ARMAGEDDON WATCH
Kashmir, the center of the dispute between India and Pakistan, was virtually shut down today in response to a strike call by the pro-Pakistan Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen against the recently inacted Prevention of Terrorism Act. The law, passed by Parliament last week, allows police to detain suspects for questioning for up to six months without bringing charges against them. The bill allows anyone suspected of giving money, shelter, transportation or other support to militants to be tried on terrorism charges. The Jamiat-ul-Muhahideen itself was recently banned. Shops and business establishments in Srinagar and other major towns remained closed, workers at government offices were scarce, and public and private vehicles stayed off the roads in response to the call.

Also in Kashmir today, the leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) said the ongoing armed struggle there was Kashmiris’ legitimate right to fight the illegal Indian occupation of their homeland. Yousaf Nasim, APHC’s Executive Council member (Pakistan chapter) said that "no power on earth can deprive the Kashmiris of their right to fight occupation." He vehemently declared that the Kashmir movement was in line with the charter of the United Nations and they had taken arms only after India reneged on its commitment made to the world body to allow a plebiscite on the fate of Kashmiri people. Defending the armed movement, Yousaf Nasim noted that it was the fundamental right of people to rise against illegal occupation and suppression anywhere in the world. He said that "if the world community was sincere to combat the menace of terrorism, the Kashmiris will be the top beneficiary if they get rid of Indian state terrorism under this campaign…We are with the international community on war against terrorism as we are the ones who have been suffering the most," he maintained. On Tuesday, APHC moderate Abdul Gani Lone was gunned down in Srigagar. The APHC blames India. India blames Pakistan and Muslim "terrorists." Lone favored participation in upcoming elections and was willing to negotiate with India without the participation of Pakistan. The APHC is an alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations formed in 1993 as a political body to further the cause of Kashmiri separatism.

According to Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the Srinagar-based Kashmir People's Democratic Party continuing human-rights abuses by state forces is rampant. She says all government forces are guilty, and that the worst abusers belong to the so-called Special Operations Group, a collection of former militants and criminals employed by the state government and better known for extortion from innocent villagers than for fighting diehard militants.
Sources: MENO, IRNA, Kashmir Monitor, South Asia Terrorist Portal, Reuters, Far Eastern Economic Review

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