arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)
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Neemt de spanning rond Kashmir af ? by denjoe Tuesday June 11, 2002 at 02:20 PM |
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Volgens internationale commentatoren neemt de spanning in Kashmir af. Is dit wel zo ?
Below we publish the latest eyewitness account by a socialist from Kotli, Kashmir and also a press statement from the Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party (JK NAP).
Koli town is nearby the division of Nikayaal which is mentioned in the account and is also the home town of the President of JK NAP.
"The latest is that yesterday, three youth, including children aged 16,12,and 8 were killed in the heaviest shelling in Nakyaal sector, where the prime minister of Pakistani Occupied Kashmir is holed up unable to move because of the shelling!
"This morning (07/06/02) the shelling around Kotli town began at 8.15am. Six shells expolded around the mountains surrounding Kotli. Shelling continues and large part of the forest are on fire. There is bit of panic, as it was the first time Kotli has been hit in any of the recent conflicts between the Indian and Pakistani regime. When I went to the local press office to send out a JKNAP press statement I met two United Nations military observers. One of them said to me that according to his information the shelling around the town in which we are (Kotli) would worsen and move into the town centre. He said that they did not know what was going to happen and had received no instructions from UN headquarters. He ended the conversation by saying, "Take care of yourselves and your family".
"We are going ahead with our anti-war demonstration despite the situation. Many people are worried and concerned. In order to lift spirits and give some hope to ordinary workers and youth in a desperate situation this demonstration is very important. It also gives people an alternative. We have been campaigning today by hanging banners over the main street crossings in town and holding meetings with workers and youth. Yesterday, we held a meeting with fifteen sanitary workers who are going to support the demo.
"The idea put forward in the western press that the tension is reducing is nonsense. More and more villages further away from the Line of Control are being shelled with each passing day"