NEW DELHI - The British High Commissioner to India, Sir David Alwyn, has reiterated Britain's offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute.

In an interview to The Asian Age published 27^th January, Sir David said that Kashmir had been one of the areas where India and Britain have had differences of opinion. "We see it as a bilateral issue where both India and Pakistan should sit together and decide," he said, adding that Pakistan is in favour of international Intervention and that if both countries agree, Britain is willing to offer its help.

During the last 50 years, Sir David said, the bilateral relations between India and Britain were marred due to certain issues -- Kashmir on the political side and the process of nation alienation on the economic side. He added that India's effort to establish the Non­Aligned Movement (NAM) was another hurdle in the path of relations between the two nations. He said while the NAM was totally non­aligned with the West, it was near aligned with the East. -- Iftikhar Gilani

SRINAGAR - The troubled Himalayan state of Kashmir ground to a halt here Thursday (13^th February) after separatist militants called a one­day strike to protest a visit by India's prime minister, witnesses said.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, with a population of 800,000, was turned into a ghost town, with shops and offices closed and traffic at a minimum. Similar stoppages were staged in other towns in the state.

The action against H.D. Deve Gowda's two­day visit, due to begin Thursday, was called by the Kashmiri Freedom Conference [the APHC], an umbrella group of two dozen separatist groups.

Residents in Srinagar, meanwhile, said hundreds of protesters hurled rocks, burned tires and chanted anti­Indian slogans Wednesday (12^th February) to protest the visit.

On Wednesday (12^th February) police broke up street protests against the visit, Deve Gowda's third since October. -- AFP

SRINAGAR ­ A soldier in Kashmir killed his boss for abusing him on the telephone, an army spokesman said here Sunday (23^rd February).

Kama Bhallu shot dead major Kamlesh Kumar in a northern military base and injured two colleagues in a fit of rage late Saturday (22^nd February).

An army source said the incident, the third of its kind since December, showed the troops ­­ living away from their families in a hostile terrain and working long shifts ­­ were finding the going tough. "Of late, there has been an increase in these incidents because of the high­handedness of the officers and overwork," he said.

On 25^th December, a soldier went berserk and killed five of his colleagues in the apple­growing town of Sopore. On 16^th January, another soldier killed three peers after being denied leave to go home. -- AFP

NEW DELHI ­ Hundreds of Kashmiris have been evicted from New Delhi hotels as part of a security drive ahead of the country's Republic Day on Sunday (26^th January), a newspaper said Friday (24^th January). The Times of India said that residents from the troubled state... were told in the last three days to leave.

Many were forced to camp on public ground near the medieval Red Fort because nobody would take them in, the Times said.

G.M. Bhatt, a resident from the Kashmir town of Baramullah, said he was being unfairly harassed. "What is our fault ? They are checking our luggage ... and then ask us to leave. For what ?" he said. Mir Hamidullah Quresi added: "They can check our belongings but cannot ask us to leave."

"The hotelier had no choice. They were simply obeying the police's 'blanket instruction' to evict all Kashmiris from their establishments. By late evening, several of these men, women and children who were booted out from nearby hotels, were seen squatting near Jama Masjid, braving the wintry winds. Several hoteliers who were interviewed by The Indian Express said they asked the Kashmiris to vacate their rooms on a police fiat who saw every Kashmiri with suspicion," The Indian Express, 24^th January 1997.

SRINAGAR ­ Soldiers armed with machine guns and AK­47 assault rifles entered scores of houses after cordoning off major commercial districts in Srinagar, a city of 800,000 people.

The soldiers were accompanied by surrendered guerrillas wearing hoods and popularly known as "spotters."

Some 20 soldiers also searched the Agence France-Presse (AFP) office in downtown Lal Chowk. AFP photographer Tauseef Mustafa said he was prevented by the troops from leaving the Press Enclave, where most journalists live.

The search operation forced shops in the heart of Srinagar to remain shut Sunday (19th January), a working day. Shops here observe Fridays as a holiday.

Some [Kashmiris] alleged they were not allowed to go to Mosques and were ordered to come out of their houses in the biting cold and despite a promise by the army not to disturb the inmates. "A few people were asked to vacate their houses, but they were allowed back due to snow," an army officer said.

The streets of Lal Chowk, Residency Road, Maulana Azad Road, Regal Chowk, Abi Guzar and other major commercial districts were deserted.

Sunday's crackdown was part of a massive cordon­and­search operation which the troops launched two weeks ago to arrest Muslim [Kashmiri] separatists and seize weapons ahead of India's Republic Day on 26^th January.

The day is usually marred by protests by Muslim [Kashmiri] militants fighting to end Indian rule over Kashmir ...- -AFP

SRINAGAR - People are protesting in large numbers in the Pahloo village near the world famous picturesque Mughal garden, Nishat. The villagers were demanding an immediate check to soldiers waywardness at a nearby army camp. The immediate provocation in the area was the arrest and the custodial death of an elderly person.

People came out of their houses and started raising slogans against India and the security forces. Nearly 4,000 residents blocked the traffic in the area. The villagers said that pro­India militants were pressing them to hand over two village girls, whom they wanted to take to the nearby Chandpora Army camp. The renegades have threatened the village elders including the father of the girls with dire consequences, if they did not comply with the demand. A high-level police official, when contacted on the telephone, meekly confirmed it and said, "the area around Nishat is being ruled by the law of the jungle." The villagers alleged that the gunmen were actively backed by the Indian armed forces. Last night (29^th December), the villagers said, the soldiers cordoned off a particular area in the village and ransacked the house of Wali Mohammad Sheikh. They took 60-year-old Sheikh with them, adding that the only crime Sheikh has committed is that he is the father of the girls which the soldiers desire. A State police official said that although he has communicated the incident to senior officers, there has been no response so far.

It may be recalled that the situation took an ugly turn on Saturday (28^th December), when the security forces killed Abdul Aziz Bhat, a tailor who was in their custody. The defence spokesman claimed that Aziz was a 'militant' who was killed making an abortive bid to flee from a hideout. The villagers disputed the claim and said Aziz was arrested on Thursday (26^th December) at his residence along with three others. While, Aziz's bullet ridden and tortured body was returned to his kin, nothing is known about the others. -- Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI - Newly intensified counter-insurgency operations have inspired renewed violence in the northeastern region of "the-world's-largest-secular-democratic-India," and claimed thousands of lives over the past five years.

The latest crackdown follows New Delhi's decision to set up a unified command headed by the army in Assam, where India's Home Minister Indrajit Gupta on Saturday (18^th January) described the law and order situation as "alarming." He added, "we have decided to make operational the unified command because we feel it would produce results in a relatively short time."

New Delhi has deployed an additional 25,000 troops in Assam on Sunday (19^th January) for a major crackdown against guerrillas of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the tribal-dominated Bodo Security Force (BSF)and Bodoland Liberation Tiger Front (BLTF). The soldiers, backed by paramilitary forces, would move first on tribal guerrilla's who have been blamed for more than 100 deaths during the past months, an army general said.

Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad's brutal-police interrogation centre, twelve petty criminals were blinded after "Tiger Balm" was applied to their eyes. This happened on two separate incidents: 27^th January and 2^nd February, in a district police station of Rajkot. Furthermore, in Tripura's latest massacre, 17 innocent people were murdered on 12^th February. -- KPI