SRINAGAR, Feb 5 (1995) – Moslem rebels fighting Indian rule have taken over a revered 18th-century Islamic shrine near this state summer capital, police said here Sunday.
Charsharief, 37 kilometres (23 miles) west of Srinagar, has been occupied by the rebels for two weeks in a bid reminiscent of a month-long siege of Hazratbal, Kashmir’s holiest Islamic shrine, in 1993, they said.
“They are (also) storing rations inside,” a senior police official said, adding that the state administration was planning a “massive operation” in the thickly wooded area to flush the militants from the shrine.
“We are studying the situation. The militants want us to respond so that they can desecrate the shrine and blame security forces like they have done in the past (during the Hazratbal crisis),” he said.
“We will act at the proper time…we have exact information as to how many foreign and Kashmiri militants are inside,” he said.
The rebels however say they only visit the Moghul-built mausoleum of a renowned Moslem saint to offer prayers. “Otherwise, we live in the woods,” a militant told AFP.
After a failed attempt to cordon off the area, the government has rushed additional troops to the area near the villages of Charsharief and Paharpur, with a population of some 60,000.
Nearly 10,000 people have died in Kashmir since 1989 when Moslem rebels stepped up a secessionist drive. India accuses Pakistan of fomenting militancy in the state but Islamabad denies the charge.
