Author:
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: May 1, 2001
After lying low for several months,
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) has said it will step up militant
activities in Jammu and Kashmir to scuttle the Indian government's peace
moves and vowed to continue suicide attacks to disintegrate 'India through
armed struggle'.
The latest anti-Indian tirade of
the militant group, which has carried out a number of suicide attacks against
security forces in J&K, came at its just-concluded training convention
at Muridke in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
The group was emboldened by the
'soft approach' of the United States and other Western countries against
them, sources in New Delhi said on Tuesday.
While the US decided not to include
the outfit in the list of designated terrorist organisations, Britain has
already declared it a terrorist organisation.
The latest Union home ministry report
suggested that Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) was trying to
step up violence in J&K through various militant groups with the focus
on 'demonstrative actions' to demoralise the security forces and create
a communal divide in the country with the help of foreign mercenaries.
Reports claimed that more than 100,000
people attended the LeT convention. Hundreds of militants, including cavalry
contingents, armed with sophisticated weapons guarded the venue.
The Pakistan government ordered
closure of several markets in the surrounding areas and Muridke was sealed
to prevent any untoward incident.
Amir of Markazi Daawal Irshad (MDI)
Hafiz Mohd Saeed described the recent offer of talks by the Indian government,
as a 'deceit.' He said the Kashmir issue could not be solved through talks.
He warned the Musharraf government
not to take any dictation on Pakistan's nuclear programme from the US.
The Let is operating eight training
camps in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir under the MDI.
In his wireless address to the convention,
Abdul Makki, in-charge of the LeT's operations in the Valley, said that
militants would storm Indian army camps. They would remain steadfast in
the battlefield and rest only after India is pushed out of Kashmir.
Former information minister Mushahid
Hussain and Ejaz-ul-haq, son of Gen Zia-ul-Haq, were prominent invitees
at the convention.
UNI
