Subject: Pakistan/India
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 13:20:09 +0100


I think I remember there being someone on this list who writes well about
what's going on her..........for comments
H
Pakistan test-fires missile in power taunt to India

DAVID ORR IN SRINAGAR


PAKISTAN yesterday test-fired a missile capable of delivering a nuclear
warhead to the heart of India, in a bid to demonstrate to its people that it
will stand up to its more powerful neighbour.

"The Ghauri can carry its warheads with great accuracy," a Pakistan army
statement said. Pakistan has said it will conduct several missile tests over
the next three days.

Pakistan said the tests were routine and were "concerning technical
matters".

India said it was not worried. "The government of India is not particularly
impressed by these missile antics, clearly targeted at the domestic audience
in Pakistan," said Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao.

But the missile tests come as both India and Pakistan are on a war footing
and tensions along the disputed border that divides the Himalayan state of
Kashmir between the two neighbours are at a peak.

The countries have massed about one million troops at their frontier.
Tension escalated last week after 34 people were killed by Pakistani
militants at an army camp in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

In the past week, cross-border shelling has killed dozens in divided Kashmir
and President Pervez Musharraf's brinkmanship in testing missiles at such a
sensitive time has increased the tension.

As the cross-border artillery exchanges continued yesterday, one young
Pakistani sat in his prison cell regretting his involvement in the war in
Kashmir. Until his recent capture, Abdul Qadir was a fanatical Islamic
fighter bent on waging jihad against Indian forces in Kashmir.

The 17-year-old Pakistani militant shuffles into the office of the police
superintendent in Pulwama, his head bowed and his right arm in plaster
beneath his traditional loose-fitting shirt. The wounded fighter was
captured by the Indian army three weeks ago and is now awaiting trial in
police custody in the village, an hour's drive from Srinagar, the capital of
Indian-administered Kashmir.

"My unit of seven men was ordered to cross over here from Azad Kashmir
(Pakistani administered Kashmir)," said the bearded young man.

"Our mission was to kill Indian soldiers and 'kaffirs' (Hindus). The
conditions in the high mountains were hard and four of our group turned
back. Three of us continued and were later joined by eight others."

An apprentice painter from Pakistani Punjab, he had received six weeks'
training at a remote guerrilla camp in the mountains of Pakistani-held
Kashmir before being sent on his first mission.

Along with some 80 other young men - a mixture of Pakistanis and Kashmiris -
he had learned how to handle a Kalashnikov rifle, throw grenades and work a
wireless set. His mentors, he says, were Pakistani 'mujaheddin', not members
of the Pakistani regular army.

"One evening, as we were crossing the Pir Panjal range, there was a battle
with Indian soldiers and I was hit in the arm," he said. "I was separated
from my comrades and left to fend for myself. I had lost my weapon and had
to walk for days with nothing to eat. I had been given only 500 Indian
rupees (£8), our leader was holding the rest of the money for our mission.

"I finally made it down to the valley and survived by begging and stealing
food until I was picked up. Before my arrest, I heard that my comrades had
been killed in encounters with the Indian army."

Like many Islamic militants being infiltrated across the so-called Line of
Control (LoC) that divides Indian from Pakistani parts of Kashmir, Qadir is
a member of the Lashkar e Toiba militant Islamic group.

Both Lashkar and Jaish e Mohammed, the other main Pakistani-based militant
group sending insurgents into Indian Kashmir, were banned earlier this year
by the Pakistani authorities but have since reformed under different names.

"I was prepared to die for jihad", says Qadir, "and if I hadn't lost my
weapon, I would have gone down fighting, I would not have been taken alive."

After a few moments' silence, Qadir adds that he regrets having joined the
jihad and would now return to a life of peace if allowed home. He said his
parents opposed his involvement in jihad.

Earlier this week, the Indian prime minister told Indian troops to prepare
for "a decisive battle". His warning, issued in the wake of a militant raid
on an Indian army base in the Jammu region that left more than 30 dead, has
prompted fears of imminent war between India and Pakistan.

On Friday, however, Atal Behari Vajpayee left for the summer resort of
Manali in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. Analysts believe his
three-day trip is an indication that, for the moment at least, the Indian
leader is not about to take his country into war.

Sources in New Delhi indicate that India is prepared to give Pakistan up to
two months to stop cross-border incursions into Indian territory.

Otherwise, say the sources, India could launch commando and air strikes
against military training camps in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Such
strikes would almost certainly lead to retaliation by Pakistan.

The threat of the crisis leading to all-out conflict between the
nuclear-armed neighbours has prompted a flurry of international diplomatic
activity. Top-level delegations from the United States and the European
Union have been visiting the region and Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw is due to arrive in India and Pakistan this week.

Last week, Musharraf is reported to have told his cabinet and national
security council that the only way to avoid war with India is for
cross-border infiltration to be stopped.

But Indian security forces in Kashmir harbour doubts about Musharraf's real
intentions.

"In the last few months, 50 or 60 militants have infiltrated into the
Pulwama sector alone," says additional superintendent of police, Sewa Singh
Mankotia. "Intelligence we've received is that there's going to be a large
number of infiltrators coming over during the next few months."

Islam in India

ISLAM was first brought to the Indian sub-continent by Arab raiders in the
seventh century.

In 1596, the Moghul Empire was founded by Muslims. The empire dominated
Indian life and led to a renaissance of art and learning. Although the
majority of the population was non-Muslim the Moghul emperors ruled with
tolerance.

In the 17th century, European powers began competing for control of India.
Britain established a protectorate over the sub-continent in 1803. In 1857,
India became a part of the British Empire.

In 1947, India was divided between Hindi-dominated India and Muslim Pakistan
and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The largest part of Kashmir remained in
India after the Hindi Maharajah of Kashmir decided to join India even though
the majority of his people were Muslim.

Kashmir has a population of eight million and there are more than 110
million Muslims elsewhere in India.
"civil disobedience. . . is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience.
Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the
dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and
millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that
people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation
and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient
while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand
thieves are running the country. That's our problem." [Howard Zinn, Failure
to Quit, p. 45]

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who
could not hear the music."-Friedrich Nietzsche-

Thig an latha.

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