Title: Advani lambastes
Bukhari's charge, promises Sikhs security
Author: Onkar Singh
Publication: Rediff
on Net
Date: March 27, 2000
Union Home Minister Lal
Kishenchand Advani, who visited Chatti Singhpora village in Anantnag district
of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, has termed the allegation of Jama Masjid
imam Abdullah Bukhari "absolute rubbish".
"We all know that Bukhari
has been taking a pro-Pakistan stand. I can tell you that government agencies
had no hand in the killing of innocent Sikhs," Advani asserted.
Advani pointed out that
in one of their swiftest reactions, security forces had already gunned
down five foreign mercenaries who had taken part in the March 20 massacre.
"Security forces are
continuing their operations against the terrorists. We are determined to
nab the culprits. We have identified that Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul-Ansar,
two pro-Pakistan outfits, were involved in this massacre. This has been
confirmed by a militant arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police," Advani
told rediff.com on his return to Delhi.
Bukhari, while addressing
a congregation of Sikhs at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi on Saturday,
had alleged that the Chatti Singhpora massacre had been engineered by Indian
government agencies.
Talking about the security
measures the government proposes to take to restore the confidence of the
Sikhs, Advani admitted that the residents of Chatti Singhpora were unwilling
to form village defence committees.
"I went over to the village
and spoke to the people. I must admit that so far there is no response
to the government offer to form village defence committees. I am hopeful
that the villagers will soon see reason and agree to form the committees,"
he said.
Asked why the government
could not enlist ex-servicemen to protect citizens in Kashmir if the security
forces are tied up with other important tasks, Advani said the government
was willing to consider any suggestion that could offer a solution. "Most
of the villagers are ex-servicemen and they should come forward to protect
others," he pleaded.
Asked why he took so
long to visit the village when he should have been the first to go there,
Advani said, "I am aware of the feelings of the Sikh community and I did
want to go there earlier. But since US President Bill Clinton was here,
I could not find the time. In any case, our priority was to take swift
action and nab the culprits. Five of the 17 who took part in the massacre
have been killed. We will take care of the rest as well," he promised.
He said the two-pronged
strategy adopted by the Centre to tackle the militancy in Kashmir is paying
rich dividends. "We are fighting the militants in the valley and Pakistan
internationally. We have already started strengthening the security system
in 150 villages in the valley where the Sikhs are in the majority. There
are some among the villagers who feel they should migrate, but others feel
they should continue to live in the valley. The government will do everything
to ensure that Sikhs from the valley do not migrate."
