Fernandes draws fire again

8220;If the infiltrators ask for safe passage to withdraw, it could be considered. But there is no question of stopping the military action and allowing them to go without talks on the issue with Pakistan,8221; Vajpayee told correspondents in Mumbai after commissioning the naval warship, INS Mysore.

However, while he chose not to publicly dissociate himself from George8217;s controversial revelation, sources in the Government revealed that he is unhappy with the Defence Minister8217;s indiscretions and his penchant for creating acontroversy a day.

He had already ticked off George on Monday after the Defence Minister took along senior military officers to brief a meeting of the BJP8217;s National Executive.

On Tuesday, Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra did the firefighting. Mishra is believed to have asked George to clarify his remarks on 8220;safe passage8221; and advised him to exercise discretion while speaking to the media on the Kargil conflict.

The sources said George8217;s defence was that his comment came in response to a query in which the controversial phrase was used. George Fernandes who accompanied the PM to the commissioning in Mumbai, later told newsmen that the offer for safe passage could be considered if made by Pakistan, but no such offer had been received yet. 8220;Whether dead or alive, these men infiltrators have to be thrown out,8221; Fernandes emphasised. He added, 8220;It8217;s a war-like situation, we8217;re shooting not talking there.8221;

The Government8217;s embarrassment stems from the fact that it would have preferred to revealits strategy on Kargil at a proper time, not through inopportune statements by its Defence Minister. It is particularly distressing as George8217;s comment was made just before the expected visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz at the end of the week.

The storm over George8217;s remark came as expected today. The Congress said Fernandes had let down the jawans with his 8220;untimely, irresponsible and demoralising8221; statement. The Left parties demanded his head.

Three retired senior defence officials described it as 8220;ridiculous8221;. Former Air Chief Marshal S K Mehra, told a panel discussion, 8220;You cannot allow them to go just like that. We paid a price. We shed our blood.8221;

Even the BJP was hard put to defend Fernandes. Ruling out the possibility of letting the infiltrators off so lightly, party general secretary Narendra Modi said, 8220;Those trying to disturb our border will not be spared. They will have to pay for every single drop of blood shed by our soldiers in Kargil.8221;

The spokesman of the Ministryof External Affairs explained that 8220;safe passage8221; meant 8220;movement backwards8221; to Pakistan-occupied territory from the Indian side of the LoC. He added, 8220;There is no question of stopping military action till the intrusions have ended.8221;

He said it would be 8220;prudent8221; for the heavily armed intruders to voluntarily move backwards to the Pakistani side of the LoC to end the conflict in Kargil but asserted that there was no question of stopping military action to evict them.

Meanwhile, Vajpayee called on President K R Narayanan this evening to brief him on the developments in Kargil.Earlier, the Indian army took some important heights held by Pakistan-supported infiltrators in Batalik sub sector, killing eight intruders and wounding five, while Indian Air Force fighters and helicopter gunships carried out attacks for the eighth day today.

The incessant day and night shelling by the artillery was taking a psychological toll on the armed intruders and their morale was very low, Brig Mohan Bhandari, deputydirector general of military operations said at a briefing.

He said the army was conducting operations in a steady and deliberate manner in an attempt to cut off the sustenance routes of the infiltrators.

There were still four to five key position in the mountains that had to be annexed, following the clearing of some dominant heights held by the infiltrators, mainly Pakistani army regulars and Afghan mercenaries, during the past 24 hours, he added. The army denied a report from Islamabad that three school children died in shelling by the Indian army today in a village in Nakial sector of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, across the line of control LoC.

8220;We are attacking only well identified military targets and not civilian areas,8221; Brig Bhandari said. Yesterday, Pakistan had claimed that ten children had been killed in a village in Neelam valley due to Indian shelling, which too was vehemently denied by the army.

Brig Bhandari said the routes through which the infiltrators were still getting supplieshad been identified. 8220;We hope to cut off these sustenance routes very soon8221;.

He said the infiltrators who had made intrusions of 6.5 km and more into India had now been pushed back by three-and-a-half km in Kargil sector.The military operations officer said Pakistan was making every effort to see that the bodies of their army regulars did not fall into Indian hands. While they were not bothered about the mercenaries, special parties had been deployed to retrieve the bodies of the Pakistani army regulars.

The Indian casualties remain, as of yesterday, at 46 dead, 174 wounded and 12 missing.

No to safe passage8217;

KARACHI: The militants today rejected the 8220;safe passage8221; proposal, saying they planned to move forward, not backwards. 8220;We will give them safe passage8230;I promise we will not attack them if they choose to withdraw,8221; Fazalur Rehman Khalil, chief of the Islamist Harakatul Mujahideen, told Reuters on the phone from Islamabad. 8220;If they have the power, they should drive us out ofKashmir and not talk of safe passage,8221; he said.