Indian premier visits troubled Kashmir

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was today becoming the first Indian prime minister in 16 years to hold a public rally in troubled Jammu-Kashmir state.

He was to address a carefully frisked crowd at a sports ground in Srinagar, the focus of a 13-year battle by Islamic militants fighting for Kashmir’s independence or its merger with Pakistan.

More than 61,000 people, mostly Muslim civilians, have died in the conflict since 1989.

Vajpayee arrived in the region today as a protest strike by separatist groups shut down the states capital.

Buses and trucks stayed off the roads, and only some private cars and motorcycles were moving in Srinagar.

Vajpayee unveiled the foundation stone for an extension building at the airport, lit a Hindu lamp in a traditional gesture and then flew into the city in a helicopter.

Shortly before Vajpayee arrived, separatist leader Javed Ahmad Mir, vice president of the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front, was detained as he tried to lead a protest march by the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons.

Thousands of people have “disappeared” in Kashmir after being taken for questioning by security forces, human rights groups say.

Police were deployed on roads across the city, and thousands of soldiers used metal detectors and sniffer dogs to check homes. Guards frisked people for explosives near the venue for the rally, the first by an Indian government leader since Rajiv Gandhi addressed the public in Srinagar in 1987.

The Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen, Kashmir’s largest rebel group, and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a separatist alliance of 23 parties, called the strike to protest against Vajpayee’s visit.

In his speech, Vajpayee was expected to promise more financial aid for the state, which wants to fight militancy by offering jobs and economic incentives. New Delhi announced an £800m (€1.15bn) development package last year.

Vajpayee’s two-day programme in Kashmir also included laying the ground stone for a highway, visiting a school, and initiating projects aimed at running train services to Kashmir by 2007.

“Concessions and artificial rallies would not help to solve the problems that Kashmir faced,” Hurriyat chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat said. “Only sincerity and sense of purpose will.”

India and Pakistan both claim all of Kashmir, which is divided between them. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought three of their four wars over control of the Himalayan region.

India accuses Pakistan of funding and arming Muslim militants who have training camps in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir and cross the frontier to wage attacks. Pakistan denies that it gives the militants material aid, but says it supports their cause.

Just before Vajpayee’s speech, a senior US State Department official said Washington was “frustrated” at its inability to persuade Pakistan to stop the militant infiltration into Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“The United States has, for some time, urged the Pakistani government to stop all infiltration across the Line of Control,” said Richard Haass, director of policy planning for the US State Department.

“To be honest, we have not succeeded and we are disappointed and frustrated with that reality.”