NEW DELHI: Indian government fears further escalation in militancy in Kashmir in the coming weeks, though euphoria for “Azadi” (independence) is tapering off, home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said Friday.

Talking to reporters, he said with the snow having melted on the high passes in the Himalayas, more and more were likely to cross ‘over into the valley.

They were likely to do something “spectacular” between August 14 and 1 7, August 14 is Independence Day of Pakistan and August 15 of India. . He said vigil on the borders had been stepped up and all possibly measures had been taken to check the infiltration,

He said one of the healthy signs in the whole situation was improvement in the intelligence gathering systems. The culprits of various major crimes had been arrested, he said.

The Mufti said people had begun to feel the economic pinch due to prolonged disturbed conditions in Kashmir. The euphoria that “Azadi is round the comer is gone,” he said.

He said people depending on tourism and traditional skills in handicraft and even fruit growers had begun to ask as to why they were suffering because of misdeeds of a few.

He said some cases of extortion and rape had caused resentment among the people.

About launching of political process, the home minister said there was need for having a conduit between the administration and the people to listen to their grievances, Political parties could do that as people were willing to meet them.

The home minister praised the handling of the situation by state governor Girish Saxena. The governor had given full play to the forces of normalcy, he said. There was not a single incident when a procession was fired upon, he said.

Meanwhile, the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which supports the National Front government, said about 1,200 persons who are missing from the three bordering districts in Jammu and Kashmir, have allegedly crossed over to Pakistan to get “training”.

BJP Delhi unit president, Madan Lal Khurana, who recently visited the three border districts of Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch, told reporters here that the missing persons included many state government employees.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 20, 1990