Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
With the growing skirmish between India and Pakistan along the border, the bus, which runs between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad of Pakistan occupied Kashmir on weekly basis, on Monday returned without a single Pakistani national.
United Jihad Council chairman and supreme commander of Hizbul Mujaheedin Syed Salah-ud-Din will address a seminar in Srinagar via telephone from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir on Wednesday. Ahsan Untoo, chairman of the human rights group, said the seminar will be attended by several senior separatist leaders including Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of APHC leaders in Srinagar, Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said: "The decision to visit Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir was taken at a meeting of the conglomerate here."
The map displayed by PDP during a power point presentation yesterday showed Aksai Chin and Karakoram region painted in red and part of China and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in green.
The Jammu and Kashmir government is working on the draft surrender policy relating to return of Kashmiri militants who had crossed over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
The Lashkar, which also calls itself the Jamaat-ud-Duwah, held an open meeting at Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last week allegedly to discuss the Kashmir issue. During the meeting, the JuD had made it clear that their battle would largely revolve around Kashmir, but in the coming days they wanted to make a mark in cities such as Pune and New Delhi.
IB sources have told rediff.com that although the meeting was held under the guise of observing the Kashmir solidarity day, it was focussed at regrouping forces.
Top Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Zarar Shah captured in the crackdown on militants earlier this month in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, has confessed the group's involvement in the terror attacks in Mumbai, a media report said on Wednesday.
Underlining that India and China are to an extent destined by geography to be 'rivals', West Bengal Governor and former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Thursday said Beijing's increasing assertiveness on its part while dealing with disputes is 'most disconcerting'.
Hitting out at Pakistan for its sharp reaction on India's military doctrine, he said, "I don't know why there is this over-reaction. India is not a war-mongering country. In spite of our differences with some of the neighbouring countries, we are trying to improve our relations with them. We have no extra-territorial ambition but our concern is to protect the country's territorial integrity."
Former Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who along with another moderate leader Abdul Gani Bhat, attended the two-hour meeting, said such interactions should increase and similar meetings should be held in Muzaffarabad, Srinagar and Jammu.
Nine seats have been proposed for STs and seven for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said. This is the first time that seats have been proposed for STs in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
"India should understand that it cannot resolve the Kashmir issue by keeping pro-freedom groups away from the dialogue process."
A mob on Thursday pelted stones on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Karvan-e-Aman bus in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, the first such attack on the cross-Line of Control bus service which started in April 2005. "Abdul Aziz Ganai, a resident of Garhi Dupatta in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, received minor injuries in the attack on the bus which was on its way to Uri from Srinagar," Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Mansoor Untoo said.
Two suspected Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, who were arrested in Delhi, had met the outfit's chief Syed Salahuddin in terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where he asked them to carry out terror strikes in India, police claimed on Friday.
Qayyum said, "There are no terror camps in PoK to the best of my knowledge. Possibly those who have picked up guns earlier may be living in some places but that does not mean it's a training camp."
In the first of the series of recruitment drives launched in Kupwara and neighbouring areas in 20 years, the response has been overwhelming, an army official said. It may be recalled that during the height of militancy from 1990 to 2005, security forces were unable to hold or even think of any recruitment camps.
The bus service was suspended after authorities in PoK did not respond to call from their Indian counterparts.
Raising the issue of Balochistan for the first time before the United Nation, India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of widespread human rights violations there as well as in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Hitting out at the report, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in New Delhi that the update of the earlier OHCHR report is "merely a continuation of the earlier false and motivated narrative" on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
With its ultras in Jammu and Kashmir constantly on the run in the wake of stepped up operations by security agencies, the Hizbul Mujahideen has asked its POK-based leadership to sneak into India and strike in a big way.
Activists of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Kashmiri groups organised protests against the execution of Afzal Guru in several Pakistani cities while the administration of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir announced three days of mourning.
In a major anti-terror operation, the Mumbai police have arrested two men suspected to be linked with terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and allegedly involved in circulation of fake Indian currency, police said on Tuesday.
"I can never let down the Kashmiris, (I) can never forget Kashmir. A solution for Kashmir is closest to my heart and I will take it forward towards a resolution," he said.
The recent infiltration bids in Jammu and Kashmir came in for some surprise for security agencies when they found Muzamil, one of the main Lashker-e--Taiba mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack, as the brain behind large-scale intrusion from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
A gazette notification was issued after the panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, signed the final order giving Jammu six additional seats and one more to Kashmir.
This came to light following the arrest of five people in a case in which Rs 13,85,000 obtained from sale of goods sent from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was allegedly distributed among terrorists and others associated with LeT outfit for terrorist activities in the Valley, they said.
Sources said the accusation comes after Geelani nominated his close aide Ghulam Nabi Sofi as the leader of the Hurriyat in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, replacing Abdullah Malik.
Pakistan on Monday summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to protest "ceasefire violations" by the Border Security Force along the Line of Control, claiming that it resulted in the death of a civilian at Rawalakot in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Vicky Nanjappa reports on why the number of recruits in Pakistan-based terrorist camps is growing to worrying proportions
Hafiz Abdur Rahman Makki, leader of terror outfit amalgam Jamaat-ul-Dawah, is emerging as a new face of terror in the country for his 'hate India' speech in which he had mentioned about attacks on Indian cities, including Pune.
In a significant gesture, the government on Thursday said it was ready to 'welcome' Kashmiris who had gone to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir if they were ready to return after giving up militancy.
Indian Army sources said Pakistan Army is using Kashmiris in PoK as cannon fodder and Indian security forces are ready to deal with any eventualities along the LoC.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri had stated that the entire territory of Jammu and Kashmir is 'disputed territory'.
A police constable was also injured in an encounter that is still going on.
