Indian Express
Thursday, May 28, 1998
Pakistan is mother of terrorism, Farooq tells
envoys
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Dr Farooq
Abdullah has described Pakistan as "mother of terrorism" and
asked the international community to tell Islamabad in
"unequivocal terms" to stop aiding and abetting militancy in
the state. The world cannot be a "mute spectator" to the
killing of innocent people in the state by the "preparators of
terrorism", Dr Abdullah told visiting ambassadors of Belgium
and Finland Guillaume Metton and Benjamin Bassin
respectively here last evening, reports PTI.
Talking about the abduction of six western tourists by
Islamabad backed Al-Faran militant outfit (shadow
organisation of Harkat-Ul-Ansar) in July 1995 at Phalgham,
he told the envoys that, "Pakistan should be told in
unequivocal terms that enough is enough." Of the six western
tourists, one American John Childs managed to escape days
after his abduction while a Norwegian tourist -- Hansa Ostro
-- was killed on August 17 same year. The fate of four others
-- Keith Mangan and Paul Wells (Britons), Donald Hutching
(American) and Dirk Hassert (German) -- is still not known.
Informing them about the massacre of minority community
members by foreign mercenaries at Wandhama, Pranakote
and Dakikote recently, Dr Abdullah said even the mourners
carrying their bodies in Dessa were killed in an ambush.
Accusing Pakistan of creating communal divide among the
people to succeed in its "nefarious designs" he warned
Islamabad that "it cannot secede even an inch of our territory.
He said the recent nuclear tests had become a necessity for
India to defend its own integrity. Nuclear weapons would not
be used by India but these would serve as a deterrent, Dr
Abdullah said. "India has never been aggressor but
aggressed", he said and pointed to three wars waged against
India by Pakistan. The two envoys also called on the state
governor G.C. Saxena and discussed the situation in the
valley. |
