120 Whither Kashmir? (Part II) - Islamabad Policy Research Institute

Whither Kashmir?
101
• December 02 2009: A Kashmir based group, International People's
Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice, said that it had found 2600
bodies in unmarked graves during a three year survey. While the
group did not who the buried were, it alleged that some could be
innocent people killed by security force, and called for an
investigation.
• December 04 2009: Unidentified men shot and critically injured
Fazal Haque Qureshi, the senior most separatist leader and an
important executive member of the moderate Hurriyat Conference
in Srinagar. According to senior police officials, the attempt on the
life of Qureshi was to "stall" the imminent dialogue process
between New Delhi and the Hurriyat Conference. However, New
Delhi and the separatist conglomerate (Hurriyat) reaffirmed its
commitment to the dialogue process. The Al-Nasireen, a littleknown
guerrilla group believed to be an operational combine of the
Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba terror groups, has owned
responsibility for the attack.
• December 09 2009: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari asked for
United States to mediate between India and Pakistan on the
Kashmir issue in his Op-ed in the New York Times.
• December 11 2009: United States ruled out any mediatory role in
Kashmir stating that it should be resolved ultimately between
Pakistan and India with the active involvement of the people of
Kashmir.
• December 18, 2009: India withdraws 30,000 troops from Kashmir
in one of the largest troop withdrawals in response to dramatic
improvement in security situation. India is believed to have 500,000
to 700,000 army and paramilitary soldiers in the portion of
Kashmir it controls. The army won't confirm its deployment
levels.
• December 22 2009: A 'Row over World Bank's Kashmir clause'
happened between Indian Government and the World Bank. The
contested clause where the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
government loan will 'not be treated as a certificate that the
disputed territory' was an integral part of India' (the disputed
territory is Jammu and Kashmir). Indian finance minister Pranab
Mukherjee has assured that the Indian government will oppose the
contested disclaimer clause.