Kashmiri militant confirms cease-fire

July 26, 2000
Web posted at: 9:21 a.m. HKT (0121 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- The leader of one of the most powerful groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir Tuesday confirmed a cease-fire declaration and said it was now up to India to respond positively.

A spokesman for India's prime minister welcomed the announcement and said New Delhi was ready for talks, but other Pakistan-based militant groups denounced it as treason and said they would fight on.

Hizbul Mujahideen chief commander Sayed Salahuddin told a news conference in Islamabad the cease-fire was conditional on a positive response by India and to test whether New Delhi was sincere in holding talks.

MESSAGE BOARD India-Pakistan relations      BACKGROUND KASHMIR Kashmir was one of many 'princely states' during the British rule of India. But when independence came and the former empire was divided into India and Pakistan in 1947, Kashmir was slow in choosing a side. It was a predominantly Muslim state with a Hindu maharaja, and during the period of limbo, a Pakistani military group crossed the border with the intent of annexing Kashmir. But India was quick to react and sent troops of its own, triggering the first of two wars between the two neighbors over Kashmir. Pakistan and India both claim sovereignty over Kashmir in its entirety, while some separatists are seeking an independent state. Kashmir is located high in the Himalayan mountain range. Indian Kashmir is the only majority Muslim state in majority Hindu India. Thousands have died in the fighting, which is said to take place on the highest battlefield on the planet. China also once lay claim to Kashmir. It invaded in 1962 only to be forced back by Indian troops. Travelers in some parts of Kashmir have been targeted by Kashmiri separatist groups, and several have been kidnapped or killed. As a consequence, the once booming tourism industry on both sides of the Pakistan- India border has suffered significantly.

"We have thrown the ball in India's court and to counter India's propaganda that (India) is ready for talks but it is the militants who continue to fight," Salahuddin said.

The cease-fire declaration has already drawn sharp criticism from other Kashmiri militant groups which said it was a betrayal of what they called a freedom struggle in the disputed Himalayan region.

"We condemn this announcement of cease-fire, we regret it," said Muhammad Usman, acting head of the Muttahida Jihad Council, an umbrella organization comprising 14 Kashmiri militant groups fighting Indian troops in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.

Usman said the council's detailed reaction to the cease-fire offer first made by Abdul Majid Dar, a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen group in Srinagar, capital of the Indian part of Kashmir, would be made Wednesday.

Usman was speaking as the council met in Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee welcomed the cease-fire declaration and said his government was ready for talks to end a 10-year separatist revolt.

"The government welcomes the cease-fire, we are willing to talk to anybody within the framework of the Indian constitution," a spokesman of Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party quoted him as telling party deputies.

Several other militant groups in Pakistan voiced their anger at the announcement, describing it as a shock and vowing to continue fighting.

"The cease-fire announcement has come as a big shock," said Fazlur Rehman Khalil, leader of Harkatul Mujahideen. "The mujahideen have nothing to do with the cease-fire. Abdul Majid Dar has been bought over by the Indians."

Mushtaq Askari, spokesman for Al-Badar Mujahideen, said Dar had no right to make such an announcement, adding he would be dealt with as a traitor by the other militant groups engaged in armed conflict with Indian forces in Kashmir.

"We strongly condemn this announcement...This is treason. The way to Kashmir's freedom is through jihad (holy war)," Askari said.

Maulana Hizbullah, spokesman for the Harkatul Mujahideen group, said the militants would continue their struggle against the Indian forces because talks in the past have failed to gain freedom for Kashmiris.

"Jihad will continue. For 50 years there were talks but there was no solution...," he said.

India controls 45 percent, Pakistan just over one-third and China the rest of the Himalayan region, over which Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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