Govt hardens stand, Advani blasts Hurriyat

“It seems that they were acting under pressure from Pakistan,” he said, adding, “They certainly did not act in the interest of Jammu and Kashmir and thus compromised the well-being of the people of the state.”

The Home Minister’s statement in the Lok Sabha was preceded by Speaker G M C Balayogi’s decision to admit a Congress-sponsored motion seeking judicial inquiry into the latest round of killings in Kashmir — a move which helped break the two-day-long deadlock in the House.

The motion, moved under rule 184 by Congress chief whip Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, will be taken up for consideration on August 17. With the main Opposition party receiving little support from the other parties, the motion, which entails voting, is certain to be defeated on the floor of the House.

But while the Congress may have got the government to agree to the motion as a face-saving formula, it is in the piquant situation of seeing it defeated since it has been unable to elicit the support of other opposition parties in its demand for a judicial inquiry. The motion’s defeat would embarrass the Congress and thats the reason why the government probably agreed to it.

The Home Minister, in his statement, lashed out at Pakistan for acting as the spoilsport. “The nature, location, context and content of the annoucement by Hizbul leader Syed Salahuddin can leave no doubt in anyobody’s mind that it is Pakistan which has sabotaged the prospects of peace in the state,” Advani said.

“The offer of ceasefire was made by Majid Dar, a Hizbul leader, in Srinagar. It was withdrawn by Salahuddin in Islamabad,” he pointed out, adding, “It is clear that the voice that made the announcement may have been Salahuddin’s but the words came from the ruling establishment in Islamabad which is the arch patron for numerous militant groups engaged in state-sponsored cross-border terrorism in J & K and other parts of India.”

Reacting to Hizbul’s criticism of India for not involving Pakistan in the talks, the Home Minister said: “India has all along maintained that the question of a dialogue with Pakistan is a separate issue. Prime Minister Vajpayee has made it clear that India is willing to talk with Pakistan on all matters of bilateral concern when Islamabad demonstrates its resolve to end cross-border terrorism.

Terming India’s policy in the state as one of “firmness and flexibility,” he reassured the two Houses that India’s security forces were ready to face the challenge and threat of renewed militancy in the state.