2 Naxals shot dead in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur dist

Two Naxals were shot dead in a gunbattle with the police force in the jungles of Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Tuesday, Oct 19 evening, police officials said. However, no casualties from the side of police force reported.

Inspector General Rajesh Mishra said the Naxals were killed in a gunfight which started between the team of District Police Force, Special Police Officers and the Naxals in the jungles near Kotapalli village. The dead bodies of the Naxals have been recovered. Police say that they have found one rifle, guns, Naxal literature and some documents from the spot.
 
(http://news.oneindia.in/2010/10/20/chhattisgarh-2-naxals-shot-dead.html  20/10/10, One India News)

Maoists gun down two CPM men in Purulia

Suspected Maoists gunned down two CPM leaders at Balarampur in Purulia on Tuesday evening.

Yudhisthir Mondal, an influential CPM leader who is also vice-president of the Balarampur panchayat samiti, was shot in front of a tea shop around 6.30 pm. Locals said two armed miscreants arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on Mondal at close range. Mondal sustained four bullet injuries on his chest. He was rushed to a hospital in Jamshedpur in critical condition where he was declared dead.

Moments later, CPM leader and secretary of the Darda local committee in Balarampur, Sitanath Singh Sardar (53), were shot by rebels near Berma village. The area is located on the outskirts of Balarampur town. Sitanath was returning to his Rucha residence from Balarampur on a bicycle when the Maoists intercepted him and gunned him down.

Meanwhile, in West Midnapore, police claimed to have rounded up Subhas Mudi, a member of Maoist leader Sashadhar Mahato’s squad. Police said he was picked up from Bachhurdoba on Monday night. They also claimed that Mudi was the main accused in the murder of a school clerk, Shrikanta Mandal, in Jhargram. He stayed in Jhargram’s Bindukati village.

On September 22, Shrikanta was gunned down in front of Jhargram’s Sebayatan Balika Vidyalaya. A clerical employee at the school, Shrikanta was on his way back after collecting forms for registration of Class IX students when he was attacked.

A resident of Radhanagar, Shrikanta had taken the lead in organizing the villagers against Maoists. It was in Radhanagar from where the Maoists started facing resistance from locals, ending months of dominance. Two days before his murder, the Red rebels had warned Shrikanta against continuing with his anti-Maoist activities.

Two others, Helu and Sabita, also sustained injuries in the attack.

The 30-year old Mudi had seven other murder cases pending against his name. “He led the team that killed Shrikanta. For the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities, he used to organize movements and rallies in Jhargram,” said Pravin Tripathy, Jhargram superintendent of police.

Mudi was produced in the Jhargram sub-divisional court on Tuesday and remanded in two days’ police custody. PCPA leader Joydeb Mahato, however, denied Mudi’s link with the Maoists. “He is a member of PCPA and police are trying to brand him as a Maoist,’ said Mahato.

(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Maoists-gun-down-two-CPM-men-in-Purulia/articleshow/6777461.cms  20/10/10, The Times of India)

40 Year Later, Verdict on Naxal Leader’s Death on Oct 27

A CBI Special Court here will deliver on October 27 its judgement on the death of a Naxal leader in an encounter 40 years ago.

31 witnesses were examined by the court after the trial began in April this year. The trial in the case began 40 years back after Varghese was allegedly gunned down by police at Thirunelli forests in Kerala’s Wyanad district on Feb 18, 1970.

Varghese’s two brothers and a neighbour Prabhakaran Warrier who saw a handcuffed Varghese being taken by police have testified in the case. Thomas, one of the brothers had told the court that on the day of the incident, some policemen had come to his house and informed the family that Varghese had died in an encounter.

He had identified the body which was buried at the compound of their house after the Church refused a graveyard. The family had also approached the then Chief Minister, C Achuta Menon, to probe the incident, he stated.
 
