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Farooq blamed for Pandits's massacre

Political parties and religious leaders have severely condemned the massacre of 23 Pandits in Kashmir on Sunday night.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded the dismissal of the Farooq Abdullah government, the Communist Party of India expressed shock at the 'horrific massacre' and demanded the culprits be tracked down and dealt with a 'firm hand'. The Congress demanded adequate compensation and protection for the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, Panun Kashmir, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, has demanded Dr Abdullah's resignation, evacuation of Pandits from the valley and a high-level judicial probe into the incident.

The National Human Rights Commission, which heard Pandit representatives in Delhi, has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to take immediate steps for their protection. At an urgent sitting, the Commission also decided to issue notices to the Union Home Secretary B P Singh and the state chief secretary about the Pandits's demand for a 'safe sanctuary.'

The Commission has summoned the home secretary to appear before it on Wednesday to work out the modalities for forming an independant fact finding team to investigate the massacre

Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta, meanwhile, expressed his deep anguish at the dastardly incident. In a telephone conversation, he urged Dr Abdullah to take 'concrete action' against the terrorists and to conduct 'a proper enquiry' into the incident.

BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Jagmohan and Kedar Nath Sahani said Governor K V Krishna Rao should be recalled immediately. Both he and Dr Abdullah, they said, had 'miserably failed' to protect the lives of the Kashmiris.

''The Congress has an apology for lifeless stones and structures, but it does not care for millions of innocent people who are sufferring for being nationalists,'' Swaraj said.

She scoffed at the suggestion that the army should be sent back to barracks and Kashmiri Pandits should return home 'as things had normalised in the valley.'

Sahani, the Delhi BJP president, claimed he had already cautioned the state and central governments against the designs of militants in the valley. However, nothing was done.

Jagmohan, twice JK governor, criticised the central government for its 'repeated faulty policies on Kashmir'. He said his stand of strong action against Pakistan-sponsored terrorists was vindicated.

The CPI-M, meanwhile, restrained itself to a run-of-the-mill condemnation, saying 'the obvious game was to destabilise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir on the eve of election and rouse communal passions'.

It said 'cold blooded killings' have been committed by extremists who are controlled and directed by foreign agencies, and the state should make every effort to track them down. Further, the state and central governments should 'coordinate' their efforts for better security.

Former Union Minister M L Fotedar said the incident was a result of the state government's negligence towards reports that foreign mercenaries were freely moving in downtown Srinagar. He offered to pay for the eductation and upbringing of Vinod Kumar, the lone survivor of Sunday's carnage.

UNI

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