[Reader-list] Declarations / Edits / Reports on the Massacre in Nandimarg [Kashmir]

[Harsh Kapoor]

On the Massacre in Nandimarg [Kashmir] 23, March 2003

A : Declarations and Statements by Citizens Groups and Governments
B : 'Western' Media coverage
C : Pakistan / India Edits and Reports


------------

A. : Declarations  and Statements by Citizens Groups and Governments


#1.

ALL INDIA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL
Regd. Office: 8-2-601/B/17 Bhanu Society Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 
500034 Andhra Pradesh, India
President: Dr Joseph D’ Souza  Secretary General: Dr. John Dayal

Please correspond with Secretary General at:
Phone (91 11) 22722262 Mobile 09811021072
Email: <mailto:johndayal at vsnl.com>johndayal at vsnl.com

Christian Groups Condemn Massacre of Kashmiri Pandits

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT
NEW DELHI, March 25, 2003

The Christian Community has reacted with shock and concern over the 
massacre of 22 innocent Kashmiri Pandit men, women and children by 
terrorists in the Valley.

Major Christian organisations and activists issued a joint statement 
today expressing solidarity with the Kashmiri Pandit community in 
their hour of grief, and demanded swift action against the 
perpetrators of the heinous crime which was meant to intimidate the 
Pandits and sabotage the peace process in the State.

The joint statement was issued by All India Catholic Union president 
Dr Maria E Menezes, All India Christian Council president Dr Joseph D 
Souza, Dr John Dayal, Delhi Catholic Archdiocese Justice and Peace 
Commission coordinator Sr. Mary Scaria, New Delhi YMCA president 
Elwin Nathaniel and general secretary Philip Jadhav, and pioneering 
children’s right activist Joseph Gathia.

“We are deeply disturbed and anguished at the brutal slaying of 
innocent people, including children, in this act of war against 
humanity. The targeting of any particular community in democratic, 
plural and secular India – whether it is of Pandits in Kashmir, 
Muslims and Christians in Gujarat, or Dalits elsewhere – is specially 
heinous as it is meant to terrorise an entire people and hold them 
hostage to narrow sectarian or political ends.

It has been Kashmir’s tragedy that in the last decade or so, it has 
seen many such occurrences, including repeated attacks on the 
Pandits, and on Sikhs.  Every time there is a movement forward 
towards peace, it is halted and reversed by such a bloody interlude. 
The international community also cannot shirk its responsibility in 
the cross–border origins of such terrorism. The Central and State 
governments must been seen to be acting to bring the culprits to boom 
and to prevent a recurrence of such crime.

It is gratifying and a wholesome portent that the entire Muslim 
community of the Kashmir valley, itself victim of terrorism, and the 
country has categorically denounced this violence and has made common 
cause with the Pandits. The solidarity of all communities will give 
the nation strength to emerge from such trials.
   ------------
Released to the Media for Publication by Dr John Dayal


_____


#3.

Date: 25 Mar 2003 06:32:21 -0000
URGENT PROTEST BY AMAN EKTA MANCH

TO PROTEST THE KILLINGS OF KASHMIRI PANDITS ON 23.03.2003 IN VILLAGE 
NANDIMARG OF PULWAMA DISTRICT IN SOUTH KASHMIR, WE ARE ORGANISING A 
DHARNA AT JANTAR MANTAR FOR AN HOUR TODAY, 25TH MARCH 2003 FROM 4:30 
PM TO 5:30 PM.

PLEASE COME WITH BANNERS AND PLACARDS. IF ANYONE OF YOU HAVE CONTACTS 
IN THE MEDIA, PLEASE MOBILISE.

_____


#4.

       Group of Concerned Citizens

       GCC condemns the heinous killing of Kashmiri Pandits

       New Delhi, 24 March, 2003: We a group of concerned citizens 
condemn the heinous killing yesterday of 24 Kashmiri Pandits in 
village Nandimarg of Pulwama district in South Kashmir. This 
monstrous act against innocent people reflects the depraved nature of 
the killers who are bent upon derailing efforts of the sane elements 
of society who are trying to bring Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri 
Muslims together. What has been done in Kashmir is a dastardly act 
meant to create fear psychosis among ordinary peace loving people of 
both Hindu and Muslim communities. As citizens we share the heart 
wrenching grief of the families who are left to mourn the dead. No 
sane individual or group could have plunged the valley into this 
massive blood bath. Only the most sinister minds could have conceived 
and executed this dastardly crime. This insanity in which the 
criminal elements have gripped the entire world finds its ghastly 
manifestation in events such as this. It must stop and stop at once.