The case received wide media attention a few years ago after former CRPF constable, P Ramachandran Nair, confessed in 1998 to having shot Varghese at the behest of superior officers – then SP Vijayan and then DYSP K Lakshaman.

Following this revelation, Varghese’s brothers and former Naxals approached the Kerala high court for a CBI probe. The court in 1999 asked CBI to investigate Varghese’s death. The CBI had filed chargesheets against Nair, former DIG P Vijayan and Former IGP K Lakshmanan.

Ramachandran Nair, who died in 2006, the first accused in the case, had stated that he made the confession after all these years to clear his conscience.
 
(http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?697929  19/10/10, Outlook India)

CRPF camps not to be withdrawn from Junglemahal: CRPF DG

The CRPF will not be withdrawn from Maoist-affected Junglemahal untill the ultras were flushed out, Director General Bijoy Kumar said here today.”There is no question of withdrawing joint forces from the Maoist affected districts in West Bengal. CRPF has been working independently and will continue to work in this way,” Kumar told reporters after a meeting top police and civil officials of Maoist-affected districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura.
 
However, Jhargram sub-division in West Midnapore is a police district under a separate SP. On Trinamool Congress’ demand for withdrawal of joint forces from Junglemahal, Kumar said “I cannot answer any political question. But I can say that the joint forces’ offensives will continue until the Maoists are flushed out of the area”. On existence of armed CPI(M) camps in the area, Kumar said “I have got no complaints against CPI(M) in the area.”
 
(http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/crpf-camps-not-to-be-withdrawn-from-junglemahal-crpf-dg/427742.html  19/10/10, IBN Live)

16 hurt as protesters defy curfew in Indian Kashmir

A clash between police in Kashmir and protesters who defied a curfew to demonstrate against the arrest of an anti-Indian separatist left 16 people injured Tuesday.
 
Masarat Alam, 44, who is known for his fiery denunciations of Delhi, was arrested by police on Monday in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, after evading capture for four months. Thousands of security forces Tuesday implemented a strict curfew in parts of Kashmir to try to pre-empt protests over Alam’s arrest.
 
Police said in northern Baramulla district dozens of protesters defied a curfew and clashed with police. A police spokesman said “11 policemen, including three officers, and five protesters were injured during the clash”, adding that police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators, who retaliated by hurling stones. The situation remained “by and large normal in other parts of Kashmir,” the spokesman said. Alam had organised anti-India demonstrations in the Muslim-majority region which has been experienced rolling curfews and strikes since June 11, when a 17-year-old student was killed by a police teargas shell. Since then, more than 110 protesters and bystanders have died.
 
Meanwhile, a 24-hour standoff between troops and an injured militant who was holed up inside a mosque ended Tuesday with the rebel’s death, police said. Police said repeated attempts to persuade the militant to surrender had failed. He took refuge in the mosque early on Monday, having been injured in a gunbattle with Indian troops. “He died of the injuries he had sustained during the encounter. The mosque was not stormed by the troops nor was any fire directed at the religious structure,” a police officer said, wishing to remain anonymous.
 
The gunbattle outside the mosque in the northern district of Bandipora had left one other militant dead. Militants have occasionally taken shelter in Kashmiri mosques in the past, with security forces facing the risk of a public backlash in the state if they pursue them.
 
Separatist militants have been battling Indian rule since 1989 in Muslim-majority Kashmir. At least 47,000 people, more than a third of them civilians, have died in the conflict, according to official figures.
 
(http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j2OcvB_5VWJb_AZIKZqD9dRrq_0Q?docId=CNG.218d625f3fc77292a6c9a9ac07b33a63.161  19/10/10, AFP News)

Chidamabaram explains mandate to J&K interlocutors

The newly appointed three-member panel of interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday said a comprehensive and political settlement of the Kashmir dispute through largest possible consultations with all sections of opinion tops its agenda.

“The tight focus will be for seeking a political outcome so that we put this dispute well and truly behind us,” said senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, who along with academician Radha Kumar and information commissioner M M Ansari, met Union home minister P Chidambaram.

