Centre-Hurriyat talks likely in early September

NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (UNI) The stalled Centre-Hurriyat Conferencetalks are likely to be held here in the first week of September before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits New York to attend the UN General Assembly session.

Highly placed sources told UNI that the meeting, the first since the Congress-led UPA government came to power in May 2004, has been given a go ahead by Dr Singh.

"The much-awaited meeting will be held in the first week of September.

It will be held before the Prime Minister leaves for New York to Address the UN General Assembly Session in mid-September," the sources said.

The indication for the meeting was also given by former Hurriyat chairman Moulvi Abbas Ansari during his ongoing visit to Pakistan.

Dr Singh in his Independence day speech renewed the talks offer to Kashmiri separatists but warned of a "befitting reply and hard response" if militants continued with violence.

"I have said before and I am repeating once again that there is no issue which cannot be resolved through the process of discussion and dialogue.

Our doors are always open and will continue to be open for anybody interested in dialogue." Leaders of the moderate Hurriyat Conference have so far held two rounds of talks with the previous BJP-led NDA government.

The government has discreetly been doing the groundwork for the revival of the talks with the moderate Hurriyat, led by Mirwaiz Omar Farooq.

Several senior bureaucrats have been holding back-door parleys with the separatists for the talks which are seen as a step towards resolution of the vexed Kashmir issue.

Centre's interlocutor on Jammu and Kashmir N N Vohra has been regularly apprising the Prime Minister about the measures to revive the talks and the latest security and political situation in the troubled state, which has witnessed a spate in violence in the recent days.

In an apparent softening of its stand in the run up to the third round of talks, the Centre allowed the Mirwaiz and Moulvi Ansari to travel abroad.

On August 11, the Mirwaiz was allowed to visit Saudi Arabia to perform 'Uah' and condole with the Royal family on the death of King Fahd bin Abdelaziz, and to Iran to congratulate the new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Barely a week later, Ansari was also permitted to travel to Pakistan to attend a religious conference in Karachi and to Iran.

Moulvi Ansari, who left New Delhi for Karachi on August 17 in a PIA aircraft, is scheduled to join Mirwaiz Farooq in Saudi Arabia, later.

In April, Dr Singh had given his consent for talks with the moderate Hurriyat Conference and three dates were short listed.

However, the separatist leaders refused to meet the Prime Minister and stuck to their demand of first holding discussions with the Pakistani leadership and travelling to Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Much to the displeasure of the authorities, the amalgam leaders held a marathon meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on April 17 here during his India visit to watch an India-Pakistan one-day cricket match.

The separatists have also held a series of meetings with other visiting Pakistani leaders, including Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, in New Delhi.

However, as a goodwill gesture the Centre had allowed a seven-member Hurriyat delegation, led by Mirwaiz Farooq, to visit Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus on June 2.

Permission for the visit was a long-standing demand of the separatists to resume talks with the Centre.

The separatist leaders later visited Pakistan on an invitation from Islamabad, which India termed as a violation of an understanding between the two countries on the cross-border bus service.

The Centre said the Hurriyat and other separatist leaders' journey to PoK on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus was cleared on the basis of agreed procedures between the two countries.

The bilateral understanding on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service is that travel is limited to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of permits issued by the two sides.

The government also issued passports to those Hurriyat leaders who did not possess it and made a request for the issue of such documents.

The Centre, in July 2003, had returned the impounded passport of Mirwaiz Farooq.

After their return from Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the moderate Hurriyat Conference has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resume the dialogue with the Centre.

The senior leaders of the amalgam, at various foru, have said that they are ready to talk to the Prime Minister at any place and date convenient to him.

During a recent visit to Kashmir, Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal had assured that the moderate Hurriyat Conference will soon "get the dates" of the next round of talks with the Prime Minister.

"If they (Hurriyat leaders) are waiting for the dates...let me assure you that they will soon get the dates.

The talks will be definitely held," the Union Minister had said.

Govt dithers on addl RR Bns even as the force proves its worth NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (UNI) The Government is yet to accord sanction to an additional six battalions of the Rashtriya Rifles despite urgent representations by the Army top brass, even as the world's largest counter-insurgency force has well demonstrated its worth infighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Personnel of the counter-insurgency force, engaged in Jammu & Kashmir since the early 1990s, bagged over a third of gallantry awards announced on the eve of this year's Independence Day.

