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| wise words ::. | | What is the difference between genius and stupidity? Genius has limits. - Albert Einstein. |
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| headline. | 25/09/02 |
Few Voters Brave Violence in Kashmir's Main City
Srinagar Sept 24 : Only a trickle of people braved anti-poll violence in Kashmir's main city on Tuesday to vote in a state election after an early morning gun battle between Indian security forces and suspected Islamic militants.
The low turnout in Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir and a traditional bastion of separatist support, was expected to dent Indian hopes of using the election as a springboard to help end a 13-year revolt against its rule.
Residents of the mainly Muslim city woke to the sound of gunfire as Indian security forces battled gunmen holed up in a house, before blowing it up, apparently killing those inside.
The streets then turned eerily quiet as residents observed a strike call by a separatist alliance, The All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, to protest against the election.
"What will we vote for? Whether we vote or not makes no difference. Too much injustice has been done," said Srinagar resident Bashir Ahmed.
Shops were shuttered and padlocked. People peered from windows to watch security forces combing otherwise deserted streets. Armored troop carriers, with rooftop machineguns, patrolled at flashpoints.
"Nobody has so far come to vote," polling official Majid Hussain told reporters in the early afternoon at a polling station in the heart of the city.
Voting was however brisker in other areas voting on Tuesday -- the rural district of Badgam and mainly Hindu city of Jammu -- in the second stage of a four-round state election.
More than 530 people have been killed since the poll was announced in early August, according to police. The third round of voting will be on October 1 and the last on October 8.
The first round, last week, attracted an unexpectedly high turnout of 47 percent, fueling optimism in New Delhi that the election would produce a new state government with a mandate to negotiate a peace deal giving greater autonomy to the Muslim-majority state.
But Pakistan, which calls the revolt a "freedom struggle," has dismissed the election as a farce, saying it is no substitute for a full plebiscite to let Kashmiris decide whether they want to belong to Islamic Pakistan or secular but mostly Hindu India.
The dispute over Kashmir nearly brought the two nuclear-armed neighbors to war in June.
Kashmiri separatist guerrillas, some of them based in Pakistan, have pledged to derail the vote by attacking those taking part.
Early in the day, Indian security forces rescued three policemen trapped along with the militants who had holed up in the house in Srinagar on Monday night.
One militant died in the gunfire, police said. The fate of at least one other militant, who was thought to be still inside when the house was blown up, was not known.
The building was still standing but it had been gutted by a fire and a series of rocket and grenade blasts through the night. One Indian police official said the militants were from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba separatist group. But local media said another group, the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, had phoned to say it was responsible. It said a suicide squad had intended to attack a police camp but was stopped by an Indian patrol.
Elsewhere, police killed at least seven militants in the south of Jammu and Kashmir while rebels also killed a former militant who surrendered two years ago, police said.
Militants also beheaded a relative of a candidate of the ruling National Conference, a pro- Delhi Kashmiri party. His head was found at least one mile from his body.
The latest killings brought to at least 536 the number of people killed since the election plans were announced on August 2, according to police estimates. Although this is no more than the average of recent years of 10-12 deaths a day, the threat of violence may be keeping away many voters.
"Obviously people are scared, very scared," said the outgoing National Conference Chief Minister Farook Abdullah.
During what was a warm autumn day in Srinagar, a few people trickled in to vote at sandbagged polling booths on the outskirts of the city. Others ventured out to polling stations which could be reached only by boat across Srinagar's Dal Lake.
Other polling stations were quiet. Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time and closed at 4 p.m.
Early in the day, about a dozen protesters hurled rocks at paramilitary police. The protesters shouted "What do we want? freedom!," before being dispersed.
Officials say more than 35,000 people have died since the revolt against Indian rule began in 1989. Human rights groups put the death toll at nearer to 85,000 or higher.
"This election is a fraud. One hundred thousand people have died," said businessman Riaz Wani. "You expect us to be voting after so many people have died? What was the use of their dying?
23 die as terrorists attack Gujarat temple, siege on
Gandhinagar Sept 24 : Twenty-three people were killed and another 40 injured in a deadly attack by terrorists on the Akshardham temple complex here on Tuesday evening, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said.
The killed included thirteen men, six women and four children.
Two to four armed terrorists in plain clothes entered the sprawling Akshardham temple complex at around 4.45 pm and started shooting indiscriminately at the visitors.
The exact count of the casualties was not known but eye-witnesses reported several bodies of those dead and injured being taken out of the temple complex. The injured were rushed to the Gandhinagar civil hospital.
A contingent of the Rapid Action Force entered the temple complex about 45 minutes after the attack and gunshots could be heard by those who gathered at the site on hearing the news. The entire temples complex was barricaded and cordoned off even as a 'Red Alert' was sounded all over Gujarat.
More news is awaited while at the time of going to press.
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| notices. | 25/09/02 |
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