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India to move World Court against Pak aggression

Mrityunjay Bose in Dhule

After receiving a positive response from the international community against Pakistan, the government is planning to move the International Court of Justice to "expose those responsible" for the Kargil episode.

Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani told reporters at Dhule airport in Maharashtra that once the conflict is over and the intruders have been thrown out, the government will move the ICJ against those responsible for causing the trouble.

Jethmalani will represent the government.

He said those responsible for the intrusion should be tried and taught a lesson. They should be treated like the Nazis after World War II.

Jethmalani and Defence Minister George Fernandes were in the Adivasi-dominated district to unveil a Rs 10 million memorial to Param Vir Chakra Hawaldar Abdul Hamid, who was killed during the second Indo-Pak war on September 10, 1965.

The memorial has been erected by the Kisan Trust headed by Anil Gote, president of the Maharashtra Loksangram Party.

Speaking on the occasion, Fernandes said the army and air force are preparing for a major assault next week along the 140km Line of Control against the Pakistani soldiers and terrorists who have entered India. "Dead or alive, they will be thrown out," he thundered.

When reporters asked whether India would cross the LoC, Jethmalani said the government is not ready to discuss the issue publicly at this stage. "This will be discussed in the proper forum and a collective decision will be taken," he said. "As far as possible, India will not cross the LoC."

Fernandes also announced that the government is planning a national war museum.

"Modalities are being worked out," he said. The memorial will project the strategic and defence history of India from the era of the Ramayan and Mahabharat. "The history of various external aggressions faced by the Indian people, including the Kargil episode, will be there," he said.

The defence minister said there is a need to develop a strategic culture among Indians. "We should know why we have faced so many aggressions -- by Alexander the Great, by the Portuguese and the Britishers. Why they could dominate us, we should find out," he said, hoping the museum would help generate this awareness among the masses.

UNI

The Kargil Crisis

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