They won 35 of the 99 awards, including two of the eight Shaurya Chakras (both posthumous), two Bars to Sena Medal (Gallantry), and 31 Sena Medals (Gallantry), eight of which were posthumous.

They also received 11 of the total 31 Mentions-in-Dispatches.

"The force has come around well since its inception, and helped to turn around the situation in the state...

it greatly owes its present shape to the efforts of former Army Chief (late) Gen B C Joshi and was one of his most brilliant innovations," a senior Army officer, who has served in the force, told UNI.

The genesis of the Rashtriya Rifles came in 1990 when the then VP Singh government gave sanction for raising two sector Headquarters, each of three battalions, of the force.

These were used and performed well in Punjab as well as Jammu and Kashmir, but the initiative was not pursued further.

Instead the government asked the Army to provide two divisions 6th Mountain and 39th Infantry for counter-insurgency duties in Kashmir.

When Gen Joshi took over as the Army Chief, this request was still pending.

However, the new Chief energetically pursued the view that the state faced an extended counter-insurgency problem, and needed a force that could be permanently deployed in the area to fight the militants.

Pushing for setting up 10 more RR sector HQs - 30 battalions, he convinced the government that in the bargain the Army would have three additional battle-hardened divisions, ready for rear-guard action during war.

In 1994, the Narasimha Rao government gave a conditional go-ahead for a period of three years.

Since then, the RR has grown to 63 battalions, comprising 75,000 men the equivalent of five divisions under five HQs (Delta, Kilo, Romeo, Victor and Uniform), whereas the government had only sanctioned 57 battalions.

As the Finance Ministry's sanction has not been received, senior Army officers are lobbying hard with the Defence Ministry not to consider disbanding the battalions as they are more effective for counter-insurgency duties, as well as costing less.

"The RR's advantage lies in its organisation structure, specially tasked for counter-insurgency operations (CI Ops).

It differs from conventional Army battalions in having six rifle companies as against four in the latter, and dispensing with heavier weapons like mortars, not needed for CI Ops," the officer said.

The Army battalions used in CI Ops earlier were designated CI Battalions and retained their heavy weapons, as they were "dual-tasked," he added.

Thus, the RR battalions cost less than regular units, but are capable of fulfilling all roles as they are regularly trained on heavy weapons as well.

The RR units, feared more by militants as they are deployed in a specific area for a longer time than regular infantry battalions and can thus develop intelligence and other sources in their area to hunt militants better, also have access to much effective equipment.

Initially equipped with the best available vehicles, weaponsand radio sets in fact the RR units were even the first to receive bullet-proof jackets and patkas the force now possesses specialised weaponry and equipment ranging from multiple-grenade launchers and hand-held thermal imagers to long-range reconnaissance and observation syste.

They are now also receiving more advanced devices to counter the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

The counter-IED equipment includes fibre-optic surveillance devices, bomb suppression blankets and disposal suits and telescopic manipulators, among others.

"The RR units rose above initial proble of indiscipline, espirit-de-corps and others to become effective.

Raised on an All India/All Class basis, they comprise men from all over the Army fighting ar as well as the services," the officer said.

"Even as the force was being raised and Army HQs was finding men from all places, Gen Joshi suggested that a few Armoured Regiments be mothballed and their personnel transferred to the force," he said, noting that the considerable number of RR personnel from the services figuring in this year's award list bears testimony to Gen Joshi's efforts in augmenting the war-fighting capabilities of the entire Army.

Army reshuffles formations as new Command, Corps come up New Delhi, Aug 21 (UNI) The Indian Army has carried a reshuffle of formations, including a Strike Corps, for its new Command and Corps which became fully operational on August 15.

The new South West Command the Army's seventh command and sixth field command was necessitated after the boundaries of the Western and Northern Command were redrawn to lessen the burden of the XVI Corps (Nagrota) coming under the latter and to rationalise its area of operations.

The idea of the new command had been raised during the tenure of former Army chief Gen N C Vij, and a detailed proposal submitted after the initial proposal of the North West Command had been turned down by the government.