Padgaonkar said, the home minister gave an extensive idea of the mandate for the group. “The mandate, to put very simply, is that our group will hold the largest possible consultations with all sections of opinion in Jammu and Kashmir and the focus of this dialogue is to seek as large area of agreement as you can to get to arrive at a comprehensive, political settlement of the Kashmir dispute.”

He said, the panel’s approach and focus will be a political one, and “we will, therefore, be engaging with opinion leaders, political leaders, civil society groups and others in order to carry forward this dialogue”.

The team is likely to make its first trip to Srinagar next week. The group will, however, first meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi here before visiting the troubled state.

“We will be talking also to the political leaders who were part of the all-party delegation to J&K and get a sense of how they assessed the situation. Armed with these wide consultations from the basis of what we learn, we shall then proceed to Srinagar,” Padgaonkar said after the group’s over an hour-long meeting with Chidambaram.
 
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chidamabaram-explains-mandate-to-JK-interlocutors/articleshow/6776816.cms  20/10/10, The Times of India)

JKLF to UK: Use friendly ties for resolving Kashmir problem

Separatist outfit Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) today asked Britain to use its friendly ties with India and Pakistan for resolving the Kashmir issue.
 
“Kashmir is an issue which has been left unresolved by the Britishers before leaving India,” JKLF head Mohammad Yasin Malik told reporters after a meeting with two British diplomats in Srinagar. “Britain can help in resolving the problem by using its friendly ties with New Delhi and Islamabad,” he said.
 
First secretary (political) in the British high commission in New Delhi, Victoria L Whitford, and the second political secretary in the UK mission in Islamabad, Sharon McDonald, called on Malik to get his views on the current situation in the Valley. “We have come here to listen (to Malik) and not to speak (to the media),” the diplomats told reporters after the meeting.
 
On the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama to India, the JKLF chairman said, “He is coming to India as a friend. He should persuade India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.”
 
(http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_jklf-to-uk-use-friendly-ties-for-resolving-kashmir-problem_1454507  18/10/10, DNA India)

Ulfa talks likely in Dec.

A dialogue with Ulfa is likely only in December because of legal problems in the release of all the jailed leaders.
 
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said the process would begin by December. “There are some legal problems,” he told reporters after a discussion with Union home minister P. Chidambaram today on modalities for the dialogue. The talks, he said, would be held with or without the presence of Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua who, Gogoi said, had shown no indication of coming back.
 
Intelligence reports indicate from time to time that Barua shuttles between China and Myanmar and may even have visited Pakistan. For the leaders already in Assam, legal tangles arose when the government realised that the CBI could not shirk its responsibility by not opposing the bail of jailed leaders, since some of them are facing murder charges as well. As a result, Gogoi has guaranteed that the bailed out leaders will not escape.
 
“We have to give assurance to the government of India that they will not go. We also have an understanding with Ulfa leaders,” said Gogoi.
 
Arabinda Rajkhowa, Raju Barua and others now lodged in Guwahati jail had crossed over from Bangladesh. The government, however, does not want to displease other outfits like the NDFB and DHD by giving undue attention to Ulfa.
 
The Centre’s interlocutor and former IB chief, P.C. Haldar, is the mediator for dialogue with the NDFB and DHD, although his focus now will be on Ulfa. Gogoi said the message now has to be passed on to Haldar to “go ahead”. Haldar is apparently ready as he had indicated recently, saying he was in favour of holding talks early.
 
The chief minister, however, skirted questions on who would represent the state government in the talks. Gogoi said the state’s participation was not finalised but indicated that for all practical purposes, the Assam government would be on board. Gogoi spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue on Monday. Since the Prime Minister is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, he is kept in the loop on all issues.
 
