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Kashmiri Fighters Say Indian Ceasefire Offer In Kashmir Has Hidden Motives
MUZAFFARABAD, Kashmir (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's offer of a month-long ceasefire in Kashmir was prompted by a need to give his troops a chance to bolster sagging morale, Kashmiri fighters said Saturday.
"Under the cover of this announcement, Vajpayee wants to refresh his mentally and physically exhausted army," the chief of Harkatul Mujahideen, Moulana Farooq Kashmiri, said in a statement.
India will not "get such an opportunity" from the Islamic fighters, or mujahideen, he warned.
Most Kashmiri fighters, including the largest combat group, the Hizbul Mujahideen, have rejected the Indian offer.
Vajpayee has, however, vowed to go ahead unilaterally despite opposition from hardline Hindus, such as the Shiv Sena, at home.
The offer of a ceasefire during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan - due to start next week - was welcomed by the United States, which urged Kashmiri fighter groups to give a positive response.
But Harkatul Mujahideen's leader said the U.S. should instead pressure India to withdraw troops from Kashmir and end its fight against the 11-year Muslim uprising and Indian response, which has claimed more than 34,000 lives since 1989.
"If the U.S. has any sympathy for the Kashmiris, then she must ask India to pull out its troops from the occupied territory," he said.
The Kashmiri fighter leader accused Washington of safeguarding Indian interests by supporting the "deceptive ceasefire offer."
Kashmiri groups have said they will intensify attacks against the Indian military in Kashmir during Ramadan, which begins on November 27th.
Meanwhile a prominent leader from Indian Kashmir, currently on a visit to Pakistan, met compatriots in Islamabad.
Abdul Gani Lone arrived in Pakistan last weekend to attend the wedding of his son Sajjad to Asma, daughter of Amanullah Khan, chairman of the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) based in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.
Sources close to the meeting said Kashmiri leaders discussed the ramifications of Vajapyee's ceasefire initiative and its impact on the Muslim drive in Indian-administered Kashmir.
As well as Khan and Lone, the talks were attended by Rashid Turabi, head of the Kashmiri chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Sardar Abdul Qayyum, former president of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Qayyum, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference party, was due to sketch out details of the two-day meeting at a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday.
Lone said on Wednesday the ceasefire offer was a small but a positive step and called for talks involving Pakistan, India and the Kashmiri Islamic leadership to find a solution to the conflict.
The Hizbul Mujahideen also asked India to accept tripartite peace negotiations.
India accuses Pakistan of fuelling the Kashmiri movement. Islamabad denies the charge but openly supports the Kashmiri drive morally, politically and diplomatically.
The Himalayan state, divided between Pakistan and India and claimed by both, has triggered two of the three wars between the neighbors since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The neighbors came close to another war over Kashmir in 1999, a year after tit-for-tat nuclear weapon tests.
Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has repeatedly offered to hold talks with India on Kashmir, issuing his latest plea on Wednesday, since he seized power in a coup in October 1999.
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