Quraishi struggles for life after attack

Srinagar/New Delhi : Senior Hurriyat Conference leader Fazal Haq Quraishi was struggling for life in a Srinagar hospital yesterday after a murderous attack on him by unidentified men, as life remained paralysed in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of a separatist-called shutdown.

Quraishi, a senior leader of the moderate Hurriyat group headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, favoured a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue and wanted a dialogue with New Delhi. He was attacked on Friday evening while stepping out of a mosque near his Soura residence on Srinagar's outskirts.

The attempt on his life is seen as a violent warning to the moderate Hurriyat group against talks with the central government.

However, New Delhi and the separatist conglomerate reaffirmed their commitment to the dialogue process, saying they won't be cowed by such attempts to sabotage the peace process.

Unclear

It is still not clear whether Quraishi, who is stable but not out of danger, was shot at or attacked with a sharp edged-weapon.

A close relative, Tarek Andrabi, said doctors who operated on Quraishi on Friday night said that a scan of his head did not show a bullet.

"But neighbours said they heard a gunshot. We are still not clear how he was attacked. He is in the ICU of the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (Skims) and put on a ventilator for respiratory support," Andrabi said.

A doctor attending to Quraishi said: "His vital parameters are functioning normally, but we will have to monitor him for the next 48 hours, until Monday morning. He is on antibiotics to avoid infections."

The hospital ICU is under tight security and no one is allowed to meet Quraishi except for his close relatives.

The Al Nasireen, a little-known guerrilla group believed to be an operational combine of the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba terror groups, has owned responsibility for the attack.

In New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, the brain behind the "quiet talks, quiet diplomacy" with Kashmiri separatist leaders, sent a tough message to "the elements who want to derail the peace process".

"The correct response at this hour is not to be cowed down by these violent acts or allow fear to interrupt the process of quiet talks and quiet diplomacy," Chidambaram said in a statement.

Committed

"I assure the people of Jammu and Kashmir that we remain committed to finding a solution through quiet talks with every shade of political opinion in Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

He said the attack on Quraishi "was a cowardly attempt by those who do not wish that the problems of Jammu and Kashmir should be resolved through talks and in a peaceful manner".