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Mistrust & confusion turn Kashmir's dispute into crisis [The Guardian] by Saima Alvi 01 June 2002 15:32 UTC |
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ABSTRCT: ======== Luke Harding in Srinagar and Jason Burke report on how mistrust and confusion have turned Kashmir's bitter border dispute into a crisis that threatens millions... Summary: ======= - Much of the confusion has been sown by the man who would have to order the start of the war. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India's 75-year-old Prime Minister, has been giving out conflicting signals. -But Vajpayee and the hardline Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party that he leads are under intense domestic pressure. Now heading a fractious coalition government, the party is in deep electoral trouble. It has lost control of several key states and is heading for defeat in India's next general election in 2004. Over the past three months it has been criticised for its complicity in the massacre of more than 2,000 Muslims in the western state of Gujarat. The prospect of a war with Pakistan has banished Gujarat from the front pages. A swift punitive military raid against Pakistan might also re-enthuse disenchanted Hindu voters. -Since late last year India has been acutely jealous of Pakistan's starring part in the war on terrorism and has felt that its own strategic role as America's key ally in the region has been usurped. Suddenly New Delhi is the centre of attention again....'Just being courted by Bush and the big boys could be enough to soothe Indian egos. At the end of the day that is what a lot of this is about: egos and men with nuclear weapons,' said one Western diplomat. -The problem Vajpayee faces is how to respond to another militant attack. Failure to declare war would appear an act of weakness, domestically and internationally. It is this scenario - and the prospect of the war 'going nuclear' - that most alarms observers. Full article ============ http://www.observer.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,722486,00.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
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