Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha with Chairman of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar recently. A five-member delegation headed by Mr. Sinha submitted its report on Kashmir unrest.
The five-member group suggests release of first-time offenders, re-starting dialogue with separatists and judicial probe on police excess.
A five-member Delhi group, headed by former Union minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday submitted its report to Union Home Ministry in Delhi on their recent visit to troubled Jammu and Kashmir.
The group had visited Srinagar from October 25-27 and met senior separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Yasin Malik, and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Reiterating that the group’s initiative was not “a sponsored one,” the report said, “
Across the political spectrum, the Kashmiris we met spoke to virtually the same script about the history of the Kashmir issue. They may have varied in the exposition of a particular issue but basically all of them argued for a political solution to what they perceived as a political issue. They made the point that this is the fifth generation of Kashmiris which was protesting but to no avail.”
It underlined that there was also anger due to “excessive use of force by the security forces”.
“The violence which began with the funeral procession of slain militant Burhan Wani has so far resulted in the death of nearly a hundred people. The question that most Kashmiris are asking is: Why were unarmed people going to offer last prayers for Burhan Wani fired at?” it said.
The report findings also highlighted that the business and trading community in Kashmir Valley “was not bothered about profit and loss but human loss and about the worsening situation in the Valley.”
It said use of pellet guns for crowd control was the sorest point of all conversation with Kashmiris. “They want the pellet guns banned and cannot understand why Government of India is delaying this decision and why Indian security establishment is reluctant to give up this weapon,” it added.
The group was also shared that people alleged that search operations were resulting in destruction of property at Kashmir homes . “Apparently electrical and electronic gadgets are destroyed in the name of search operations. This continues even when the search operation yields nothing,” the report said.
It also underlined public grievances about “abuse of Public Safety Act (PSA)”, destruction of electric transformers by security forces and harassment of people outside the valley.
In the long term, the report said people stressed “refusal to recognise Kashmir as a politically contentious issue.” “Across the cross section of people we met there was anguish about India not recognizing that Kashmir was a dispute. The refusal to see Kashmir as a political issue, people claimed, had resulted in the present situation because a political issue cannot be solved through law and order measures,” it said.
The report also highlighted that Kashmiri separatist leaders think “unless India and Pakistan talk there can be no permanent solution to the Kashmir issue”.
“Most Kashmiris believe that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sincere in his approach to resolving the Kashmir tangle,” it said.
The report pointed out that people think “Indian public was indifferent to the plight of Kashmiris.”
Suggestions
The report recommended to start the process of reopening schools and as a precursor to this, release forthwith all first time offender schoolchildren and minors arrested under PSA.
It suggested considering postponement of school examinations to a later date instead of insisting on holding them from November 15, compensation to kin of the civilians killed and those wounded, rehabilitation packages for those permanently blinded by pellet guns and set up of a blind school in Srinagar for children blinded by pellet guns.
It called for a judicial commission into excesses by the police, especially the use of pellet guns.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...efire-targets-indian-posts/article9319014.ece
Pakistani troops on Tuesday targeted Indian posts along the Line of Control (Loc) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district by opening fire and lobbing mortar shells.
Indian troops guarding the borderline retaliated, resulting in exchanges.
There has been firing by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Nowshera sector since 8:45 a.m., a senior Army officer said.
There has been no casualty or injury to any one in the firing by Pakistan, he said.
Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire and targeted Mankote and Balakote areas of Mendhar sector in Poonch district on Monday.
On November 6, two Army jawans were killed and five others were injured as Pakistan Army opened fire in an attempt to facilitate two infiltration bids along the LoC in Krishna Ghati and Poonch sectors of Poonch district.
There have been over 100 ceasefire violations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir after the surgical strike.
The worst-ever Pakistani shelling targeting civil population took place on November 1,2016, when eight persons, including two children and four women, were killed and 22 others were injured along the International Border and along the LoC in five sectors of J&K.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nati...oops-violate-ceasefire-in-rajouri-poonch.html
Jammu: One jawan was killed in Nowshera Sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Tuesday when Pakistani troops Indian posts and civilian areas along Line of Control, forcing Indian troops to retaliate.
There was unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district from 1345 hours on Tuesday, a defence spokesman said.
They used 120mm mortar bombs and automatic weapons during the ceasefire violation, he said, adding befitting reply has been given to them without any casualty on our side.
Pakistani troops are firing along the LoC in Nowshera sector since 8:45 am, a senior Army officer said.
Indian troops guarding the borderline retaliated, resulting in exchanges.
"There has been no casualty or injury to any one in the firing by Pakistan," he said.
It may be recalled that Pakistani troops had violated ceasefire and resorted to firing in Mankote and Balakote areas of Mendhar sector in Poonch district on Monday.
On November 6, two army jawans were killed and five others – two soldiers, a BSF officer and two women – were injured as Pakistani army opened fire in an attempt to facilitate two infiltration bids along the LoC in Krishna Ghati and Poonch sectors of Poonch district.
There had been over 100 ceasefire violations on Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir after the surgical strike.
The worst-ever Pakistani shelling, targeting civil population, took place on November 1 when eight persons, including two children and four women, were killed and 22 injured along the IB and the LoC in five sectors of J&K, forcing Indian troops to give befitting reply by destroying 14
Pakistani posts and killing two of their troopers.
The state government had closed over 400 schools along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region in wake of the ongoing heavy cross-border firing.
A total of 18 people, including 12 civilians, were killed and more than 83 suffered injuries in Pakistani shelling and firing along IB and LoC in Jammu.
