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Govt buckling under pressure: Panun Kashmir

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Panun Kashmir chief Dr Ajay Charangoo on Wednesday charged the Union government of buckling under pressure to grant major concessions to Pakistan even before the summit meeting between Vajpayee and Musharraf has taken place.

"We, the Kashmiri Pandits, who have been reduced to the status of refugees in our own country, want to know from the government what stand it proposes to take at the summit meeting on cross-border terrorism and the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir," he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Charangoo said the Kashmiri Pandits are not against the meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf, but the government must set its priorities right.

"It has already been announced that the government would allow free movement of people across the borders. That would make the border more porous and bring in more terrorists," he said.

Asked what would happen if the talks failed, Charangoo said that whether the talks succeed or fail, in both cases the level of violence in the state will rise.

"We should not support fundamentalism. We told Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani that the interests of innocent citizens being killed in Jammu and Kashmir must be protected," Charangoo said.

He said whatever happens at the summit would have an impact on the rest of the country. "Right now, the entire border from Jammu and Kashmir up to Assam is in turmoil. The forces of balkanization are getting stronger by the day," he said.

Charangoo also accused the Americans of meddling in the internal affairs of India. "They are the ones who gave Dr Farooq Abdullah the idea of greater autonomy. This is not the party which Kashmiri Pandits once voted for. This is a different organisation," he said.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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