       We demand:
       Immediate and urgent action to catch the criminals responsible
       Undertaking from the Central and State Administrations that no 
untoward incident will be permitted to take place as a reaction.
       Protection of minorities.
       Relief and rehabilitation of the families of the victims to be 
immediately given
       Yours Truly

       Syeda Saiyidain Hameed
       For Group of Concerned Citizens

       Kuldip Nayar, Nirmala Deshpande, Dr. Syeda Hameed, Dr. Prakash 
Louis, Saiyid Hamid, Moosa Raza, Syed Shahabuddin, Prof. Mushirul 
Hasan, Sumit Chakravorty, Prof Azizuddin Husain, Prof Rizwan Qaisar, 
Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, Kamla Bhasin, Sushobha Barve, Dr. Monisha 
Behal, Harsh Mander, Ahmad Raza Khan, M.Sajjad, Neshat Qaisar, Prof 
M.H.Qureshi, Prof Asaduddin, Lt General Moti Dhar (retd), Navaid 
Hamid, Admiral Ramdas (retd), Fatima Talib, V.K Tripathi.

______


#5.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index:	ASA 20/013/2003 (Public)
News Service No:	65
24 March 2003

India/Kashmir: Safeguard the lives of civilians
Amnesty International today condemned the unlawful killing by 
unidentified gunmen of 24 civilians in Nadimarg village in the Indian 
state of Jammu and Kashmir. The dead included 11 women and two 
children and were all members of the Kashmiri Pandit community.

According to reports, around midnight on 23 March, approximate 15 men 
wearing army fatigues and carrying automatic weapons disarmed police 
officers at a nearby police station before ordering villagers out of 
their homes. When the villagers where gathered outside, the armed men 
fired on them indiscriminately killing 24 people before escaping into 
nearby forest. So far no one has claimed responsibility for the 
killings. This comes in the wake of the Government of Jammu and 
Kashmir's calling on the Pandit community to return to the Kashmir 
Valley after a decade and its attempts to restore the rule of law 
across the state.

"All sides must safeguard the lives of civilians in Jammu and 
Kashmir," Amnesty International said.

"International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks on 
civilians and those not taking direct part in hostilities. It is as 
yet unclear who is responsible, but we wholeheartedly condemn this 
attack."

"The killing of innocent civilians should never be used to score a 
political point or undermine a political process," the international 
human rights organization continued.

Amnesty International urged the authorities to take measures to 
prevent further abuses against civilians and to ensure that the 
killings in Nadimarg are comprehensively and transparently 
investigated with a view to identifying the perpetrators and holding 
them to account.

"In the past, all too often the unlawful killing of civilians were 
left uninvestigated and those responsible remain punished," Amnesty 
International said.

As an example, the organization referred to the massacre at 
Chitthisinghpora in which 36 Sikh civilians were deliberately killed 
in March 2000, which has still not been subjected to scrutiny.

Background

An early consequence of the rise of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir 
was the migration of large numbers of the Hindu Pandit community from 
the Kashmir Valley. The Pandits were regarded by some as having 
strong links to the rest of India because they were Hindu and because 
they held a large percentage of government posts. Sections of the 
press called for the community to leave the Valley and anti-Pandit 
demonstrations took place in Srinagar. Several prominent members of 
the Pandit community, such as leading academics, were allegedly 
killed by militants.

In 1991 about 150,000 Kashmiri Pandits migrated from the Kashmir 
Valley. Those who were wealthy or had relatives in New Delhi moved 
there while the rest were relocated in camps around Jammu and New 
Delhi. A decade later, thousands of the migrants still live in camps 
around Jammu. According to government figures in April 2001, about 
32,000 Kashmiri migrant families have been registered with relief 
organizations.

Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: 
http://www.amnesty.org


_______


#6

Press Release
Pakistan: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
http://www.forisb.org/PR03-095.htm

The Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the massacre of 24 
Kashmiri Pandits in Nandimarg village in Shopian in the Indian 
Occupied Kashmir. This blatant act of terrorism, reportedly carded 
out by persons wearing Indian army uniforms, is reprehensible. The 
Government of Pakistan also offers condolences to the bereaved 
families.

