SRINAGAR, 9 June — Four women were killed and 50 others seriously injured in a grenade attack yesterday near the Charar-e-Sharif mosque in Kashmir, police and witnesses said.
The injured were rushed to hospital, where 12 were believed to be in a critical condition, they said.
“Due to the blast, 50 people sustained injuries. Out of the injured, four succumbed to their injuries,” a police spokesman said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque, located in the central district of Budgam, 35 km from Srinagar.
Police blamed activists, but did not identify any particular group.
“Militants hurled a grenade in the premises of Charar-e-Sharif, where a large number of devotees had assembled for offering Friday prayers,” the police spokesman said.
It was the third attack here against civilians in the past week. In the other two attacks, seven people were killed, including a child, and more than 30 others were injured.
A prominent Kashmiri group, Hizbul Mujahedeen, has ordered its cadres not to carry out attacks at public places to avoid civilian casualties.
Two other Kashmiri groups, Lashkar-e-Toaiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, have released statements urging local people to guard against attacks by pro-India militants in public places.
Meanwhile, the government yesterday ruled out elections in Kashmir under international supervision as violence continued unabated in the disputed territory.
“There is no question of holding elections in Kashmir under international surveillance from inside or outside the country,” Advani was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI).
“In the past, the country had conducted polls in a most democratic and fair manner,” he said.
The minister was reacting to comments made by political separatist leaders in Kashmir, who said they were ready to participate in elections under international supervision.
On Thursday in Srinagar, Abdul Gani Lone, a senior leader of Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), said polls under international supervision would prove APHC represented the people of Kashmir. “If the (provincial) government or New Delhi has doubts about our credibility then they should not shy away from holding elections under international observers,” Lone said.
The APHC has so far boycotted all elections held in Kashmir. These include the 1996 provincial elections and national elections in 1996, 1998 and 1999. It also boycotted local elections held last year.
Another Kashmiri political leader, Shabir Shah, who heads the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), said yesterday Kashmiris were willing to take part in elections aimed at ascertaining the real representatives of the people of the region.
“Such an exercise (elections) can be held under supervision of Indian nongovernmental organizations. I have full faith in them,” he said. Hurriyat Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat said yesterday he hoped the forthcoming Vajpayee-Musharraf summit would find a permanent solution to the 53-year-old Kashmir dispute.
“We need to consider the forthcoming summit and probably think now onwards towards finding a long-term solution rather than choosing short cuts or repeating unproductive political exercises,” Bhat said.
