Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 5, 2001
ISLAMABAD: Military ruler General
Pervez Musharraf on Monday renewed support for Kashmiris as Pakistan observed
a day of solidarity for the 12-year-old Muslim separatist campaign in Kashmir.
A major rally held in Islamabad
was led by Culture and Sports Minister S.K. Tressler, with marchers carrying
banners and chanting: "Victory is imminent", "Kashmiri martyrs' blood will
not go in vain" and "Kashmir will join Pakistan," witnesses said.
The participants including supporters
of Kashmiri parties, women and children paraded up the main road opposite
the parliament building.
Police, fire brigades and ambulances
accompanied the marchers who also included a visiting three-member pro-Kashmiri
Sikh delegation from Canada.
Around 1,000 people including women
and children in school uniforms gathered at Islamabad's main entry point
under the banner of the main fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami party.
They formed a human chain in expression
of "solidarity with Kashmiri mujahideen (freedom fighters)." "The aim is
to convey to the Kashmiris that they are not alone in their struggle,"
Jamaat leaders said.
Processions and demonstrations were
also organised in other cities and the Pakistan-controlled northern third
of Kashmir to mark the day, an annual event since 1990.
The day, already declared a holiday,
dawned with special prayers in mosques for the success of the "liberation
struggle" in Kashmir. Later traffic in key cities came to a standstill
for a minute of silence and prayers were offered for the Kashmiri "martyrs,"
officials said.
Markets and government and private
establishments remained shut. Musharraf was due to speak later at Muzaffarabad
in Pakistani Kashmir at a camp housing refugees from Indian Kashmir.
In a message to mark the occasion,
he vowed Pakistan would continue its political, moral and diplomatic support
for the Kashmiris until they achieve self-determination.
"The people of Pakistan today are
observing the Kashmir solidarity day to reaffirm their steadfast and unflinching
support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for their inalienable
right to self-determination," he said.
"India has tried to suppress the
Kashmiri people's freedom struggle through the use of brute military force.
This effort is doomed to failure because the people of Kashmir are determined
to get back their right of self-determination which India has sought to
usurp," Musharraf said.
The 53-year row over Kashmir, which
has caused two of the three wars between Pakistan and India since their
independence in 1947, remains a flashpoint between the newly nuclear armed
countries.
India, which holds two-thirds of
the disputed territory, accuses Pakistan of fomenting the unrest in its
zone, which has claimed more than 34,000 lives since 1989. Islamabad says
the movement is indigenous but offers moral and diplomatic support.
Pakistan and India have recently
made gestures, raising hopes for a resumption of dialogue stalled since
the Kargil conflict in Kashmir in 1999.
India declared a unilateral ceasefire
in Kashmir and Pakistan pulled out some of its troops from the Line of
Control, the unofficial border in Kashmir.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee and Musharraf Friday held their first direct telephone conversation
since the general seized power in a military coup in October 1999 a week
after a huge earthquake struck the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul
Sattar said on Sunday "the atmosphere between India and Pakistan is less
tense today" which may make it possible to take further steps towards settlement
of the Kashmir dispute.
(AFP)
