As the entire Jammu region shut down today to protest the killing of 32 Hindus by militants in Kulhand in Doda and Basantgarh in Udhampur, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said that militants were out to derail the Kashmir peace process but the Government would defeat their designs. Patil, who visited Basantgarh but gave the Kulhand area a skip which had residents there protesting, told families of victims that the Centre was going to take a “major decision” on the security of Hindus who are in a minority in the state. “Azad saheb (Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad) ne kuchh socha hai. Hum unse charcha kar rahen hain aur hamein unki soch sahi lagti hai (Azad has a plan, we are discussing it and we think he may be right),” Patil said. Asked if Village Defence Committees (VDCs) would be strengthened in view of the militant strikes, he said: “We will leave it to expert police officers, they can change the plan as they think fit.” To another query on whether the Kashmir attacks would figure in the Prime Minister’s talks with the Hurriyat leadership tomorrow, Patil declined comment. “I would not like to go into details of the agenda for the talks,” he said, praising “the courage, tolerance and element of unity shown by the people of Jammu and Kashmir in defeating the nefarious designs of terrorists”. In Kulhand, after a day-long wait for Sonia Gandhi and Patil, over 400 villagers, including women, staged a demonstration in protest against the “callous attitude” of the government and political parties. “We waited for the Home Minister from 8 am to 4 pm to speak to him about our security and other facilities,” said Vimla Devi, wife of village chief Gopichand who was among those killed by militants early yesterday. Vimla, in whose house 12 people were shot dead, said: “We want a police or Army post here for security and not guns for VDC members.I have five minor children and no man left in my house. How can we accept guns?” There was considerable anger among the Hindus who demanded that “the government immediately set up an Army or an STF post”. The Muslims in the crowd tried to calm them, reminding them of the age-old harmony between the two communities here. “We know they (Hindus) are deeply hurt and are not ready to believe us at this point,” said Muzaffar Hussain, a resident of Dalli who had trekked all the way, hoping to listen to Sonia Gandhi. As the Hindus of Thawa decided to march to Doda and demand security, the Muslims said they would join them. “We can’t let this incident break the amity here,” said a Muslim villager. In fact, members of both communities observed a complete bandh across Doda district today to protest the killings.
