WASHINGTON/SRINAGAR: US special envoy Richard Holbrooke has confirmed that Kashmir is not part of his mission, but hoped India and Pakistan would find common cause to reduce the threat of terrorism by taking it on head on.
“Yes, it is not part of my mission to work on Kashmir,” the envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan told PBS television in an interview when asked what was going to be President Barack Obama’s goal since as a candidate he had suggested that the US should probably help try to resolve the Kashmir crisis.
Asked to comment on a new book by David Sanger of the New York Times suggesting that the Pakistani military’s support of the Taleban stems in large part from their fear of India, which they believe is gaining a foothold in Afghanistan, Holbrooke called it “an interesting point.”
“This is the first time since the independence of Pakistan and India, over 60 years ago, that India, Pakistan, and the United States share a common threat from the terrorists,” said the envoy who returned this week after a tour of the region.
“The people who did 9/11 in the United States, the people who attacked Mumbai, and the people who seized Swat all come from the same roots and all are located in the same area,” he said.
“As everyone knows, the Pakistan army has been focused on India for decades. Most of us believe that they ought to reorient their attention much more to the west,” Holbrooke said. “But in order to do that, there has to be much more confidence between Pakistan and India.”
In another development, Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced yesterday that elections to the panchayats or village councils in the state would be held immediately after the Lok Sabha polls this year.
Speaking at a public meeting in Sunderbani, about 100 km north of Jammu, Omar underscored the importance of Panchayati Raj for addressing the basic needs of the rural populace and ensure integrated development at the grass-roots level. “Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the parliamentary elections,” the chief minister announced.
He regretted that the previous government had dissolved duly elected panchayats. At that time the rural development and panchayat minister was Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, who is also a minister in the Omar Abdullah government.
Meanwhile, nearly a dozen protesters and security men were injured in clashes in the old city area of Srinagar after Friday prayers, officials and witnesses said. Protesters took to the streets in Bohri Kadal area of the old city after the Friday prayers, demanding the release of detained separatist leaders Shabir Shah and Muhammad Nayeem Khan.
— With input from Mukhtar Ahmad
