The Hindu : International : I will go ahead with Srinagar visit: Rashid

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 17, 2005

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I will go ahead with Srinagar visit: Rashid

B. Muralidhar Reddy

"The visit will be a test between supporters and opponents of peace"

"Certain newspapers play different roles... They have been defeated, as truth will remain truth. I am going by the June 30th bus"

Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: Undaunted by the controversy triggered by JKLF chief Yasin Malik's remarks on the generous hospitality provided by Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to Kashmiris at the height of the militancy in the valley, the Minister has asserted that he would go ahead with his proposed visit to Srinagar.

In an informal talk with journalists on Thursday at the helipad from where visiting Kashmiri leaders were flown to Muzaffarabad for their onward journey to Srinagar, Mr. Rashid said that his visit would be a "test" between the supporters and the opponents of the peace process.

"There are certain newspapers which play different roles probably with directions and influence from someone. They have been defeated, as truth will remain truth. I am going by the June 30th bus," the Minister said.

Significantly a news report circulated by Pakistan official news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz accorded permission to Mr. Ahmed to undertake a weeklong visit to Kashmir. "The Prime Minister has accorded approval to Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for a visit to Srinagar in his private capacity. Sheikh Rashid plans to visit the Kashmir on June 30 through trans-Kashmir bus between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar", it said.

Going by the APP news item it appears the Minister wants to return to Pakistan from New Delhi as the bus operates only once in a week. In such an eventuality he would require a visa.

More than the reported remarks of Mr. Malik, the Minister is feeling the heat from prominent Opposition parties and former top generals as they have confirmed Mr. Ahmed's alleged role in running the camp.

The controversy erupted after a Pakistan daily reported quoted JKLF leader as saying that that Ahmed organised a camp for 3,500 militants at Rawalpindi when the militancy in Jammu and Kashmir was at its peak. Both the Minister and Mr. Malik denied the report.

Immediately after the denial, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) headed by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, accused Mr. Ahmed of appropriating Government lands in the name of running the militant camp.

The former Chief of Army Staff, Aslam Baig, who was opposed to President Pervez Musharraf's policies, also said that Ahmed used to run a militant camp in Rawalpindi. He told the local media that as Army Chief, he had received information about the camp where militants used to receive training. "The abandoned camp still has the signboard of Freedom House."

Mr. Baig said Mr. Sharif could also confirm the existence of the militant camp and urged the Government and Mr. Ahmed to come forward and admit it. He said the controversy would adversely affect the ongoing peace process with India.

Another former General and former Interior Minister Nasurllah Babar, said in a statement on Wednesday night that in 1989, Mr. Ahmed himself confessed to running a training-cum-refugee camp for Kashmiris near Islamabad.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a Minister in the Government of deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif who heads the Opposition Pakistan Muslim League (N), backed the allegation made by Gen. (retd) Baig that the training camp run by Mr. Ahmed was closed down after Mr. Sharif took over as Prime Minister in 1990.

Mr. Ahmed rejected as "irresponsible" assertions by Mr. Baig and claimed that attempts were being made in Pakistan to change his image and make him a "terrorist."

Meanwhile the Daily Times whose report triggered the controversy in an editorial titled "What's the big deal about Yasin Malik's admission?" said that it was a "ridiculous storm" in a teacup kicked up by the Indian Government and the media.

"Everybody and his aunt knows that Pakistan has proudly supported the Kashmir cause and the freedom fighters, not terrorists. Mr. Hamid Mir, a well-known columnist and current anchorman of a TV show, confirmed as much to an Indian channel two days ago when the controversy broke out. Mr. Mir should know what he is talking about.

He was the editor of an Urdu newspaper in Islamabad for many years that openly espoused the cause of armed jihad in Kashmir," the paper said.

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