NEW DELHI, 1 October — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday lashed out at Pakistan, saying the international community must hold Islamabad accountable for its continued support of “terrorism” against India. He hailed the ongoing assembly elections in Kashmir as a “turning point” on the road to peace despite militant efforts to derail it.
“We will intensify our diplomatic initiatives to remind the leading nations of the international coalition against terrorism that they must redeem their pledge to combat and defeat terrorism everywhere, irrespective of the cause it espouses,” Vajpayee told a police conference here. “Which means Pakistan must be held accountable for its continued sponsorship of terrorism in India.”
“The main threat to our internal security — namely cross border terrorism fueled by religious extremism — draws its ideological sustenance and operational support from outside our borders,” said Vajpayee.
“Our adversary has grown desperate and desperation is leading it to become more and more dastardly in its losing war of terrorism against India. Most recently, the sacrilege at the temple in Gujarat shows our enemy’s desperation.”
The temple attack, according to Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, is part of the violence which has surged in Kashmir since Aug. 2, when New Delhi announced dates for legislative elections in the state.
Vajpayee said the relatively good turnouts in the first two rounds were signs that the restive Himalayan region had turned the corner.
Vajpayee said voters had defied the threat of violence from militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. “There was a widespread fear psychosis created (by) terrorist organizations backed by Pakistan. There were killings of candidates and political activists, intimidation of voters,” he said.
“However, the people of Jammu and Kashmir braved all this to once again demonstrate that the bullet cannot defeat the ballot in a democracy.”
Kashmir, he said, would see an end to insurgency in the same way that Sikh militants who were active in the northern state of Punjab during the 1980s had been largely quashed by security forces by the early 1990s.
“I am confident that the state will leave the nightmare of militancy behind and return to peace, normalcy and development,” he said.
“We have seen it happen in Punjab, where the police and security forces with the cooperation of people, ultimately overcome the challenge of militancy.
At least 37,000 people have died since the militants in 1989 launched a revolt against Indian rule in the state.
Addressing top officials of police and paramilitary organizations Vajpayee warned against the security forces getting carried away in a time of provocation. “You must remain apolitical, neutral and free of sectarian or any kind of bias,” Vajpayee said.
“This is especially true in areas sensitive to communal and caste tension. You should ensure that not even a small section of the force gets carried away in a time of provocation.”
Rights groups have charged the police in the riot-torn state of Gujarat of not only failing to prevent vigilante attacks against Muslims but in some cases even being complicit in the violence.