(http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101020/jsp/northeast/story_13076021.jsp  19/10/10, The Telegraph)

Pakistan ‘overreach’ thwarted talks, says Rao

India has said an ‘overreach’ by Pakistan led to the failure of the Foreign Ministry-level talks in Pakistan this July but has expressed confidence that this is not a setback for the peace process as New Delhi remains committed for a resolution of all outstanding issues through dialogue. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Jamia Milia Islamia in the Capital, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said while the talks were thwarted, both sides ‘appear to be committed to ensuring that the spirit of Thimphu is not lost’.
 
“Notwithstanding the cordial and frank exchanges, our efforts to bridge the trust deficit and pave the way for a serious and comprehensive dialogue were thwarted by a level of overreach by Pakistan that complicated the resumption of a sustained dialogue process,” the Foreign Secretary said, adding that the Pak Foreign Minister has accepted an invitation to visit India.
 
Underlining that there is an ‘engulfing’ trust deficit between the countries that needs to be bridged, Rao said efforts for peace will continue to fail unless both sides ‘show an unwavering commitment to stay the course’.
 
At the same time, Rao said India’s stance for a gradual approach to address the trust deficit is not an attempt to avoid tackling difficult issues but the sub-conventional conflict directed by Pakistan for over two decades cannot be ignored.
 
“India’s advocacy of an incremental, graduated and forward-looking approach that seeks to address the deficit of trust is by no means an attempt to avoid tackling of the substantive differences that trouble relations with Pakistan. While there can be no guarantees for success, such an approach seeks to build first on what is achievable and simultaneously to also address the more intractable issues in a sustained manner,” she said, adding that sub conventional conflict directed against India is as substantive and issue as Jammu and Kashmir and the Siachen glacier.
 
(http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pakistan-overreach-thwarted-talks-says-rao/699798/  20/10/10, Indian Express)

The Future Of India-Pakistan Relations

As I see it, it must be predicated on such a win-win situation where everybody has a stake in furthering the cause of peace and good neighbourly relations.
 
Nirupama Rao
 
I consider it a privilege being invited to speak to such an august gathering at the Jamia Milia Islamia on a subject which is of critical importance to over a billion people of South Asia. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Vice Chancellor Najeeb Jung, who I am proud to call my friend and batchmate, my former colleagues Ambassador Satyabrata Pal and Ambassador T.C.A. Rangachari, Shri M.J. Akbar, Dr. Raja Mohan, Dr. Ajay Darshan Behera and the faculty of this reputed centre of learning for providing me an opportunity to set my sights on the future and speak on how I see the evolving paradigm of relations between the two largest countries in the South Asian sub-continent. Predicting the course of one of the most complex and unpredictable relationships in the modern era is a task that most intrepid astrologers would hesitate to undertake and ladies and gentlemen, I am no astrologer. I will however, attempt to approach the subject as a practitioner of diplomacy and international relations.

Six decades after the tragedy and trauma of Partition, a host of issues continue to bedevil India-Pakistan relations and cast long shadows on bilateral ties. The challenge then, is to grasp this moment in history to explore the possibility of peace in the region in the larger context of an increasingly interdependent and globalizing world. In the India-Pakistan discourse, we have literally eaten bitterness for the last sixty years and given the complexities of our ties, the task of improvement in ties is also Sisyphean. Some argue that we must induce a radical transformation of mindsets on both sides that view each other through the prism of an embittered past and entrenched hostility. This may be the conventional wisdom but is often not borne out by the behaviour of the multitudes of common people living on either side of the border. I say this in the realization that there are enough people in both countries that continue to be prisoners of the past. And yet, how does one explain the warm and spontaneous applause of thousands of spectators at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 3 this year when the Pakistani contingent entered the stadium for the opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games in Delhi or the statements of support from the Pakistani sports authorities in the run up to the Games when others were vying with each other to write off the event before it had started? What explains this? On the one hand there is the push of realism that compels us to see the relationship with Pakistan as hobbled by its many limitations, while on the other hand, there is the pull of emotion, of sentiment, of the muffled footsteps of shared history that beat in our blood, that generates a response that is giving and generous.