Islamabad,
24 March 2003.

______


#7.

Following is the text of a statement from State Department Spokesman
Richard Boucher on a March 23 terrorist attack in Srinagar, Kashmir:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
March 24, 2003

STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN

Kashmir Violence

The United States is deeply disturbed and saddened by yesterday's
horrific terrorist attack south of Srinagar. The cowardly attack
appears aimed at disrupting the bold efforts of the Kashmir state
government led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to restore peace and religious
harmony to the troubled state.

Secretary of State Powell phoned Indian Foreign Minister Sinha this
morning to express U.S. condemnation of this brutal attack and to
extend condolences to the wounded and to the families of the victims.

Violence will not solve Kashmir's problems. Such acts are intended to
disrupt the program of the state government in Kashmir, which is
attempting to reduce tensions and promote reconciliation. Dialogue
remains a critical element in the normalization of relations between
India and Pakistan.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)


=======


B:  MEDIA COVERAGE:

International Media:

BBC
Analysis: Kashmir Hindus' dilemma
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2885533.stm

o o o

The New York Times
March 25, 2003  
Attack on Hindus in Kashmir May Signal Increase in Violence There
By AMY WALDMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/international/asia/25KASH.html

o o o

Boston Globe
3/25/2003
Page A6
Massacre of Hindus by gunmen in Kashmir condemned

By Mujtaba Ali Ahmad, Associated Press, 3/25/2003

NADIMARG, India -- Suspected Islamic militants in Indian Army 
uniforms dragged 24 Hindus from their homes, lined them up outside a 
temple, and shot them to death yesterday in a remote village in 
Indian-controlled Kashmir.

It was the biggest-ever terrorist attack on Hindus in the 
Muslim-majority state on India's northernmost tip.

A group of about eight to 10 armed men pulled the villagers -- 
upper-caste Hindus known as Kashmiri Pandits -- out of their homes in 
Nadimarg in the disputed Himalayan province and shot them at close 
range, police and witnesses said. The dead included two children. 
Others in the village managed to escape, said M.A. Anjum, a police 
officer.

''Around midnight, a group of men in army uniform banged on our doors 
and dragged us outside,'' said Ramesh Kumar, a villager who escaped.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Indian police said they believed the gunmen were Islamic militants, 
who have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from mainly Hindu 
India, or a merger with Islamic Pakistan, since 1989.

A cease-fire line divides Kashmir between the two countries, both of 
which claim the whole Himalayan territory, which has a population of 
some 10 million.

The massacre posed another threat to India's already tense relations 
with its nuclear rival Pakistan, although Islamabad condemned the 
violence against civilians. The hostile neighbors came to the brink 
of a fourth war after the Indian government blamed Pakistan for 
similar attacks a year ago.

Syed Salahuddin, chief of the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen militant group in 
Pakistan's part of Kashmir, expressed grief over the massacre of 
civilians and blamed the Indian security forces and spy agencies for 
the attack.

''Indian security forces and their spy agencies have been involved in 
such killings in the past as well to defame the valiant and just 
struggle of the Kashmiri freedom fighters,'' he said in a statement.

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the Islamic groups, a 
charge Islamabad denies.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India met with his top 
security advisers in New Delhi and decided to send Deputy Prime 
Minister Lal Krishna Advani to the site of the attack today, External 
Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said.

The United States joined Pakistan and Britain in condemning the 
attack, which occurred 30 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital 
of India's portion of Kashmir.

The main separatist alliance, All Parties Hurriyat Conference, in 
Indian-held Kashmir also called for a general strike today to protest 
the massacre of civilians.

Kashmiri Pandits, who have lived in the region for centuries, have 
often been the target of attacks by suspected Islamic militants 
causing tens of thousands of them to flee. At least 23 people were 
killed in a 1998 raid on another Hindu village.

Many live in refugee camps in other Indian cities.

The state government has been making efforts to bring them back to 
their homes, and Girish Chandra Saxena, the governor of 
Indian-controlled Kashmir, said yesterday's attack was aimed at 
preventing that.

The US ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, condemned ''the ghastly 
murder of innocent men, women, and children.''

''The global war on terrorism will not be won until such atrocities 
end against all countries,'' Blackwill said in a statement.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a statement: ''This blatant act 
of terrorism, reportedly carried out by persons wearing Indian army 
uniforms, is reprehensible.''

