DATE=9/8/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=KASHMIR SITUATION
NUMBER=5-44212
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Anger, frustration and violence are escalating in
India's Jammu and Kashmir state. Demonstrators opposed to
Indian elections and Indian rule make almost daily
appearances in the narrow streets of Kashmir's ancient
capital, Srinigar. But as Jim Teeple reports, a more
desperate struggle is underway elsewhere in the Kashmir
valley.
// Act of crowd chanting.establish and fade under text //
TEXT: Almost every day, Islamic militants launch attacks
against Indian security forces. The government soldiers
have been trying to end the insurgency for ten years, but
they've not yet succeeded. At least 25-thousand people
have died in the clashes.
Just a few weeks ago, it looked as if tensions in Kashmir
might ease. That's when Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, though not admitting any wrongdoing, agreed to work
to withdraw the infiltrators who had crossed into Indian
Kashmir from Pakistan to occupy strategic mountain peaks.
But since that fighting ended, Islamic militants have
stepped up attacks all across the Kashmir valley.
Gurbachan Jagat, Director General of the police in India's
Jammu and Kashmir State, says the current violence in the
valley is linked to this past summer's fighting in the
northern mountains.
// JAGAT ACTUALITY //
When the security forces were busy in Kargil
(northern Kashmir) and a large number of units were
shifted out of the valley to deal with the Kargil
situation, at that time Pakistan sent a large number
of infiltrators. Seventy to
seventy-five percent of these are foreign mercenaries
with a good component of ex-servicemen. By foreign
mercenaries I mean most of them are Pakistani's and a
few Afghans. These are people who managed to
infiltrate when the security forces were in Kargil
and there was a slight break in the security grid in
the valley.
// END ACTUALITY //
Gurbachan Jagat insists that despite the recent upsurge in
fighting, police and security forces have the situation
under control. He predicts that most of the Islamic
militants will retreat into Pakistan once winter comes.
However the recent fighting in the valley is different from
the battles waged before the Kargil conflict. Islamic
militants are staging assaults on well-guarded security
installations. The assaults are mostly futile and the
militants have suffered heavy casualties. But they have
managed to surprise the Indian security forces who believed
the insurgency was largely over.
Omar Farooq is the Mirwaiz, or hereditary leader of nearly
all of Kashmir's majority-Muslim population. He also heads
his own political party which is part of the All People's
Huriayat, a group of 32 pro-independence political parties.
Omar Farooq says the upsurge in militancy is a sign that
India has failed to win the hearts and minds of Kashmiri's.
// FAROOQ ACTUALITY //
Since the last year or so we are seeing increased
attacks on Indian Army personnel. And they are
fighting like real fighters. And I think that's a
clear message to the Indians that maybe they have
400-thousand troops present in the valley but Kashmir
is a very difficult terrain and it's not possible for
them to maintain the borders or the cease-fire line.
So I think they have to come to terms with Pakistan
of course, and also the people of Kashmir. I don't
think India can go on blaming Pakistan for what's
happening in Kashmir. Yes, Pakistan is factor but
the most important factor is the Kashmiri community.
//END ACTUALITY //
When relations between India and Pakistan began to thaw
earlier this year, many in the Kashmiri community were more
optimistic about their future than they had been in a long
time. They had reason to hope that ten years of fighting
had come to an end. But now, after weeks of near-war
between India and Pakistan, and an upsurge in daily
fighting between Indian security forces and Islamic
militants, few optimists are left in Kashmir. (Signed)
NEB/JLT/LTD/BK
08-Sep-1999 11:35 AM EDT (08-Sep-1999 1535 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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