Headquartered at Jaipur, the SW Command will be responsible for the section of the border frontage, mostly in Southern Punjab and part of Rajasthan, hived off the Western Command which has moved northwards.

To fulfil its responsibilities, the new command has been provided the Bhatinda-based 'Chetak' (X) Corps, earlier with the Western Command, and the Strike Corps from the Central Command.

However, the strike corps will not be moved close to the border as such a measure is considered "provocative and diplomatically unwise," a senior Army source said.

The SW Command was earlier scheduled to get a Corps from the Southern Command, but the move was scuttled as the latter, also operationally committed, has only two corps one 'Strike' and one 'Holding' and divesting it of either one would have weakened the command.

However, the Western Command will maintain its strength as it gains the new Corps set up by bifurcating the Nagrota Corps,which with five divisions, three armoured brigades and other assets was the largest Corps in the world.

Meanwhile, the Central Command, divested of its sole Corps, will be transformed into the Logistics Command, as was being contemplated earlier.

The new Corps (IX) was raised after the area of operations of the XVI Corps was operationalised.

It was felt that the Nagrota-based formation, whose area of responsibility extended from the southern slopes of the Pir Panjal Range to the Ravi river, near Pathankot, would have too long and varied frontage at the time of war.

Accordingly, the area south of the Chenab, comprising the plains, was now put under the Western Command and the appropriate elements taken out and put under the new Corps.

The IX Corps, having its HQ at Yol, near Dharahala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, has been given two divisions 26 and 29 and all the three independent armoured brigades earlier under the Nagrota Corps, as it will be responsible for the plains and face the Shakargarh salient.

The rump XVI Corps will now mainly comprise the 10, 25 and 39 Infantry Divisions.

It will also retain the 'Romeo' and 'Delta' Counter-Insurgency Forces (CIF) of the Rashtriya Rifles under it.

Army officials have clarified that the new forces will not mean any additional manpower save for necessary personnel to man the new HQ.

"It is basically a redistribution of available assets," a senior officer said.

PM to seek assurances on end to terrorism from Musharraf NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will seek afirm assurance from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on an end toIslamabad's support to cross-border terrorism when they meet on thesidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in mid- September.

Dr Singh will also look for steps to further liberalise trade between the two countries, sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) told UNI.

"We are looking for two things: a very convincing demonstration of an end to Pakistan's support to cross-border terrorism and more steps to liberalise trade between India and Pakistan.

These are two major areas of concern for us," they said.

The two leaders, who are meeting after a gap of four months, will basically review the progress made in the Composite Dialogue process launched by the two countries in January, 2004.

In the run-up to the meeting, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy Satinder Lambah has held several rounds of unpublicised talks with his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz, the sources said.

The two countries have also had a series of bilateral meetings on various topics, including Nuclear and Conventional Confidence Building Measures (CB), in recent weeks.

Though final touches are still being given to the Prime Minister's itinerary, it is known that he will leave here on September 11 and stop in Paris, where he will have bilateral talks with French President Jacques Chirac on September 12.

He will leave Paris for New York on September 13 and spend the next two days there.

Apart from his address to the UNGA, most probably on September 14, and his meeting with Gen Musharraf, the other major engagement that Dr Singh will have in New York is a function at the UN to launch the Democracy Initiative at which US President George W Bush and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will be present.

The Prime Minister will leave for home on September 16.

The meeting between Dr Singh and Gen Musharraf will be the third between them after the United Progressive Alliance formed the government in New Delhi in May last year.

They had met in New York last September, also on the margins of the UNGA.

Later, in April this year, they met again when Gen Musharraf visited New Delhi to watch a one-day cricket match between India and Pakistan.

While the two countries have in recent months taken a number of steps to push the peace process forward, India has repeatedly made it clear that not much progress can be achieved unless Pakistan puts a complete stop to its support to cross-border terrorism and ends infiltration.

On Pakistan's repeated clai that it has dismantled terrorist infrastructure, the sources said, "We do not have satisfaction on this score yet." The sources said India was worried about the recent spurt in violence in Jammu and Kashmir though it had not rushed to blame Pakistan every time a fresh incident occurred.