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain spoke to his Indian 
counterpart Sinha by phone, expressing his shock and offering 
condolences to the bereaved families.

The massacre occurred a day after unidentified gunmen assassinated an 
Islamic guerrilla leader who was forced out of Kashmir's main rebel 
group after reportedly holding secret talks with the Indian 
government.

Hours after yesterday's attack, hundreds of Hindu refugees living in 
camps in Jammu, the state's winter capital, held a street protest, 
accusing the government of failing to protect them.

In an unrelated incident, Indian security forces killed three 
suspected Islamic militants in a gun battle yesterday in Phatan, a 
village 45 miles south of Srinagar, police said.

Two of three wars between Pakistan and India since independence in 
1947 fought over Kashmir.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

____


ABC Online
http://www.abc.net.au
Wed, 26 Mar 2003 8:50 AEDT

EC brands massacre of Kashmiri Hindus an act of terror
European Commission (EC) external relations commissioner Chris Patten 
has condemned the "appalling" weekend massacre of 24 Hindus in 
India's Muslim-majority state of Kashmir.
The EC, the European Union's executive arm, said Mr Patten had 
written to Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha to express his 
condolences.
"This was an appalling act of terrorist violence that the European 
Commission condemns without reservation," Mr Patten said in a 
statement.
It said he "stressed that the European Union and India stand side by 
side in their common fight against terrorism, and even more so after 
such an atrocity".
Mr Sinha laid the blame for Sunday's massacre of the Hindu villagers 
on India's arch-rival Pakistan.
Unidentified gunmen late on Sunday local time, herded the Hindus from 
their homes in Nadi Marg village in northern Kashmir, lined them up 
and sprayed them with automatic gunfire.
Among the dead were 11 women and two children.

____


The Guardian , Tuesday March 25, 2003
Manhunt after Hindus massacred in Kashmir
Maseeh Rahman in New Delhi
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,921315,00.html

____

The Independent (UK)  (Mar 25, 2003)
Islamic militants kill 24 Hindus in Kashmir massacre
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=390508

____

LEMONDE.FR | 24.03.03
Tuerie d'hindous au Cachemire indien
http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3216--314011-,00.html


======

C:  Pakistan / India Edits and Reports

Pakistan Press:


The Daily Times
March 26, 2003
Editorial

Interpreting the latest Valley killing

Twelve armed men disguised as Indian troops massacred 24 Hindu men, 
women and children in the village of Nadi Marg, 52 kilometers from 
Srinagar in Indian Held Kashmir on Monday, tilting India and Pakistan 
into a new crisis of bilateral tensions. The killing has attracted 
international attention and New Delhi is receiving messages of 
condolence and sympathy from London and Washington. India and 
Pakistan exchanged heavy fire across the Line of Control (LoC) 
immediately after the incident. The grisly act has cast another 
shadow on the future of India-Pakistan relations. India's hardline 
interior minister, L.K. Advani, has visited the scene of the massacre 
and is expected to set off another round of paranoid opinion in the 
Indian media that makes it easy for him to enforce his militant 
anti-Pakistan agenda.
None of the Muslim Kashmiri militant groups has accepted 
responsibility for the massacre. In fact, the Pakistan-based leader 
of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, has condemned it in very 
strong terms and blamed the Indian agencies for it. He has linked it 
to the recent killing of the moderate Hizb leader, Majid Dar, who 
last year caused a split in the Kashmir jihad by accepting a 
ceasefire in the Valley. It may be recalled that in 2000, a group of 
armed men had killed 37 Sikhs in Chattisinghpura to coincide with the 
visit of President Clinton to New Delhi. That killing was widely 
believed to be staged by the Indian agencies to put the blame on 
Pakistan-based jihadi organisations and highlight Pakistan's 
"cross-border terrorism" during the visit. In fact, amid a new 
warlike rhetoric unleashed by the BJP government, acts of terrorism 
in Held Kashmir seem to have increased after a winter of relative 
calm. This month an attack on a police post killed thirteen people.
A section of the Pakistani press has already delivered its verdict by 
saying that Indian troops had massacred their own people. But it is 
sad that reality is interpreted differently in India and Pakistan. 
Any act of terrorism in any part of India is immediately dubbed a 
crime committed by the jihadi militias and the ISI. In Pakistan, 
anything claimed by India is rejected by the establishment and the 
public and all acts of terrorism are automatically assumed to be 
India's blame-game against Pakistan. This tendency gibes well with 
the official Indian policy to target Pakistan as a "terrorist state" 
after the 9/11 incident. International pressure on Pakistan to rein 
in its jihadi militias, prevent them from crossing the LoC, and purge 
its madrasas of extremist elements, has also been used by India to 
strengthen its anti-Pakistan campaign. On the other side, violent 
anti-India rhetoric unleashed by the leaders of the banned 
organisations in Pakistan has not helped Pakistan's cause at all.
In the new situation created by the latest killings in Nadi Marg, 
India's policy will hinge on the measure of credibility the two 
hostile states enjoy with the international community. The world 
supports Pakistan's policy of seeking dialogue with India, but it 
doesn't believe that Pakistan has ceased completely the cross-border 
infiltration by its militias. It is also not satisfied with the way 
Pakistan has acted against the banned militias, nor is it happy with 
the measures adopted by it to prevent the religious seminaries from 
becoming a nursery of extreme opinion in Pakistan. The stage is thus 
set for India to exploit Pakistan's continuing internal disorder and 
its negative international image. Pakistan's reaction is expected to 
be counter-condemnatory, which will tend to ratchet up the bilateral 
tension on the international border only recently brought down with 
great international effort. That is why the Nadi Marg massacre 
requires careful handling rather than the gut reaction of a 
hard-hitting rebuttal. *


