Ceasefire will encourage terrorists, says Swamy

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 1. The Janata Party president, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, today asked the Centre to recognise the reality that Gen. Pervez Musharraf was ``firmly in charge'' and to resume dialogue with Pakistan.

At the same time, Dr. Swamy, who has returned from Pakistan, opposed any engagement with Kashmiri militants as that would be a ``sign of weakness'' on the part of the Indian State. ``If you want to talk, talk to Pakistan,'' he said. If the Centre really believed that Kashmiri militants were being sponsored by Pakistan, then it should talk to Pakistan and not to the militants.

At a press conference, he said the ceasefire ordered in Kashmir would demoralise the armed forces and encourage terrorists.

While favouring negotiations with Pakistan, Dr. Swamy, however, said there could be no dispute over Kashmir as it was very much a part of India. ``Our Constitution only provides for merger, not demerger,'' he said. ``India can only expand, not contract.''

Referring to the kidnapping and freeing of Kannada film star Mr. Rajkumar by the forest brigand, Veerappan, he said the release was made possible by the LTTE which had received ransom money. The CBI should take over investigation of the entire episode as there was ``considerable doubt'' about the impartiality of the Tamil Nadu government.

Noting that the Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency had visited Sri Lanka and sought the extradition of LTTE chief Prabhakaran, he wanted to know whether the MDMK general secretary, Mr. Vaiko, and the PMK founder, Dr. S. Ramadoss, supported the move.

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