JEDDAH, 22 May — Expatriates of all shades of opinion Kingdomwide expressed their shock and dismay over the killing yesterday of senior Kashmiri leader, Abdul Ghani Lone, in Srinagar, capital of the Indian-administered Kashmir.
Arab News offices in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam were inundated with calls from those seeking details of the tragedy. It was initially dismissed as a rumor, but as expatriates soon learned that Lone had indeed been shot dead by two unidentified gunmen while attending a function.
Expats feared that the killing might further aggravate the tension between the two archrivals India and Pakistan. A majority of the Indians contacted by Arab News felt that Lone’s killing would prove a setback to attempts to secure a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem.
The Kashmiri community in the Eastern Province was reluctant to make any comments on record, fearing retribution by extremists in Kashmir.
“A sword is dangling over our head from both sides — the extremists and the authorities. Please don’t quote me,” said a resident of Srinagar who has been living in Dammam for the last 10 years.
However, off the record he condemned the killing and said it was a great loss to the Kashmiri movement.
“Lone was taking the movement along the right path,” a Kashmiri in Alkhobar commented.
“He was a unifying figure of the Hurriyat Conference and was constantly engaged in uniting the various factions under one umbrella grouping,” he said.
Indians condemned the killing and expressed the opinion that neither the local police nor the Indian military were behind the act.
“It’s not possible. He was a moderate leader and there was widespread speculation that he might participate in the upcoming state assembly elections,” said Rehan Khan of Delhi, who works in the Eastern Province.
The expat community was equally shocked in Jeddah.
“Lone was an educated man and was elected to the state assembly during the chief ministership of Sheikh Abdullah, father of present chief minister. He advocated that some Hurriyat Conference leaders should take part in the upcoming state assembly election. He was eliminated because he was even considering taking some moderate elements to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who is currently in the state,” said Sanjay Sadhu, a Kashmiri who works as a technical specialist in a Jeddah-based company.
A Kashmiri doctor said Lone was a moderate leader and was respected in both India and Pakistan.
“His assassination is a setback to the political process in the state,” he added.
Jameel Siddiqi, an Indian from Bombay, said: “Lone was the most popular leader among the Kashmiri community and his death is a big setback to the Kashmiri cause.”
The Pakistani community also condemned the killing and said it was time for both India and Pakistan to consider dialogue as the only way of bringing an end to the Kashmir problem.
“The present impasse is helping only extremist elements, who have taken advantage of the situation. They don’t want peace between the two countries,” said Aftab Shah of Azad Kashmir.
It was evident that ideological differences were present in the Kashmiri community in the Eastern Province. While every individual condemned the killing of Lone, their reaction lacked conviction.
In Riyadh, the feeling among Kashmiri expatriates was that the liberation movement might suffer a temporary setback following such targeted killings, but is bound to regain momentum in due course.
“This is evident from the martyrdom of Mir Waiz, Mohammed Yusuf and Maqbool Butt. The liberation movement bounced back afterward with renewed vigor,” said Rafiq Baig, president of the local chapter of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
He added that the assassination underscored a common flashpoint — Kashmir — and that if India and Pakistan do not resolve the issue peacefully, it could explode leading to an armed confrontation between the two nuclear powers.
Mohammed Salim Khan, a former office-bearer of JKLF, denounced the assassination by saying that Lone was an important figure in the movement. He referred to a video release recently pointing to a possible attempt on his life.
Asked who could be behind the assassination, Khan did not reply, but hinted that the hard-line BJP government would benefit from it.
— Saeed Haider in Dammam, K.S. Ramkumar in Jeddah & Habib Badr in Riyadh
