Jammu And Kashmir - 2

[Naresh]

With the EU Parliament deciding that a Plebiscite in the State of Jammu & Kashmir would be irrelvant we see the Lotas' reaction :

1. The Actual Version

[center]<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>'No need for plebiscite in Kashmir' : Indrani Bagchi</span></b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->[/center]

<b>NEW DELHI : <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>A draft EU parliament report on Kashmir says a plebiscite in the state is unnecessary and irrelevant and hardened Indian resolve to keep its attention trained on the parlous state of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The report, by EP member Baroness Emma Nicholson who visited India and Pakistan over the summer, raps Pakistan for its undemocratic rule over PoK. "Pakistan has consistently failed to fulfill its obligations to introduce meaningful and representative democratic structures in AJK (the Pakistani administered Kashmir)."

But the report also makes the more important point that calls for a plebiscite on the final status of J&K were "wholly out of step with the needs of the local people and thus damaging to their interests".</span></b>

Pakistan has already objected to the report. According to sources, it is trying to bring about an amendment in the final report that criticises India and deletes critical references to Pakistan.

While New Delhi will not comment, the government is determined to continue its focus on the entire state of J&K. That is why the residents of Gilgit and Baltistan have been included as legitimate passengers for the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service.

Articulating the government's approach to Kashmir, the Prime Minister's special envoy, Shyam Saran, said recently at a book launch, "It's important to avoid, even by implication, that the J&K issue involves only the Valley on our side of the LoC and the sliver of territory that is described as AJK on the other side."

Saran pointed out that while there are elected bodies in Indian Kashmir, there are no such institutions on the other side.

"If Pakistan is really serious about promoting the concept of self-governance, then it needs to take measures to create truly representative institutions on its side of the LoC, not only in PoK but in Gilgit and Baltistan."

2. The Lotastaani Version

[center]<b>EU wants Indo-Pak water issue resolved</b>[/center]

WASHINGTON : The European Parliament (EP) has urged India and Pakistan to resolve the crucial riparian issue affecting the headwaters and the use of the rivers flowing through Jammu and Kashmir as swiftly as possible while giving “key priority” to the agricultural, fishing, livestock and human water requirements of the local people.

In a draft report on Jammu and Kashmir of which Daily Times has obtained a copy, the EP congratulated India and Pakistan on the peace moves currently under way. It called on the EU and the international community to support the India-Pakistan bilateral talks, with the aim of generating a prosperous future for Kashmiris. Welcoming the CBMs initiated by India and Pakistan, it noted that they were achieving a “moderate degree” of success. Ordinary Kashmiris were also becoming intimately involved in the modalities of the peace process, it noted.

The report “regrets” that Pakistan has “consistently failed to fulfil its obligations to introduce meaningful and representative democratic structures in AJK,” while taking notice of the “continuing absence of Kashmiri representation in the Pakistani National Assembly”.

It said that “AJK is governed through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs in Islamabad, and Pakistan officials dominate the Kashmir Council”. The report said it “abhors” the provision in the 1974 Interim Constitution, which forbids any political activity that is not in accordance with the doctrine of Jammu and Kashmir as part of Pakistan, and obliges any candidate for a parliamentary seat in AJK to sign a declaration of loyalty to that effect. The report is “concerned that the Gilgit-Baltistan region enjoys no form of democratic representation whatsoever”.

The EP report said that the October 2005 earthquake had an immense impact on the lives of the people on both sides of the political divide, and the “vast humanitarian situation has completely changed the political conditions on the ground in Azad Kashmir”. It called for the dismantling of long-standing refugee camps and proper attention for their occupants’ protection.

The report stressed that the earthquake struck a region already weakened by 60 years of festering conflict, one which was in “the eye of the storm of the war against terrorism”. The EP said it was “appalled that the already minimal basic ‘rights’ enjoyed by Pakistani Kashmiris before the earthquake have been decimated”.

<b><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>The report “strongly emphasises” that continuing calls for a plebiscite on the final status of Jammu and Kashmir are “wholly out of step” with the needs of the local people. The report noted that “even without the earthquake, any plebiscite would have been meaningless without a change in policy from Islamabad”. The report “deplores human rights violations by the armed forces of India”</span>. khalid hasan</b> <!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Proves the Old Mumbai-Marathi Saying : Makad Mantos…. <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->