SRINAGAR: A mass upsurge was building up early this week in the Kashmir valley to force the Indian army to lift the five day old siege of the Hazratbal mosque where more than 150 Muslims have been holed up. Indian government authorities call them Pakistan trained militants.
The Kashmiri people held the shrine in great esteem as it has Prophet Mohammed’s holy relic and regard the Indian army’s siege as an attempt at desecrating it to appease the Hindus in view of the forthcoming elections in four of the Indian States.
Most observers view the siege as a modified version of India’s Operation “Blue Star” at the Golden Temple, Amritsar. On the eve of the 1984 operation, too, the Indian intelligence agencies had raised similar propaganda planks as are being raised now. For instance, if was stated, that the militants lodged in the mosque are bent upon destroying the Prophet’s holy relic, Meanwhile, the All-party Hurnat (freedom) conference issued a 24 hour ultimatum to India on Oct.18 evening to lift the siege or face the mass upsurge against the Indian agony. The conference said that a 31member delegation headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq will defy the curfew restrictions now in force around the Hazrat bal to present a memorandum to the United Nations secretary general Boutrous Ghali through the U.N. Observers group posted in the city. On Oct.21 the Freedom Conference will organize a people march from Lal Chowk to Hazratbal shrine if the siege is not lifted by then. The conference appealed to the public to be ready for the eventuality. The Indian army on Monday snapped water and power supply to the shrine. It aims at starving the militants into submission. There are an unspecified number of devotees inside the shrine but the army has refused to let them go out. The corps commander heading the siege, Lt. Gen S.Padmanabhan, has said that the army will not tolerate interference from outside or from inside the shrine. The entire Srinagar city on Monday observed a strike a call for which was given by the Kashmir University students Union. The police used teargas to disperse more than 1000 students at the campus,
Indian army chief Gen B.C.Joshi told newsmen that time was on the side of the Indian army and that it was hopeful of achieving its aim. There are plans to conduct similar operations all over the valley. He estimated the number of militants in the valley at between 10,000 and 30,000, Asked how Jong will it take for the army to complete the Hazratbal operation, Gen Joshi said that the effort was to tire the inmates as water and ration supply had been cut off.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 22, 1993
