SRINAGAR, Feb 11 (1992) – The first of thousands of militant marchers seeking to enter Indian-held Kashmir from the Pakistani side reached the disputed border Tuesday, as hundreds of people took to the streets here chanting “We want freedom”.
At least 300 members of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) reached the mountainous frontier at 1:00 p.m. (0730 GMT), but Indian troops on the border had not opened fire, the external affairs ministry said in New Delhi.
A ministry spokesman said 40 to 50 people attempted to cross the Line of Control (LAC) two hours later. “It seems that the Pakistani army had prevented them physically,” he said.
Pakistan has banned the march by the JKLF and arrested several marchers. But the militant group has said it will go ahead with the mass crossing of the LAC, drawn in 1971, that divides the Indian and Pakistani-held parts of Kashmir.
Indian authorities have clamped a curfew in the frontier districts of Kupwara and Uri, where the JKLF marchers were expected to attempt the crossing, and threatened to shoot violators at sight.
The spokesman said Indian and Pakistani military officials were in touch over the progress of the JKLF supporters, who have threatened to enter India forcibly in support of their campaign for Kashmir’s independence.
“There has been no skirmish, no incident,” he said.
The spokesman said some 150 to 200 JKLF members had assembled at Chakoti, across from India’s Uri district, and another 10 to 30 at neighbouring Hajipur.
