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| 'Nobody can hand me over to India' | | Pak military intervention in Kashmir needed: Salahuddin | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI, AUG. 19: While pronouncing his 'verdict' that the Musharraf regime cannot take a U-turn on the Kashmir issue, Syed Salahuddin, supremo of the dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist group, has called for "military intervention" by Pakistan in Kashmir. Kashmiris, he says, "are disgruntled with Pakistan for not initiating military intervention in Kashmir".
"We want Pakistan to initiate military intervention in Kashmir just like India", Salahuddin is quoted as demanding in the course of a media interview in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). "It is a different issue that Pakistan does not do so", he says and hurriedly addes: "Pakistan is justified to do so".
And as he insisted that Kashmir "is an indigenous movement", the cat was out of the bag. "Pakistan is a party to it", proclaimed Salahuddin, who continues to enjoy the ISI's patronage. And he went a step further by arguing: It is Pakistan's responsibility to provide every kind of support to this movement". Salahuddin's belief: Kashmir issue can never be resolved through talks.
Salahuddin -- whose real name is Syed Mohammad Yusuf Shah -- is on a list of people India wants extradited from Pakistan in order to sustain the Indo-Pak peace process. While answering questions in the course of his media intgerview, Salahuddin dares Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to extradite him to India. The Musharraf regime has taken some unbelievable U-turns like ditching the Taliban and throwing Dr A Q Khan into the dustbin. When asked how would he react if the Musharraf regime tok a U-turn on him, his reported reply: Pakistan's security, defence and sovereignty are strongly linked with all the freedom fighters of Kashmir.
And Salahuddin's explanation ran thus: "India's demand that 'Salahuddin' or any other mujahid is handed over to them is absurd because 'Salahuddin' is living on his land, Azad Kashmir, which is a liberated part of Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, every Kashmiri has the right to live either in occupied (what Pakistanis call Jammu and Kashmir) Kashmir or Azad (Pakistan-occupied) Kashmir. Every Kashmiri can cross the khooni lakeer (the Line of Control). Therefore, it is impossible for the Musharraf regime to take a U-turn on me".
When told that the Musharraf regime is capable of doing anything, Salahuddin's reported answer: "I have full faith that nobody can take a U-turn on Kashmir. Nobody can hand me over to India." What goes him this faith? His reply: "I have this faith because my living in Azad Kashmir is like living in occupied Kashmir. I am justified in living in Azad Kashmir. No law in the world can make anyone extradite me".
What has Salahuddin's 'jihad' in Kashmir achieved so far? Salahuddin has been quoted as saying: "The Kashmiris have been fighting 750,000 Indian troops for the last 16 years. Despite having state-of-the-art weapons including the atom bomb, the Indians have failed to cause a slightest dent in our movement. Now the Indian generals are telling the Indian leaders that there is no military solution to Kashmir. India is spending Rs 52 crores per day in Kashmir. Keep in mind that more than 45 crore people live below the poverty line in India".
So what will happen now? Salahuddin's reported reply: "We are above 'what will happen!' We will continue to fight the Indians and make sacrifices. Our conviction is we will liberate Kashmir through jihad like Afghanistan". He demanded that Pakistan should provide Kashmiris 'substantial support'. He was asked to elaborate on the term 'substantial support'. And pat came the reply: "The entire world knows what 'substantial support' is. It does not require an explanation. It should be in addition to diplomatic, political and moral support -- to make this movement meaningful.
How long will this 'substantial support' resolve the Kashmir issue? Salahuddin was quoted as saying: "One year, five years, ten years, hundred years... Decades don't matter in freedom movements. They go on for centuries. We are very close to freedom. India has realised that if Kashmir is not resolved soon, the militancy will spiral out of Kashmir and spread to other parts of the country".
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