It may be tempting to conclude that the common man desires peaceful and good neighbourly relations and that the governments of both countries are somehow impediments in achieving this cherished goal. This would be far too simplistic and naïve. While it is apparent that the people of both countries desire to live in peace and amity, yet it takes only one act of mindless terrorism, like the barbaric attack on Mumbai in November 2008, to vitiate the atmosphere and poison public perception.

Of course, there is the engulfing deficit of trust between the two countries that needs to be bridged. This needs to be done both at the government and people to people level. Numerous well-meaning efforts in the past have faltered and many will continue to do so in the future unless both sides show an unwavering commitment to stay the course and create a propitious and enabling environment to surmount the innumerable obstacles that are littered on the path to peace. There is no magic panacea that can make this happen. But it is incumbent on each and every one of us to persevere with patience and dedication so that future generations do not remain hostage to a poison-ridden legacy of political misunderstandings and geopolitical antagonisms.

The Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan met on the margins of the SAARC Summit in Bhutan in April this year and agreed to normalize relations and to address the deficit of trust that exists between the two countries. Accordingly, they mandated their Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries with the task of working out modalities for restoring trust and confidence in their relationship and thus paving the way for a substantive dialogue on all issues of mutual concern.

Pursuant to this directive, I visited Islamabad in June to prepare the ground for a subsequent visit by the External Affairs Minister to Pakistan the next month. While I do not want to dwell into the specifics of both these visits, notwithstanding the cordial and frank exchanges, our efforts to bridge the trust deficit and pave the way for a serious and comprehensive dialogue were thwarted by a level of overreach by Pakistan that complicated the resumption of a sustained dialogue process. However, we do not view this as a set-back in our quest for peace as both sides appear to be committed to ensuring that the spirit of Thimphu is not lost. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has accepted our invitation to visit India, dates for which will be decided through diplomatic channels. We will continue to strive for a resolution of all outstanding issues through dialogue.

The countries of the South Asian region have a common stake in ensuring a peaceful, stable environment that guarantees a bright and prosperous future. Democracy has infused a new vitality among all countries in the region, and brought with it a revolution of rising expectations and perceived possibilities among the peoples of South Asia. The leadership in all the countries of South Asia is obliged to concentrate on the imperative of providing inclusive and sustainable development and economic opportunities to the needier sections of their populations. This realization should also unlock bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. It informs the vision of our leadership when they seek dialogue with Pakistan. The linkages resulting from economic interaction, connectivity and people to people contacts could build the sinews of a more durable and lasting peace in which stakeholders will have a vested interest in preserving the gains of a mutually beneficial relationship. This is the call of the 21st Century.

India’s advocacy of an incremental, graduated and forward-looking approach that seeks to address the deficit of trust is by no means an attempt to avoid tackling of the substantive differences that trouble relations with Pakistan. While there can be no guarantees for success, such an approach seeks to build first on what is achievable and simultaneously to also address the more intractable issues in a sustained manner. The issue of terrorism arising out of the sub-conventional conflict directed by Pakistan against India for over two decades now, cannot be ignored either. It is as substantive an issue as the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, or the issue of the Siachen Glacier.

As we seek to pave the way for a serious and comprehensive dialogue, how do we enlarge the constituencies of peace in both countries so that the dawn of a new era does not remain a chimera? I had earlier referred to economic linkages and enhanced people to people contacts. The task before us is to translate this on the ground to a mutually enriching and beneficial partnership for the greater good.

The Indian economy has grown exponentially in the last couple of decades and despite the global downturn, it continues to grow at over 8 %. While the Government is committed to inclusive growth so that the benefits of an ever expanding economy percolate down to the grassroots, we would be happy to share this growth with all our neighbours. This can only be done if we are able to promote our complementarities and link our economies to a trajectory of inclusive and incremental growth. Artificial barriers and self-defeating policies need to be struck down. The ensuing economic interaction and mutually beneficial cooperation can lift our region from the morass of poverty and deprivation and at the same time create vested interests in a shared vision of peace and prosperity for our people. Unfettered trade and investment flows coupled with freer people to people exchanges at various levels, particularly between the youth of the two countries, and better communications could help in realizing this vision.

