Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable Babur cruise missile

By Johan Simth

Islamabad, April 29: Pakistan test fired nuclear-capable Babur (Hatf-7) cruise missile with a range of 600 km that can hit targets in India.

The test of the indigenous-developed missile was “part of a process of validating the system,” said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations. The statement did not mention where the test was conducted.

The successful test of Hatf-7 or Babur cruise missile was witnessed by Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Khalid Shamim Wynne, who said the launch would “go a long way in consolidating Pakistan’s strategic deterrence capability and further strengthening national security.”

“Pakistan’s resolve and commitment to continue its strategic program will remain paramount,” he said.

The test was “warmly appreciated by the President and Prime Minister,” who congratulated the scientists and engineers on their success, the statement said.

The Director General of the Strategic Plans Division, Lt Gen (Retd) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Army Strategic Force Command chief Lt Gen Jamil Haider, senior officers from the military and strategic organizations, scientists and engineers also witnessed the test.

The Babur can carry strategic or conventional warheads and has stealth capabilities, the statement said.

It is a “low flying, terrain-hugging missile with high maneuverability, pin-point accuracy and radar avoidance features.”

The missile also incorporates modern cruise missile technology of terrain contour matching (TERCOM) and digital scene matching and area co-relation (DSMAC), the statement said.

Kashmiri Pandit boy’s disappearance

Sage cashmeriana: http://jkmpic.blogspot.com

Srinagar, 29 April:  Five weeks on, there is no word about 21-year-old Kashmiri Pandit boy who went missing from his native village Chandrigam in South Kashmir’s Aishmuqam town.  Such instances are not new to Kashmir but Sushil Kumar’s disappearance is significant for two reasons. For one he is a non-Muslim Kashmiri Pandit. Two, his family is among hundreds of other Pandit families that chose to stay put when other Pandit citizens left Valley in 1990, due to mounting violence and a series of murders.

For years now disappearance of Kashmiri youth has been a global concern. Thousands of Kashmiris have gone missing, either in mysterious circumstances or in state custody. Even though the figures projected by state and local human rights bodies are contradictory safe estimates put the number of those missing around seven thousand. By this estimation more than hundred thousand people who are related to these disappeared persons are suffering the trauma. 

The suffering of ‘half-widows’ is a tragic aspect of this issue because the women whose husbands have gone missing are living an uncertain life, their children growing with a huge sense of insecurity.  There has been lot of international focus on this issue with global institutions supporting campaigns in Kashmir. Amidst such complex situation the disappearance of a Pandit boy should have evoked widespread concern among Kashmiri stakeholders. The nature of Sushil’s disappearance may or may not be like other disappearances yet it demanded a sharper response from the government as well as the separatist groups. But, unfortunately, both ignored this issue, triggering further alienation of the non-migrant Pandits. It took a month for main opposition Peoples Democratic Party to react and slam state government over the issue. At a time when mass graves have exposed the reality behind government denials about custodial disappearances and separatist forces too are being blamed for hatching conspiracies against colleagues, it is the moral duty of both mainstream and separatist leaders that they launch a joint effort to trace Sushil Kumar. 

The state government has big stakes in tracing this boy as it is spending huge money to woo back Pandits putting up in Jammu and elsewhere. If the state fails to trace him it will instil a sense of insecurity not just among those willing to return but among those eight thousand who have been living through all sorts of difficulties alongside their Muslim brethren. On the other hand, separatist leaders have taken upon themselves the arduous task of ‘protecting’ the minority community. Notwithstanding the question how can separatists protect minorities in a vicious conflict that is dotted with political massacres and murders, the separatists should side the victim family. 

Investigate the disappearance of Kashmiri Pandit youth: APDP

Srinagar, Apr 28: Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) demanded an investigation into the case of a youth, who has been missing since April 4, from south Kashmir's Anantnag district.

"When it comes to high profile political murders (like the one of Moulvi Showkat Ahmad Shah recently), police swiftly comes out with a chargesheet against some persons without even providing a shred of evidence, but when there are cases like Susheel no one seems to be interested in investigating," APDP said in a statement.

Susheel Raina, 21, of Chandergam village of Anantnag district had left his home to collect his marksheet from college but has not returned since. "Susheel's disappearance is an indicator of the continued phenomenon of people disappearing in Jammu and Kashmir," the APDP said.

APDP, which is an association of the relatives of youths who disappeared over the last 20 years, also held a protest at the Sher-e-Kashmir park in Srinagar demanding "independent and impartial" investigations into the phenomenon of "enforced disappearances".

Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) fear fresh migration, accuse Kashmir govt of callousness

SRINAGAR, Apr 27 :Accusing the state government of failing to trace the missing Pandit youth from Aishmuqam area All Parties Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) today said this scenario might lead to fresh migration among their community members, who are permanently residing in the valley or have recently returned, reports Kashmir Times.

A youth Sushil Raina of Chandigam Aishmuqam went missing on April 4  after he left his home for college to collect the marks sheet. Addressing media persons at missing youths residence at the  Chandrigam village, chairman of coordination committee Vinod Pandit said, "Nearly a month has passed since the Pandit boy went missing but unfortunately the government has been showing callous approach in tracing him."

He said  on one hand the government claims to rehabilitate the migrant KPs if they return to valley but on the other hand the government has failed to provide security to those Pandits who had preferred to stay back or have recently returned to join their duties in the valley.

"If the chief minister was really serious in the return and rehabilitation of  Pandits he would have then visited the family of missing youth and expressed a word of sympathy with them," Vinod said.

He viewed that if any thing bad happens to the missing youth it will create fear psychosis among the Pandit community and might result in fresh migration.

Warning the government of serious repercussions if it fails to trace out the youth, Vinod said, "The APMCC will initiate strong agitation if government does not give a time frame and traces out the missing youth in the given time frame."

He demanded setting up of Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a DIG rank police officer for tracing  the youth. However he hailed the efforts of the local Muslims in trying to look out for the missing youth.