MUZAFFARABAD,
Kashmir, July 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Kashmiri Muslim
fighters seeking to drive India out of Kashmir accused New Delhi
Sunday of "masterminding" the massacre of 27 people at a
shantytown in the Indian-controlled part of the disputed region. Yet,
India blamed the attack on Pakistan, news agencies reported.
"There
is no doubt left that the Indian agencies were themselves
masterminding and executing such cowardly acts frequently with an aim
to malign the mujahedin [Muslim fighters]," said Syed Salahuddin,
chairman of a 15-member alliance, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Salahuddin's
Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC), based on the Pakistani side of Kashmir,
accused India of trying to give a "terrorist and a communal color
to the freedom struggle".
"We
strongly condemn the killings and repeat that civilians belonging to
any race or religion have never been the target of any of the
mujahedin groups."
Salahuddin
expressed his "heartfelt sympathies" to the bereaved
families and said the perpetrators of the attackers would be exposed.
"Killing
of unarmed civilians is prohibited in our religion as well as in our
code of conduct. We only target military personnel and
installations," he said.
"But
I want to remind the Indian rulers that like all of their previous
such attempts, the fresh one will also fail to sabotage the freedom
movement."
India,
for its part, accused Pakistan of being behind the attack, claiming
Islamic fighters disguised as Hindu holy men on a mainly-Hindu
shantytown in southern Kashmir Saturday, killing 27 people.
Pakistan
condemned the massacre as a "terrorist attack" and said the
"motivation behind the attack seems to be to enhance tension in
the region".
"It
is evident that this is inspired by Pakistan," Indian Foreign
Minister Yashwant Sinha told India's Aaj Tak television news.
"This
is a tragic incident and this is happening and poor people were
targeted," Sinha said.
Indian
troops launched a massive hunt for suspected fighters and the Indian
security cabinet was meeting to discuss the attack, reported BBC’s
online news service.
Indian
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani is due to visit Qasim Nagar
later Sunday.
More
than 36,500 people died in Indian-controlled Kashmir since the
eruption of an anti-India rebellion in 1989. New Delhi accuses
Pakistan of arming and funding the insurgency.
Islamabad,
controlling the southern third of the divided state, denies the
charge, saying that it extends only moral, political and diplomatic
support to the "legitimate" struggle of Kashmiris seeking
self-determination.
