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Mosque
Siege Ends With Activists' Surrender, U.S. Declines Mediation
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| Indian army
personnel exit from their armored vehicle during the siege of the mosque |
By
IOL Asia correspondent
NEW
DELHI, Feb. 5 (IslamOnline) - The two-day siege of a mosque in Sopore village in
Baramulla district of the Indian-administered Kashmir ended Monday evening when
the two Hizbul Mujahideen activists holed up there surrendered, the official
Indian news agency, PTI reported.
The
two activists, identified as Firdous Ahmad Bhat and Suhail Ahmad, both locals,
surrendered before the deputy commissioner of Baramulla, Naveen Chowdhary, in
the presence of senior army and police officers around 5.45 pm Indian local
time, sources said.
In
the normal course of events in the Valley, siege by militants is normally broken
by force. Army sources said their restraint was aimed at avoiding any damage to
the place of worship.
It
was the result of hectic efforts by senior army, police and district authorities
that the militants came out of the mosque and laid down two AK assault rifles,
six magazines, a hand grenade and some ammunition, sources said.
Earlier
in the day, the militants had hurled a grenade from the mosque injuring a
soldier while the security forces were busy tightening the cordon around the
mosque at Kangan Mohalla locality of Ambarpora, 55 km from Srinagar.
Instead
of storming the mosque, the army doubled its efforts to persuade the militants
to come out and surrender and repeatedly assured them that no harm would be
caused to them once they laid down their arms, sources said.
In
a significant statement, Dr Farooq Abdullah said today that war is inevitable if
Pakistan fails to stop cross-border terrorism in the Indian State of Jammu &
Kashmir.
"India
does not want war but Pakistan must respond positively to its initiatives to
bring peace in the Subcontinent," Abdullah told a National Conference rally
in Jammu.
Referring
to Pakistan's claim that Kashmir runs through its blood, he said "In fact,
it is in the veins of every Indian and this has been proved time and again by
those who have shed their blood in defending Kashmir's integrity and
unity." "When Sino-Indian dialogue can take place, why can't India,
Pakistan resolve their problems?" he asked.
In
another development the chief minister of the Indian-administered Kashmir, Dr
Farooq Abdullah aired his sharp disagreement with Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee who has been repeatedly saying recently that the issue in Kashmir is
not the Indian-administered part but the Pakistan-administered area, which
should be returned to India. Dr Abdullah said today that the Line of Control (LoC)
must be turned into permanent international border between India and Pakistan as
a way for a solution to the Kashmir issue.
"I
see only one solution -- that part is Pakistan and this is India," said
Abdullah when asked by newsmen to comment on Vajpayee's remarks in Patna
yesterday ruling out conversion of the LoC into international border, reported
PTI.
"Everyone
has his own stand but my stand is absolutely clear on this issue. We are India,
they are Pakistan. We cannot take it (that part of Kashmir)," said Abdullah
in comments suggesting that it was time to face up to reality. Abdullah noted
that in the three wars between India and Pakistan, New Delhi could not take that
part of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan. "Recently we had the Kargil war. Why
didn't we take it then.... We should have gone and taken it then. What are they
(India) waiting for? If they want that part of Kashmir, I don't stop them,"
he said.
In
a related development, the American ambassador in India has declared that the
U.S. will not mediate on Kashmir.
"The
U.S. position on Kashmir is very simple: We are not going to mediate on the
Kashmir issue. We do not think that we have a comparative advantage in doing so.
What we will do is to tell Pakistan and India to talk about it," said U.S.
Ambassador Robern Blackwill, replying to questions at a meet-the-press program
in south Indian town city of Trivandrum.
When
asked why the U.S. was reluctant to recognize India's right to retaliate against
Pakistan in the backdrop of cross-border terrorism, he said it was up to India
to decide in the best judgement of its national interests.
Blackwill
said he certainly believed that India had the right of self-defense. However,
"it is my impression that India has decided to give a chance to diplomacy
to solve the problem of terrorism," he said. Responding to a question, he
said it was not up to the U.S. to 'grant' India the right to retaliate. "We
are not gods going around granting the rights to respond," he said.
Stating
that the U.S. had no intention to set up military bases in India, Blackwill said
the era of any country having many military bases around the world had ended.
"You will find that as years pass, there will be less and less reliance on
foreign bases".
America's
military, strategic, diplomatic and political relationship with India had
changed beyond recognition since September 11, Blackwill said. Adding that U.S.
policy towards India was not dictated by any third country, Blackwill said the
United States has come to have a prolonged and sustained interest in South Asia
since September 11, and this was advantageous to New Delhi's position on
terrorism.
He
cited four reasons for U.S.'s changed perception about the region - the Bush
administration's commitment to transform Indo-U.S. relationship, Pakistan
President Pervez Mushraff's stance to change his country into an Islamic welfare
state, rebuilding of Afghanistan into a normal country and the U.S. interest in
Central Asia.
Blackwill
said the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan itself had helped India face
its problem of terrorism, as New Delhi would stand to benefit from the
destruction of al-Qaeda bases. He said since the December 13 attack on
Parliament, the U.S. had taken enormous diplomatic efforts to address India's
problems.
"We
have a big stake in Musharraf succeeding in transforming his country. Musharraf
had said jehad should be addressed to combating poverty and that he would check
terrorism emanating from Pak soil. Implementation is the key. We will continue
to look towards the many steps required for this," he said.
Asked
whether America's new-found interest in the region would be beneficial, he
quipped "You ask yourself, is India better off or worse off since September
11 as a result of American diplomacy". Before September 11, India was alone
in its fight against terrorism. Destruction of al-Qaeda bases and Mushrraf's
promise to end terrorism has put India in a much better position to face
cross-border terrorism, he said.
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