PHOTO: NISSAR AHMAD

Police personnel remove the body of a militant slain in retaliatory fire.

SRINAGAR: The attack on a Youth Congress rally here has evoked strong condemnation with all the political parties terming it as an act of "cowardice" targeting civilians.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor S.K. Sinha said the attack would not deter the Government from going ahead with the peace process.

Cult of violence

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was scheduled to address the rally minutes after the attack took place, later visited the spot and condemned the act.

"The cowardly terrorist attack on the largest-ever public gathering organised by the Youth Congress to commemorate the death anniversary of the late Rajiv Gandhi in which innocent civilians and public at large were directly fired at, has now fully exposed the cult of violence operating in the valley which stands rejected, isolated and hated by the peace-loving people of Kashmir," he said.

An official spokesman said that Mr. Azad was pained to hear that terrorists had attacked a gathering of innocent people. Mr. Azad said that this was the desperate bid of isolated militants to make their presence felt. He wondered what message they were trying to convey by killing innocents. "I am sure that such terror tactics will not deter the people of Kashmir," the Chief Minister said. Mr. Azad also visited the hospital to enquire about the welfare of the injured.

PDP founder and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and party president and MP Mehbooba Mufti have also strongly condemned the attackand described it as a barbaric act.

In a joint statement, the two leaders have expressed grief over the gory incident that too at a time when all the peace-loving forces were attending the Srinagar roundtable Conference to find a solution to the vexed Kashmir problem.

They said that people yearning for peace were determined to cooperate so that the peace initiative initiated by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh moved forward.

National Conference Patron and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said the attack was aimed at scuttling the Prime Minister's roundtable conference. "The conference should neither be postponed nor cancelled in view of the attack as it would encourage the militants," he added.

Condemning the attack, Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, said, "This reflects the frustration of those elements which did not want peace to return to the State."

Advani for vigil

UNI reports from New Delhi:

Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani condemned the attack on the rally and demanded that there should no relaxation in the vigilance being maintained by police and paramilitary forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

``This is the second time that the terrorists have attacked a political party's rally in the state in the recent past. Earlier, the BJP's rally was attacked in Doda and now the Congress rally has been targeted.

"It only shows that the terrorists are active and kicking. No relaxation should be allowed in our police and paramilitary forces while on vigil," he said in a statement here.

BJP president Rajnath Singh also condemned the attack and held the UPA Government's policies responsible for the increasing terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.

He told reporters that abrogation of POTA enacted by the NDA Government and the ``consequent absence of any alternative mechanism'' boosted the morale of the terrorists and separatist forces in the State.

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