22 July 2003

ADVANI: KASHMIR NORMALCY BIG BLOW TO MILITANCY

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Tuesday gave a pat to the Mufti Mohd Sayeed Government for equally determined as the Centre in the fight against terrorism and claimed there was "complete cooperation" between the Centre and the State Government on the issues of security and development.

Responding to an impromptu 80-minute debate on the terrorist attack on the Vaisho Devi pilgrims Monday night drowning the Question Hour, Advani also refused to share his own BJP's chief whip Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra's charge that the Mufti Government's "healing touch" and release of the militants was promoting militancy. No use fighting on words like "healing touch, ityadi, ityadi (etc.,etc)," he remarked.

The House later adopted a motion by Speaker Manohar Joshi that strongly deplored the barbaric attacks by the militants to vititiate the climate of peace. Advani assured the House that there shall be no complacency on the part of the Centre in dealing with the militants. Debate in Parliament always impacts the state and hence let a message go that "we are all united in our fight against terrorism," he said.

Members, cutting across the party lines, also affirmed that nobody in the country wants terrorism and as such all parties are with the government in giving the death blow to terrorism troubling Kashmir for the past so many years. There was, however, acrimony when BJP's Malhotra tried to ridicule the Congress, pointing out that it was the major partner in the state government that should have prevented the murderous attack on the pilgrims.

Normalcy is fast returning in Jammu and Kashmir as seen from the heavy rush of tourists and that needs to be publicised to the hilt as it would help the state, Advani said while pointing out that three militant attacks in the past 24 hours, including the grenade attack on the pilgrims that killed six and wounded 47, were attempts to negate the return of normalcy. He described all three attacks as the "continuing battle" and part of the "proxy war" from across the borders.

The two other incidents referred by Advani related to the killing of a deputy Superintendent of Police while travelling from Rajouri to his work place at Shahdra Sheikh Monday evening and Tuesday morning attack by two Fidayeens on the military camp in Akhnoor resulting in death of six army personnel. Both the Fidayeens were also killed, Advani disclosed.

While the Government has to make security arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra for just one-and-a-half month, the pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi shrines come round the year and hence require much bigger level of security, Advani said, pointing out that there have been 29 lakh pilgrims to Vaishno Devi since January as compared to 21 lakhs between January and July last year.

The Deputy PM also pointed out that Monday's attack was not the first on the Vaishno Devi pilgrims. There had been three attacks last year. None was killed but some wounded in two cases while all five terrorists were gunned down by the forces in the third incident, Advani said.

He said the visit of the President, the Prime Minister, 15 Parliamentary committees, Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi and her Congress Chief Ministers to Jammu and Kashmir were all "positive factors" to show the return of normalcy in the state.

"Establishment of democracy" in Jammu and Kashmir through an impartial Assembly elections last year was the major turning point in the history of Jammu and Kashmir that has helped in the fast restoration of normalcy, Advani affirmed.

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President Omar Abdullah, however, asserted that this was not for the first time that the normalcy appeared to be returning to the state as he said similar situation was witnessed after the PM's Lahore trip in 1999 that saw a similar rush of tourists. But that brought complacency and the result was the Kargil conflict.

Omar dubbed the present situation of normalcy hailed by so many MPs who had opportunity to visit his state as nothing but "a false sense of security" as he said the militants were just lying low and have not gone away. He also wanted the House to show to the world that all are one in fighting terrorism instead of blaming each other as the Congress and the BJP members did.

Pointing out that the State Government and the Centre were equally responsible for the security in the state, Omar said the Chief Minister should take up any security lapse at the Unified Command created in the state for coordination between the military, central para-military forces and the state police. "Think of the next option of the Unified Headquarters if the coordination is lacking," he said and urged the Centre to implement a report prepared by a special secretary, Home, for the coordination between the Centre and the state.

The Opposition held a meeting at the place of CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee and decided to jointly raise the issue of the attack on the Vaishno Devi right at the start of the House. As such they held back the other issue of the CBI withdrawing the charge of criminal conspiracy in the Babri Mosque demolition case against Advani and seven others until this was through.

And, so the Opposition members were back in the well immediately after the debate and a minute's silence to mourn the deaths, forcing an ultimate adjournment of the House on the issue for the second consecutive day.

While Priya Ranjan Das Munshi (Cong) wanted Advani to spell out the security arrangements in Jammu and Kashmir and explain why the Centre was not tackling the militants effectively, BJP's Prof. Malhotra wanted the State Government to be "careful" in releasing the militants as that sends wrong signals. Malhotra wanted the Congress not to target the Centre or the military fighting the militants but condemn Pakistan and its "aka" America.

Others who spoke included Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee, TDP's Yerran Naidu, BJP's Prakash Mani Tripathi, Shiv Sena leader Chandrakant Khere, Bahujan Samaj Party's Rashid Alvi, Congress' Pawan Bansal and Muslim League's G M Banatwala.

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