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Terrorism cannot be called jehad: Vajpayee

Our Correspondent in New Delhi

The Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday reiterated his stance that terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir cannot be called a freedom movement or a jehad.

Speaking in Parliament on the Agra Summit, Vajpayee said, "For Pakistan, Jammu & Kashmir may be a piece of land, but for us it is part of our lives."

He also squarely blamed Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for the failure of the Agra summit saying that his sole focus was on Kashmir.

Talking about his meeting with Musharraf, Vajpayee said there was an agenda and pointed out the various Confidence Building Measures announced by India just before the summit.

He said that he had asked Musharraf not to talk just about Kashmir.

Expressing optimism he added, "I hope that Pakistan would change its stance and talk to us."

He also criticised the recent killings of minority community in Kashmir and said, "This is terrorism."

Striking a strident tone Vajpayee said, "Pakistan has from the very beginning tried to take Kashmir by force. When they saw that they couldn't defeat us in war, they started a proxy war. But Pakistan will not succeed in their efforts."

He, however, added that India would try for a peaceful solution with Pakistan.

He also informed the House that Musharraf didn't like the 'Simla word' and wanted the proposed Agra declaration not to mention either the Simla agreement or the Lahore declaration.

He added that Musharraf wanted to make a new beginning without taking into account the Simla agreement and the Lahore declaration.

"Musharraf used to get a bad taste on hearing the Simla word," he added.

Criticising Musharraf's demand that 'will of the Kashmiri people' should be taken into account, he said, "Musharraf has no will of the Pakistani people and therefore he has no right to speak for the will of Jammu & Kashmir people."

Buttressing his point he added that there is no democracy in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

He also said Pakistan had given away a portion of PoK to China. "I don't know on what basis they made this move," Vajpayee added.

On the issue of a 'public relations disaster', Vajpayee said, "There are rules and regulations in a summit. In Lahore, we restricted to that. Lot of people told me that we are keeping quiet. Even, we could have spoken to press. But that would have meant violation of rules and regulations in the summit."

Vajpayee refused to reveal the contents of his one-to-one conversation with Musharraf saying that those issues were discussed keeping each other's confidence.

Quoting a leading Pakistani columnist, Ayaz Amir, Vajpayee said, "The continuance of insurgency can bleed India and keep the valley unsettled but cannot liberate the state. This should be clear to Pakistani army."

Ayaz Amir had also said in his column that what Pakistan army couldn't achieve in two full-fledged wars, couldn't be achieved using hit and run tactics.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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