Education can form a bridge in bringing together young minds in the region. Universities and academic institutions in both India and Pakistan can play an important role in creating objective understanding. The South Asian University, under the SAARC framework, provides an ideal platform to create a South Asian consciousness. The vision of a world-class South Asian University was envisaged by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the 13th SAARC Summit in Dhaka in 2005 when he stated:
 
“The people of our subcontinent are at the cutting edge of scientific and technological research and in the front ranks of the knowledge society across the world. Wherever an enabling environment and world-class facilities are made available to our talented people, they excel. Let this become a forum where our academicians, scholars, researchers and gifted students can work together in the service of human advancement”.
 
The University, which commenced its first academic session this year, has as its core objectives, building a culture of understanding and regional consciousness; nurturing a new class of liberal, bright and quality leadership; and building the capacity of the region in science, technology and other disciplines considered vital for improving the quality of life of the people. It can play a stellar role in peace building and reconciliation in the subcontinent by providing a foundation for mutual comprehension and understanding amongst our youth. We have emphasized that Pakistani students seeking admission to the SAU are entitled to the same non-discriminatory dispensation as all other entrants to the University from other South Asian countries, and that we welcome them to come to SAU.

The future of India-Pakistan relations, as I see it, must be predicated on such a win-win situation where everybody has a stake in furthering the cause of peace and good neighbourly relations. It is with this vision that our Prime Minister has repeatedly reached out to Pakistan. The recent devastating floods in Pakistan provided an opportunity for us to express our solidarity with the people of Pakistan in their hour of need. Our offer of $ 25 million was meant to alleviate the heart-wrenching suffering of the people and we are ready to do much more as a neighbour that shares a long border with Pakistan. We are ideally placed to rush badly needed relief material, food, medicines and supplies across the border to provide succour to the suffering millions. Pakistan wished us to route our assistance through the United Nations. We were ready to oblige.

I am not trying to predict a rose-tinted future for India-Pakistan relations. But surely, we can dare, perchance, to dream? To dream of a future where on both sides of the divide, our two countries will foster imaginative and creative approaches to tackling problems of peace and security, confidence-building in both conventional and non-conventional areas of defence, the differences over Jammu and Kashmir, and gird our relationship by a raft of clearly enunciated agreements and understandings that can bury the rusting, corrosive hatchet of sixty years and more?

Our relations have been encumbered by a host of missed opportunities. We compound these by refusing to learn from history and thereby condemn ourselves to replicating the past rather than unmaking it. However, to learn from history we cannot afford one-sided or biased interpretations. We must also remember that essentially, we were one people shaped from the same timber of humanity before we decided to part ways. There is a need to understand the past in a more redemptive way. Unless we rise above the present we cannot realise the future we seek. The choices for the future are stark and real. Either we learn to live together in peace and harmony or we risk imparting to future generations our differences and prejudices that will continue to divide us rather than unite us and indeed widen the gulf between us. Given the complexities of our relationship and the tortured path that we have traversed till now, it is easy to be cynical and predict a gloomy future. However, as an eternal optimist and someone who believes in the power of people to shape their destiny I feel it is incumbent on all of us to strive and achieve a peaceful and mutually reinforcing relationship that will unlock the true potential of more than a billion people for their betterment. Can we realise this goal? The answer needs to be jointly explored sooner than later or else time will pass us by and yet another opportunity would go a begging. I am confident that if we are to approach this with a shared vision and a conviction of purpose, the quest for peace need not remain elusive and in the realm of our fantasy. The eyes of the rest of the world are on us as we engage in this quest.

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, would be my prognosis for the future of India-Pakistan relations.
 
(http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?267552  19/10/10, Outlook India)