o o o

DAWN
25 March 2003

New Delhi blamed for Kashmir massacre
By Our Staff Correspondent

MUZAFFARABAD, March 24: The chairman of Muttahida Jihad Council and 
supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, on Monday 
strongly condemned the killing of 24 Kashmiri Pundits and blamed the 
Indian agencies for the gruesome incident.
"The latest of the series of such incidents is imitation of the 
Chattisingpura massacre, which was later proven to have been carried 
out by the Indian army to defame the freedom movement," he said in a 
statement here.
At least 36 Sikhs were killed in cold blood on the outskirts of 
Srinagar on the eve of the then US President Bill Clinton's visit to 
India.
The MJC chief said the Hindu community, which had not migrated from 
held Kashmir, was supporting the freedom struggle, and India was 
trying in vain to confront them with the Mujahideen by carrying out 
such ghastly incidents.
Recalling the killing of Hizb battalion commander Kuldip Kumar alias 
Akhtar by the Indian army in an encounter in Udhampur on March 19, he 
said members of the minority communities were being killed by the 
army for their affiliation with the freedom struggle.
He said the recent disclosure by a former occupied Kashmir minister, 
Dr Mustafa Kamal that the Indian army was involved in the 
Chattisingpura massacre was enough to establish that New Delhi itself 
was masterminding and executing such incidents.
"The Mujahideen groups strongly condemn the massacre of Pundits and 
express their heartfelt sympathies with the bereaved families. It is 
not their but our loss as well," Mr Salahuddin said.
"We also reiterate our demand that an independent probe should be 
held under the auspices of the United Nations to unearth and expose 
the perpetrators of such heinous crimes," he added.


++++

Indian Press:


