Spare mosques, says Hurriyat

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, JUNE 12. The All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) today urged militant groups to spare places of worship from being used for operations. It also echoed the views of the Pakistan military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on restraining activities against India.

A senior Hurriyat executive member, Mr. Abdul Gani Lone, told a news conference here that it was a tragedy that places of worship in Kashmir were being desecrated and blamed the security forces for damaging the mosque at Shangus. ``Today, I came to know that the Army and police destroyed the mosque at Shangus. I strongly condemn the Army action. But I also appeal to the mujahideen not to use religious places, particularly mosques, for their operations as these involve the sentiments of the people.''

Continuing with its policy adopted of late - support for the coming Musharraf-Vajpayee summit - Mr. Lone asked the militants not to convert Kashmir's struggle for right to self-determination into a war for disintegrating India. ``I second what Gen. Musharraf has said. We better avoid extremism and acts that create hatred.'' He said, ``We neither want India's disintegration nor do we want to vanquish it; there is no need to unfurl the flag on the Red Fort.''

Mr. Lone clarified that the Hurriyat had not suspended its anti- India activities but had only decided not to support the strike call given by the Kashmir Bar Association. ``We do not want to create a situation which will harm the proposed high-level summit between India and Pakistan. We want it to be a success.''

However, the spokesman of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Mr. Abu Usama, denied that the militants of his outfit used mosques for operational purposes. ``We do not enter mosques to take shelter nor we do use these as hideouts,'' he told The Hindu over phone. ``We only visit mosques to pray. The Indian forces laid siege, and our cadres fired at them only after they used a heavy volume of fire.''

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