SRINAGAR—Kashmiris said on Tuesday they were disappointed that long-awaited peace talks between New Delhi and the disputed region’s APHC failed to produce a breakthrough.
But analysts said the first meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Monday was positive and both sides had a long way to go before a solution to the decades-old problem could be found.
Monday’s talks ended with Singh assuring Hurriyat leaders that India would cut troop levels in the heavily militarised region if insurgent violence and guerrilla incursions from Pakistan ceased. Singh also promised to review cases of people held under various anti-terror laws in Kashmir and safeguard human rights.
But on Tuesday, Kashmiri police charged a Asiya Andrabi and a dozen of her followers under a tough public safety law, drawing strong condemnation from Hurriyat.
Asiya Andrabi, chief of the Dukhtaran-e-Milat (Daughters of the Muslim Faith), was arrested last week for raiding hotels, restaurants and wine shops to stamp out “flesh trade” and check moral decline.
“This exposes the duplicity of Indian politicians,” a Hurriyat statement said. “On one hand they are talking of confidence-building measures and peace talks. On the other hand they arrest freedom-loving leaders”.
“This is clear proof that some vested interests are bent upon jeopardising this entire process.” Indian government officials were unavailable for immediate comment. Kashmiris said they had expected an announcement on an immediate cut in troop levels.
“It is unfortunate that the government has put a condition on the reduction of troops,” said businessman Tanveer Ahmad. “I was expecting more than this”.
An estimated 700,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in Kashmir to combat an insurgency that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since late 1989.
The troops have been blamed for human rights violations, and Pakistani and Kashmiri leaders have long wanted New Delhi to reduce the number of security forces. College student Farooq Ahmad said the talks had failed to tackle the core problem of Kashmir. “There was no word on the dispute which is the root cause of the problem,” he said.
Although ties have warmed since the neighbours launched a new bid to make peace two years ago, they are nowhere near finding a solution to the Kashmir dispute.
Online adds: The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday put breakaway Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani under house arrest, sources said.
They said Mr Geelani was scheduled to take part in a programme of the Dukhtaran-e-Milat (Daughters of Faith).The group was to protest the arrest of its Chief Asiya Andrabi. The sources said the police informed Mr Geelani at 0430 hrs in the morning that he has been placed under house arrest.
The police arrested Ms Andrabi along with six member of the ‘’Mariyam Squad’’ while they were carrying out raids at various places in the city to expose those allegedly involved in flesh trade. Mr Geelani had strongly condemned the police action against Ms Andrabi.
Indian government on Tuesday approved construction of an alternative route to Leh district in Held Kashmir through Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Announcing the decision after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the new all-weather 292-km road via Darchu, Padam and Nimu will be built in nine years at a total cost of Rs 13.55 billion.
For making this route motorable throughout the year, the CCS approved the construction of an 8.8 km-long tunnel under the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh at a cost of Rs 9.43 billion. Approach roads leading to it will be double lane from both sides and will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.8 billion, Mukherjee told reporters here. Though the Borders Roads under the Army has already constructed a motorable road to link Manali with Leh, the route gets shut down in winter due to heavy snowfall on the Rohtang pass.
The stretch of the road via Darchu in Keylong district of Himachal Pradesh and Padam, the capital of Zanskar region, and Nimu on the outskirts of Leh would be laid at a cost of Rs 2.86 billion, the Minister added.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Committee on Security cleared raising of four Territorial Army battalions comprising local tribals in the North East as well as an additional one in Held Kashmir.
To be called ‘Home and Hearth Battalions’, each consisting of nearly 1,000 personnel, will be raised one each in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur and one in Held Kashmir, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
These battalions, the Minister said, will be on the pattern of seven already raised from border areas of IHK. In additional to these seven, one more battalion was being raised in J and K. Mukherjee said personnel of these battalions will be employed for five years initially. Thereafter they will be given a rest period and then brought back for three years with two months of training each year.
Indian Union Home Ministry today initiated the process of reviewing all cases of those detained under Public Safety Act and POTA in Held Kashmir.
Following yesterday’s talks of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the five-member Hurriyat team led by its Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the Home Ministry has “initiated the process of reviewing all cases of those held under detention”, an official spokesman was quoted as saying.
The Home Ministry has accordingly advised the state government to examine the cases and make its recommendations at the earliest for consideration of a Joint Screening Committee, the spokesman added.