December 16, 2001	Sunday	Ramazan 30, 1422

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LONDON, Dec 15: Defining Kashmir unrest as terrorism is a “monstrous distortion”, said The Guardian on Saturday in its comments over the attack on Indian Parliament on Thursday.

“But to define the unrest in Kashmir as terrorism sponsored by Pakistan is a monstrous distortion,” it said in a lengthy comment under the heading Repressive measures, on Saturday.

“Despite two United Nations resolutions urging a referendum, India has refused to hold one. A long campaign of popular resistance to Indian rule began as a secular movement,” said The Guardian.

The newspaper said: “The Kashmir dispute has been ignored by the international community for nearly four decades and it has rarely been more dangerous. Kashmir, too, is a dispute that has festered because of decades of neglect,” said The Guardian.

Written by Isabel Hilton the article said India might use attack on its parliament “as a pretext for further military action” in Kashmir.

“Kashmir is recognized by the UN as disputed territory. It is time that international attention was concentrated on the dispute before the war against terrorism provides the pretext for further tragedy,” said the newspaper.

It said President General Pervez Musharraf has “repeatedly called for negotiations on Kashmir; there has never been a Pakistani head of state more willing to talk about an issue that arouses violent feelings on both sides.”

Gen Musharraf has expressed willingness to have talks with India anywhere, anytime and at any level to solve the long- running Kashmir dispute which remains a major source of tension between the two nuclear neighbours in South Asia.

“A decade ago, the UN general assembly adopted a resolution on measures to eliminate international terrorism - which said, among other things, that nothing in that resolution could be taken to prejudice the right of self-determination, freedom and independence laid out in the UN charter,” said The Guardian.

“Kashmir is an even more alarming case, not only because the death toll is much higher (some 70,000 Kashmiris have died in the last 10 years), but also because it threatens a potential conflict between South Asia’s nuclear states, a catastrophe that would dwarf that of Sept 11,” said The Guardian.

In its comments, The Guardian, mentioned Indian viewpoint also but said: “Kashmir is a largely Muslim state that was denied a referendum on partition in 1947 because the state’s Hindu governor opted to join India, undoubtedly against the will of the population.”

The article appreciated President Musharraf’s steps to bring the religious schools across the country into mainstream of educational system. —APP