Jammu & Kashmir - Articles

Fragile APHC

“APHC on the verge of breakup”, reported the lone bilingual daily Alsafa (8 September 2003) in its lead news. Thirteen constituents of the APHC voted against the party Chairman Abbas Ansari. According to reports, a general council meeting was held under the chairmanship of Aga Sayeed Hassan at Geelani’s residence in which the thirteen parties participated. Two factions of the People’s League and the opposing group of the People’s Conference also took part in the meeting. It was concluded that Hurriyat had lost trust among the people due to its undemocratic and unrealistic approach. Gh. Nabi Sumji, Dr. Gh. Mohd. Hubi, Aga Sayeed Hassan, Firdoos Ahmed Shah are among the newly formed group. Masrat Alam, the convener of the group has been asked to forge unity among members besides maintaining communication between them. It needs to be mentioned that there are 23 parties in Hurriyat which include seven general council bodies, however no member of the general council was present on the occasion, summed up the report.

The newly formed Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference got strengthened when the JKLF called back its activists from the Hurriyat headquarters reported Alsafa (15 September 2003) in its lead news. Meanwhile, Mirwaiz Umar farooq in an attempt to end the disagreement within the Hurriyat met the President and Vice President of Jamat-I-islami. According to reliable sources, "President of the JKLF nominated Bashir Ahmed Bhat, Gh Rasool Eedi and Tahir Mir, a three member group to get in touch with Masrat Alam, caretaker chairman of newly formed Hurriyat."

Escalation in Violence

Just a few hours after the commencement of the inter-state council meet, indiscriminate firing and motor shelling shook Srinagar city. The meeting was of extraordinary importance given that it was held outside Delhi for the first time. Dr. G.M. Bhat in a report in the weekly Chattan (7 September 2003) commented on the increasing violence on the eve of inter-state council meet and thereafter. "The state government was mistaken in thinking that the meeting would remain the focus of attention among the people and the media. On a hartal day, the suicide attack on the Green Way Hotel caught all the attention. The attack claimed five persons including a local militant and an Ikhwani commander, (Ex. MLC) Javeed Shah. This attack gave the lie to the government’s claims that normalcy is returning to the Valley quickly.. It continued "Without assessing the ground situation, extraordinary importance was given to the meeting and security arrangements were not properly taken leading to the mishap". On 27 August, in broad day light militants killed BSF personnel and a policeman in Soura. A day later, militants hurled a grenade on the security forces picket in Karan Nagar. In yet another encounter in Safa Kadal, security forces killed Gazi Baba mastermind behind the Parliament attack.

Missionary Schools

In its editorial Srinagar Times (3 September 2003) observed that the machinery of schools/institutions besides educating students at a high cost were involved in a process of spreading Christianity "In Srinagar, three big Christian schools earn crores of rupees annually, but most of their income goes outside the state. From time to time, different governments have been generous towards these schools. Tens of crores of rupees are being spent on their infrastructure and maintenance, etc. There is also a great craze among parents to admit their children in these schools. A few days back, a parent wrote to the principal of a missionary school, that if his son were admitted in the school, he would embrace Christianity.." While referring to the annual day function of a school, attended by Muzaffar Hussain Beig, the editorial continued, "the students were made to pay extra fee to meet the expenditure. Beig has forgotten that these schools enjoy far better facilities than government institutions, an obvious injustice. It is imperative that the Mufti Govt. set up a committee to look after these institutions and ensure that teachers are Kashmiris because every student is basically a Kashmiri, summed up the editorial.

Muslim Auqaf Trust

The government has fulfilled a long desire of people at large by taking charge of Muslim Auqaf trust commented the Aftab (10 September 2003) in its editorial. "Undoubtedly, this is a step in accordance with the wishes of people. For long, people have been complaining about the Trust being represented by a particular political group, and misusing its property…" Now, people want to see the trust flourishing and its income utilized in a proper manner. The government should take the utmost care of the wishes of people, summed up the editorial.

The Mufti Government

Alsafa (1 September 2003) gave prominence to the statement of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in which he reiterated that his government was committed to winning the hearts and minds of the people by resolving the Kashmir issue through peace talks. The statement was made at a press conference called by the Press Club in Kolkata. "Successful talks are possible only if the gun is avoided. Delhi has already extended invitations to the Hurriyat but latter is yet to respond. The Hurriyat should break the ice and come forward for a dialogue. At a time when both countries call for a meaningful dialogue, there is no room for the gun."