Kashmir Images
www.kashmirimages.info
25 Mar 2003
Editorial

Shame!
by Bashir Manzar

The gruesome and barbaric massacre of twenty four hapless Pandits has 
once again put a question mark on the very concept of humanity. 
People cutting across political thoughts and beliefs have condemned 
the act. Once again there are emotional statements from mainstream as 
well as separatist politicians. On the day of massacre there was a 
mad race among the politicians from different schools of thought to 
visit the spot and get themselves clicked beside the dead bodies of 
poor and unfortunate victims. They got themselves clicked and managed 
to get those pictures published in newspapers and telecast on 
television channels, and that is all. This has been happening and 
this will continue to happen in future as for politicians it is part 
of the game. Conflict economy is on what the politicians here thrive. 
They are mere shopkeepers and the cheapest commodity available on 
their political shops is human life and blood. The more blood split, 
the more money, fame it gets for them. It is the human tragedy that 
keeps them relevant and, therefore, they issue statements for a day 
or too, order probes, suspend some cops, call strikes and after a few 
days forget, no matter how gruesome the tragedy would have been and 
start praying for something more dastardly to occur so that they get 
more media coverage, more money and more fame.
People describe the act as inhuman. Is it so? No, calling the killers 
as inhumans is insulting the species. Inhumans never do this, only 
humans do. History bears witness, humans have been massacring humans, 
burning them alive, burying them alive. Human life has become the 
cheapest thing available and none other than the humans are 
responsible for it. Dogs never eat dogs, only humans have that 
distinction. Those who massacred twenty four humans are very much 
humans - part of human civilisation. Civilisation - what humans are 
proud of is in fact barbarism. Humans have been doing this and they 
will continue to do this and in a bid to maintain the fiasco that 
they are Ashraf-ul-Makhlookat (superior creation) they will try to 
camouflage things by describing these acts as inhuman, insulting the 
species that can not even dream of falling as low as humans fall.
Why these hapless Pandits were done to death? Who were the shameless 
people who massacred them? These and much more question will continue 
to haunt those who are yet to abandon their sanity. Kashmir polity is 
full of questions and questions alone. Not that there are no answers 
to all these questions but there is no will to answer. Mysteries are 
what help politicians to rule the roost. Keep everything shrouded in 
mystery and add to the confusion of an already confused lot. From 
Moulana Farooq's murder to Qazi Nissar's, from Chittisinghpora 
massacre to Nadimarg, there are only questions - not difficult to 
answer. Politicians don't want to make the answers public as that may 
devastate their conflict entrepreneurship. And as for as common 
people are concerned it is the vested interest coupled with fear and 
scare that has sealed their lips. Unless they gather the courage to 
unlock their lips nothing is going to change. Humans would continue 
to die at the hands of unidentified persons who in most of the cases 
are well identified but the identity is being concealed for different 
reasons. Politicians will always try to save their skin - mainstream 
accusing separatists and vice versa but those who are dying are 
ordinary Kashmiris and only they, not the government or the 
separatists, can save themselves if they gather courage to call a 
spade a spade.

o o o

The Indian Express
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Edits
Return of the dark night
The heinous attack on Kashmiri Pandits belied any hope that J&K had 
exorcised its past
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=20760

o o o

The Economic Times, MARCH 26, 2003
EDITORIAL
Foil their designs
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=41393345


o o o

The Statesman, India
Brought to heal
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=10500


o o o

PTI
KASHMIR-BJP
Khurana asks Govt to break restraint and launch war on Pak
NEW DELHI, MAR 2 (PTI)

BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana today asked the Government to "break the 
restraint" and launch a war against Pakistan following the massacre 
of 24 pandits in Pulwama district in south Kashmir.

"Enough is enough. It is high time the Government break the restraint 
being observed against Pakistan. Terrorism against India can be 
stopped only through an all out war", the Delhi BJP President said 
addressing a protest demonstration near the Pakistan High Commission.

"Till when will we wait to teach Pakistan a lesson?. Parliament 
attack, Akshardham killings and Kashmir temple carnage should not 
have been pardoned and if the Government continues with the policy, 
the terror tactics will only continue", he said.

He said India need not expect US to persuade Pakistan to stop cross 
border terrorism as the "Americans need their help during the Iraq 
war and have already withdrawn sanctions to appease them".

Holding Jammu amd Kashmir Government's soft policy on militants 
directly responsible for the recent spate of killings, Khurana 
demanded dismissal of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for 
failing to take steps to curb terrorism.

Shouting anti-Pakistan slogans, BJP activists burnt the effigy of 
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Later, large number of protestors led by Khurana and MPs Anita Arya 
and Lal Behari Tiwari who tried to break the police cordon and march 
into the Commission were arrested by the police and released 
immediately.


o o o

PTI
KASHMIR-MASSACRE-KISHORE
Sack Mufti govt: VHP
NEW DELHI, MAR 25 (PTI)

Accusing the Mufti Sayeed government of failing to stop attacks on 
Kashmiri Pandits, Vishwa Hindu Parishad today demanded dismissal of 
the state government and imposition of emergency in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre should immediately declare the state as "disturbed" and 
impose emergency and if the Union government failed to provide 
security to these Pandits, it should also go, VHP senior 
Vice-President Acharya Giriraj Kishore told reporters here.

He said it was also Central government's responsibility to provide 
security to its citizens and if it fails to do so, it should go.

Condemning the Pulwama massacre, Kishore took a dig at Centre saying 
"everytime any such incident occurs, the central leadership only 
reiterate that this is a tragic incident and it should not have 
happened but the responsibility of security also lies with them along 
with the state government.



--