militants in a house.

Authoritative reports from Anantnag said, late tonight, that there was exchange of fire after 7.20 p.m. However, security forces requisitioned heavy reinforcements and maintained the siege. A senior official participating in the operation disclosed to EXCELSIOR that "necessary orders are awaited from the United Headquarters."

4 Militants,

soldier killed

Earlier today, working on a specific information, troops of RR 34 Bn and SOG Budgam raided a militant hideout at Badran village, in Beerwah belt of Budgam district. Militants put up tough resistance and the exchange of gunfire and blasts continued for the whole day. Security forces destroyed the house of one Abdur Rehman S/o Mohammad Jamal. By this evening, troops claimed to have eliminated two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen. While as one of them was identified as Ghulam Mohammad Bhat alias Manna S/o Khizar Bhat (a recycled militant of the same village), an identity card in the name of Saifullah was recovered from his accomplice.

Troops claimed to have recovered two AK-56 rifles, one pistol and two wireless sets from the devastated site of the encounter. Late night reports from Beerwah said that security forces had not lifted the cordon as they intercepted the militants’ radio network which suggested that one militant was still present in the village.

Reports available from Tral, in south Kashmir, said that troops of Border Security Force (BSF) 34 Bn and 124 Bn, alongwith SOG, raided a militant hideout at Lurgan village at 3.30 p.m. today. As troops tightened the cordon, two holed up militants opened gunfire and the the four-hour-long gunbattle left both of them killed. One of them was identified as Saleem Khan of the same village, who, according to official sources, was a "district commander" of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Official sources in north Kashmir said that this afternoon, militants ambushed a patrol of regular army at Wogabal, in Kupwara district. A soldier of 2 Special Force (2 Para) namely Megawas Shankar died and two more soldiers were left injured. They were rushed to a hospital. Militants escaped without suffering any damage. Troops conducted a search operation which did not yield anything.

Chrar blast toll is 6

Meanwhile, two more critically wounded women succumbed to injuries at hospital, raising the death toll of Friday's grenade explosion of Chrar-e-Sharif to six. They were identified as Noora R/o Haft Chinar and Hajira R/o Kanipora. Four women devotees had died in the explosion at the crowded shrine of the 14th century Rishi saint, Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani, on Friday last while as 60 more devotees were left injured.

While the State Government has ordered an inquiry into the incident, separatist camps and Police have been holding each other responsible for the same.

Major peace overture in J&K
Hurriyat temporarily suspends all agitational activities

Geelani flays jihadi groups for spreading hatred

SRINAGAR, June 10: In a major peace overture in Jammu and Kashmir, the Hurriyat Conference, the apex body of 23 separatist groups, today decided to suspend for the time being its agitational activities in view of the proposed summit between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf reports PTI.

A statement issued by Hurriyat here said "the situation in which the people of Jammu and Kashmir find themselves demands an organised people’s movement. But in view of the proposed summit, Hurriyat has decided to suspend the same for time being."

The statement said it wanted the summit of Vajpayee-Musharraf to succeed and asserted the Hurriyat would not indulge in any act which would derail the dialogue.

Terming the summit as a "good beginning" towards restoring peace in the State, the Hurriyat demanded its inclusion in the proposed talks.

The Hurriyat announcement about its peace gesture came nearly three weeks after the Centre suspended its unilateral ceasefire in the State and invited Musharraf for talks in New Delhi.

In Mumbai, Home Minister L K Advani told reporters that all signals ahead of the proposed Indo-Pak summit had been "positive" so far.

"I think that all the signals are positive. One can be optimistic that this latest initiative by the Prime Minister will give results," Advani said.

The Hurriyat statement alleged several agencies got unnerved following the peace process set in motion by Vajpayee and started engineering acts of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, "the gameplan being to defame militants."

Referring to Friday’s explosion at Chrar-e-Sharief shrine which killed four women, the statement said militants were not responsible for the blast and the "incident is part of a dangerous gameplan".

PTI adds from Delhi: Firebrand Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has attacked ‘Jehadi’ groups which spread hatred against India and resort to "emotional slogans like ‘Crush India’", in a statement similar to the one made by Pakistani military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf which has drawn sharp criticism from militant organisations.

"Our struggle is not based on any enmity against India, not on account of it being a Hindu-majority state but merely because India reneged on its promise to us that we would be allowed to decide our own future," he said.

"I have repeatedly criticised groups which spread hatred against India. I have asked Jehadi groups not to resort to emotional slogans such as `Crush India’ as they are neither realistic nor do they reflect the spirit of Islam," Geelani, who is known to be a hardliner, said in an interview to a Karachi-based magazine `Newsline’.

"We want India and its people to prosper and to do justice to the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

He said he "often asked the Mujahideen (militants) to remember that their goal is the setting up of an Islamic state and social order where peace, justice and equality prevail for all, irrespective of religion."

Asked about the question mark on the Hurriyat being the "sole representative" body of the Kashmiris, the pro-Pakistan Jamaat leader said "we are ready to be tested. But let India first declare Kashmir a `disputed territory’. This would be a beginning towards the resolution of the problem."

Geelani, a staunch supporter of merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan, also said if the people of the State favoured to remain with India, he would "go by that verdict. At least give them a chance to decide," he added.

On the Centre’s offer of talks, the Hurriyat Executive Council member said the conglomerate of 23 separatist organisations had rejected it as "they (Government) are not ready for any meaningful negotiations."

"Whenever, they (Government) speak of dialogue, it is with an aim to hoodwink their countrymen and world opinion. They want to talk only to conclude an agreement within the Indian constitution," he said.

He also dubbed the just-withdrawn six-month-long ceasefire as "just a ploy".

On the resolution of the Kashmir issue, anything emerging from tripartite talks involving India, Pakistan and representatives of Jammu and Kashmir would be "acceptable to us."

Geelani said the attitude of Pakistan’s military regime was "very positive" and "realistic" but added that during the last 50 years, "the weak policies and parasitic character of successive Pakistani Governments have reduced the Kashmir issue from an international one to a border dispute."

The hardline Jamaat leader also criticised the Taliban regime of Afghanistan for imposing restrictions on women. "I seriously differ with them (Taliban) on the issue of women’s education," he said, adding "whether you educate your sons or not, I believe it is necessary to educate your daughters and sisters to build a healthy society."