India has offered to hold talks with Kashmiris and review its heavy security presence in the Himalayan region in an attempt to bring under control a wave of separatist…
India has offered to hold talks with Kashmiris and review its heavy security presence in the Himalayan region in an attempt to bring under control a wave of separatist unrest.
The proposals were part of an eight-point plan put forward on Saturday by Palaniappan Chidamabaram, the Indian interior minister, after he led an all-party mission to the disputed Muslim-majority region.
"The government of India will appoint a group of interlocutors under an eminent person to begin the process of a sustained dialogue" with a wide swathe of Kashmiris, including political and youth groups, he said.
More than 100 people have been killed since early June as stone-throwing protesters have clashed with security forces. The civilian demonstrations have been the largest since an armed uprising against Indian rule in 1989.
Most of the victims, many in them in their teens, have been killed in live firing by police and paramilitary troops, while others have been hit by tear-gas shells or rubber bullets.
The recent protests were ignited on June 11 by the death of a 17-year-old student hit by a tear-gas shell during a clash with police. Since then Indian-administered Kashmir has been paralysed by demonstrations, strikes and strict curfews imposed to stem the unrest.
Heavily militarised
The Congress-led government has been accused in the Indian media of letting the situation spiral out of control and the eight-point plan is the first major initiative to deal with the clashes.
Chidambaram said the state government would be told to immediately free some 255 protesters jailed for throwing stones at security forces and compensate the families of the dead protesters.
Authorities will also consider reducing the security presence in the heavily militarised Kashmir valley, the hub of separatist sentiment.
In particular, Chidambaram said, officials would look at reducing the large number of security checkpoints that are deeply resented by locals.
"We will request the state government to immediately convene a meeting of the [security] Unified Command and to review the deployment of security forces in Kashmir valley, especially Srinagar," he said.
Chidambaram also said authorities would review the many areas of Kashmir listed as "disturbed", a category that allows application of the detested Armed Forces Special Powers Act giving security forces wide powers to open fire, detain suspects and confiscate property.
Rights groups have long pushed for repeal of the act to reduce public anger.
"We think these steps should address the concerns of different sections of Jammu and Kashmir, including [those of] the protesters," Chidambaram said.
Separatist reaction
Some separatists said they would meet to discuss their response.
"It will be discussed in a threadbare manner so we can give our reaction," said Yasin Malik, a veteran separatist leader.
But Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a separatist who has orchestrated the protests, said "none of our demands have been considered by government of India and the foremost among those was accepting Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory," the news agency Press Trust of India reported.
He called the initiative "mere eyewash" and announced a 10-day protest.
Geelani has previously laid down five conditions for a dialogue with New Delhi, including India accepting Kashmir as an international dispute, revoking the Special Powers Act and demilitarising the region.
Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India, which each claim the region in full. The dispute over the region has triggered two of the rival nations' three wars since partition of the subcontinent in 1947.
While violence has fallen to a 20-year low, alienation of ordinary Kashmiris, especially young people, has been stoked by India's massive security presence. They have expressed their anger on social networking sites such as Facebook and by pouring into the streets.
Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of Kashmir, welcomed Chidambaram's proposals and promised to hold a meeting in the coming days to "discuss the modalities of reducing the footprints of security forces in cities".
"[I] hope this [the conciliation plan] will be the first step to the final destination of reaching a political solution to the Kashmir issue," he said.
Source:Agencies
mmend that you read the reports carefully for the Penans are great storytellers, having in their heritage a fine oral tradition. They are painstaking when it comes to details and they are eloquent in the emotive retelling of their experiences.
“Sometime in early November 1993, my wife Leren Bajau and I returned to our dwelling in Long Kerong after having gone to the forest to gather sago. We found that our daughter M, together with some other people from Long Kerong, had returned from Long Ajeng a few days earlier.
“...We are currently living in Long Kerong, Baram. We have six children now living. Five of my children have died, including Sonny Laot who was my youngest child. Sonny was 4 years old when he died on Oct 6 1993.
“They were accompanying some officers from the Forest Department and some workers from the logging company that operates in the area. I believe there were more than 300 police personnel present. 
“I was afraid for my children whom I had left in our lamin (an open-walled temporary hut, raised about six feet above the ground) located about 100 metres from the blockade. In our lamin were Sonny (4 years old), Rose (7-8 years) and Stella (6-7 years). My grandchild Joit Abut (5-6 years) was also in the hut.
The police report featured the interviews of his brother Gilin Ten, 65, and another farmer Geoffery Upai Lagui, 33 from Long Kerong.
When the flying doctors came to Long Kerong, they refused to walk the short distance (about 40 meters away) to see him. Some villagers had tried to carry Geran to see the doctors but any small movement of his body caused him so much pain that they didn't persist.