But the Prime Minister had made it clear to Gen Musharraf, when they spoke over the telephone on July 29, that it would be impossible to move forward in the peace process if Islamabad is not able to rein in the "jehadi" elements operating from Pakistani territory.

Dr Singh again referred to the issue during his Independence Day address to nation on August 15.

"I am aware that the Government of Pakistan has put some checks on the activities of terrorists from its soil.

However, it is not possible to achieve success through half-hearted efforts.

It is necessary that the entire infrastructure of terrorism is totally dismantled," he said.

Pakistan, of course, has been downplaying India's charges.

"These are just allegations," Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said yesterday while reiterating his country's commitment to the Composite Dialogue Process.

India also feels that Pakistan has not moved fast enough on liberalisation of trade between the two countries.

At the last meeting in New Delhi, Gen Musharraf had raised some trade-related issues, particularly about textiles, and Dr Singh had promised to have them examined.

According to the sources, the Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC), set up by the Prime Minister some months ago to suggest ways of improving India's trade and economic ties with other countries, had met last week to consider these issues.

The meeting decided to liberalise textiles trade with Pakistan further by reducing tariffs and removing non-tariff barriers.

"On these and other issues, we have demonstrated our good intent," the sources said.

In this context, he mentioned the Baglihar issue, on which Pakistan said it was not satisfied with India's bilateral assurances and decided to seek arbitration by a World Bank-appointed arbitrator.

"We agreed to that," they said.

Similarly, they pointed out that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his visit to the Siachen glacier, had talked about making it a "mountain of peace." Besides these topics, the Sir Creek issue as well as the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline would also figure at the talks, the sources said.

At their last meeting in April, Dr Singh and Gen Musharraf had expressed satisfaction on the progress in the peace process, which they said was "now irreversible." On Jammu and Kashmir, they agreed to continue discussions in a "sincere and purposeful and forward-looking manner for a final settlement." They agreed to enhance interaction and cooperation between people across the Line of Control.

They decided to increase the frequency of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service and also allow trucks to use the route to promote trade.

They also agreed to operationalise additional routes, including that between Poonch and Rawalakot.

They agreed on an early start of the bus service between Aitsar and Lahore and to religious places such as Nankana Sahib.

They agreed to re-establish the Khokhrapar-Munnabao rail route by January 1, 2006.

The two countries had also agreed that their Consulates General in Mumbai and Karachi, respectively, would be opened before the end of this year.

The two sides decided to reactivate the Joint Economic Commission as early as possible.

Since then, there have been bilateral interactions at various levels between the two countries in an effort to take the Composite Dialogue process forward.

These include the second round of the talks on Economic and Commercial Cooperation and talks on Nuclear and Conventional CB in August at which several important decisions were taken.

Besides these, there have been meetings on cultural exchanges and the Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project.

In early June, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Manishankar Aiyar visited Pakistan to discuss the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and other areas of cooperation in the energy sector.

Later, in July, the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on the pipeline project was held in New Delhi Both sides acknowledge that during the past 20 months, there has been a significant change in the relationship between the two countries and a transformation in the public mood on either side of the border.

Dr Singh has repeatedly made it clear that there cannot be a redrawing of the borders but India would welcome steps that would bring the people on the two sides closer together.

Court of Inquiry findings on Bangargund within one week: Army SRINAGAR, Aug 21 (UNI) The Army today said the the Court of Inquiry will submit its report of findings within a week on the Bangargund incident in Jammu and Kashmir's border district of Kupwara where three children were "mistakenly" killed by soldiers on July 24.

"The Army's Court of Inquiry is on...It will submit the report of findings within a week or two," Northern Command's outgoing General Officer-in-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Lt Gen Hari Prasad told newspersons here.

He said the Army will take serious action against those found guilty in the incident.

"Whatever will be the findings...we will take action accordingly.

The accountability will be upheld," Gen Prasad said.

The Army had earlier regretted the incident as an "error of judgement" on the part of troops.

The three teenaged children - Bilal Ahmed Sheikh, Wasim Ahmad Wani and Shabir Ahmad Shah - were "mistakenly" shot dead by troops of the 6 Rashtriya Rifles at Bangargund village in Trhgam area of the Kupwara district, about 120 km from the summer capital of Srinagar, at 0150 hrs on July 24 in the midst of wedding festivities and celebrations.

