-Caveat Lector- http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936 ,5593931%255E401,00.html
India tells Pakistan: let's fight 01dec02 INDIA'S deputy prime minister has issued a direct challenge to nuclear-armed rival Pakistan to drop its alleged support for the Muslim insurgency in Kashmir or fight another war over the disputed Himalayan territory. The challenge came from Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who also insisted that Pakistan was fighting a "proxy war" in Kashmir by arming and training Islamic rebels in the divided frontier territory. "Let us fight it out face-to-face. We have fought thrice, let there be a fourth war," Advani told a pre-election campaign rally in the western Indian district of Bhuj in the state of Gujarat. The deputy premier, kicking off a campaign for Gujarat's state election on December 12, said a fully-fledged war was preferable to the recurring terror attacks in India, which New Delhi blames on Islamabad. "Killing of innocent civilians by attacking temples like Akshardham and Raghunath is unacceptable," he said of the two raids by Islamic gunmen in September and November which led to the death of nearly 50 Hindu devotees. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars, since the subcontinent's independence from British colonial rule in 1947, over Kashmir. The first conflict was in 1947-48 and the two sides again fought over Kashmir in 1965. The last military engagement, in 1971, led to the creation of Bangladesh as an independent nation from Pakistan's eastern rump. Advani, a hardline Hindu leader, said Pakistan was stirring up rebellion in Kashmir because it was "nursing a wound since the creation of Bangladesh", when Islamabad signed a peace treaty virtually dictated by India in 1971. His dare came on the back of an Indian warning earlier this month that it would not seek external help to combat terrorism. "India can deal with terrorism on its own. We are not dependent on the international community for a solution ... This is a fight India has to wage," Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha told parliament on November 21. More than 37,500 people have died in Kashmir, India's only Muslim- majority state, since the start of the anti-Indian rebellion in Kashmir in 1989. Pakistan denies sponsoring the militants and insists that it only offers moral and diplomatic support to what it argues is the Kashmiris' struggle against Indian rule in the troubled region. India and Pakistan came dangerously close to a fourth war in 1999 when India launched a full-scale military assault to dislodge Pakistan-backed forces holding key heights in the Indian zone of Kashmir. Until recently the two countries had hundreds of thousands of troops on their shared border following the December 13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militant groups. -- Outgoing mail is certified virus free Scanned by Norton AntiVirus <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
