NEW DELHI, Oct 30: Kashmir’s spiritual leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Sunday condemned Saturday’s terror attacks here and expressed relief that the incident had failed to derail a landmark agreement between India and Pakistan to open the Line of Control for providing relief to quake-hit people.
Talking to this correspondent on telephone from Srinagar, he said that an alleged Kashmiri group which had reportedly claimed responsibility for the Delhi outrage was completely unknown in Kashmir.
On Sunday, a man claiming to be a representative of the Islami Inqalabi Mahaz (Islamic Revolutionary Front) telephoned local newspapers in held Kashmir to claim responsibility for the blasts and warned of more to come.
“No one in Kashmir has heard of this group earlier,” the Mirwaiz said, reacting to the Delhi police claims that the group exists since 1996 but has kept a low profile. Police have claimed the group is linked with the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba.
The Mirwaiz said the Lashkar usually owned attacks, which it had not done this time.
“Regardless of who has done this, we condemn the heinous act of targeting innocent civilians,” he said.
He admitted that there were groups in Kashmir who were opposed to India-Pakistan rapprochement but said there was little to indicate their involvement in the carnage
Describing Saturday’s agreement between India and Pakistan to open five points along the LOC for relief work as a milestone in the peace moves between the two countries, Mr Farooq said he expected the decision to be effective beyond its stated purpose of helping out with the relief work.
“We are confident that this is the vital first step that we have been waiting for to make the LOC irrelevant for ever. It has been widely welcomed by all Kashmiris.”
Indian news agencies said security was intensified in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir valley in view of the blasts in Delhi and the arrival of Chief Minister-designate Ghulam Nabi Azad and several top Congress leaders there.
Additional police personnel have been deployed on the city roads. They carried out extensive frisking of the people and searched vehicles.
“About 50 people are being questioned in the wake of the terrorist attacks that left 54 people dead and more than 100 injured ahead of the Diwali and Eidul Fitr festivals,” a police officer said on Sunday.
Additional Commissioner of Police Sudhir Yadav said while some suspects were picked up from railway stations, others were hauled out of hotels, mostly in the Paharganj area, one of the blast sites.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed terrorists but said it was too early to say who was behind the attacks. He appealed for calm.
“These blasts have been timed to create disaffection during the festive season when people of all communities are celebrating our national festivals. We shall defeat their nefarious designs.”
Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dixit urged people to stay away from public areas for the next few days ahead of the Hindu celebration of Diwali on Tuesday and the Islamic Eid a few days later.