Another boy, Manzoor Ahmad Shah, was critically wounded in the firing.

The incident had sparked massive protests and revulsion among the people of the Kashmir valley.

The Army paid Rs three lakh each to the family of the three children and Rs two lakh to the family of the wounded boy.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident, which is also being by the Special Investigation Team of the state police.

Newspaper without conscience is like human without soul: PM HYDERABAD, Aug 21 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today advised the media to focus on social responsibility which is extremely important in a developing democracy like India as a newspaper without a conscience is like a human being without a soul.

Inaugurating a national seminar on 'Press and the Nation', organised by the `Prajasakti' Telugu daily on the occasion of its silver jubilee celebrations, Dr Singh said to be relevant and meaningful, any publication must have social conscience.

"A newspaper without a conscience is like a human being without a soul" he said.

Quoting from eminent economist Amartya Sen's book "The Argumentative Indian," the Prime Minister said that scepticism and pluralism were two important defining elements of our national culture and added that the media must be imbued with both these characters.

"scepticism is healthy as long as it does not breed cynicism, but contributes to informed debate.

Pluralism is intrinsically valuable because it breeds creativity by creating space for a contest of ideas" Dr Singh said.

Stating that free press was the ultimate check against tyranny and authority, the Prime Minister said that it was a mirror, which enabled people in authority to get a continuous reality check.

Dr Singh said Amartya Sen was of the opinion that India could avoid famines almost entirely by the role of the media in sensitizing authorities to the urgency of providing relief.

"We have seen how the media continued to play this constructive and socially responsible role here in Andhra Pradesh, when it alerted the government to agricultural distress.

Last year, when the tsunami struck our coastal regions, I had said that our free and energetic media, is infact our best early warning system," Dr Singh said amid thunderous applause.

Dr Singh said while politicians do not necessarily like criticism and since they could not do without the reportage, there should be continued interaction between the government and media to build a healthy, democratic society.

Stating that the years ahead would be an exciting time for India as "we undertake the task of realising several commitments that we made from the time of independence of our country," the Prime Minister said he felt confident in asserting that the nation was never before better poised to take advantage of the potential.

"At this historical juncture, when we seek to create a modern, progressive, inclusive and dynamic society, built on a rapidly growing economy, I venture to think that it is a good time to be in the profession.

The media has a crucial role in tracking this process and I dare say, guiding it as well, through your reportage and your criticism," he added.

Congratulating the Prajasakti daily for the stellar role it had played in the pre-independence days as a weekly and during the past 25 years after becoming a daily, the Prime Minister wished the news paper a long future and many years of socially useful journalism.

He complimented all those who have been associated with the newspaper.

Dr Singh recalled the pioneering and intellectual leadership provided in the years of Prajasakti's publication by "one of Andhra Pradesh's greatest sons, a patriotic Indian," Puchalapalli Sundarayya, and said that under his leadership, guided by social commitment, Basavapunnaiah, Hanumantha Rao and Balagangadhar Rao shaped Prajasakti and through it fostered intellectual spirit in the state.

The Prime Minister said Andhra Pradesh had been fortunate to have had several generations of patriotic and forward-looking leadership both in the government and opposition.

Referring to former President of the Republic, Dr Neelam Sanjiva Reddy whose statue he has earlier unveiled, Dr Singh said Sanjiva Reddy was a freedom fighter, a political visionary, a keen administrator, a highly admired Parliamentarian and Speaker and a respected First Citizen.

He said Sanjiva Reddy showed his deep and abiding commitment to his people, especially the farming community, when he chose to return to his native district after completing his tenure as President.

Till he breathed his last, he took keen interest in the welfare of farmers, Dr Singh added.

Prajasakti, which was started by veteran communist leader and freedom fighter Puchalapalli Sundarayya in 1942 during the Quit India movement, was banned in 1948.

It was revived as a weekly in 1969 and became a daily in 1981.

It now has seven editions and the eighth is in the offing.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting S Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister of State for Coal and Mining Dasari Narayana Rao, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechuri, eminent journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N Ram were among the participants in the programme.

Ram gave the key note address in the seminar.