SEPARATIST militants struck at Kashmir's most heavily defended area yesterday, killing four people in a bomb explosion within yards of the home of the chief minister.
The bomb, planted in a three-wheeler auto-rickshaw, blew up within 30 metres of the residence of Mr Farooq Abdullah, who came to power three months ago in state assembly elections following seven years of direct rule from New Delhi.
At least three policemen were injured in the blast on Gupkar Road at the centre of Srinagar's high security zone.
The local headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau as well as four other cabinet ministers are housed nearby in heavily fortified homes perched high above the road.
"It was a big bang and for the next few moments I was deaf," said Ms Raja Begum, who lives nearby. The blast shattered the windows of her house.
Mr Abdullah, who was out of Kashmir at the time of the explosion, has faced several attempts on his life and, like many of his ministers, rarely appears in public outside a high-security cocoon.
The attack, claimed by the Jamaat-ul-mujahedeen, a group espousing Kashmir's unification with Pakistan and believed by Indian officials to be backed by Islamabad, has deeply shaken the security establishment already concerned about the rise in violence following the restoration of civilian rule.
During the last two months, more than 15 people have been killed in Srinagar by bombs placed aboard bicycles and cars.
Mr Abdullah's National Conference swept to power in September, promising to negotiate greater autonomy for Kashmir and to rebuild the economy of a region all but destroyed by seven years of unrest.
But he has yet to make headway on pledges of securing a cash infusion from New Delhi or creating jobs. Mr Abdullah also inherited a security scenario complicated by New Delhi's decision to fight the separatists by arming defectors from their ranks.
However, Kashmir's junior Home Minister, Mr Ali Mohammed Sagar, dismissed fears that the militants were taking ad vantage of the confusion in the state to regroup. He said separatist political leaders were in disarray following their failure to push through a boycott of the elections, and that the situation on the ground was stable (The Guardian Service) Reuter reports from New Delhi:
India's Congress party chose Mr Sitaram Kesri as its new parliamentary leader yesterday and the veteran politician quickly reiterated support for the country's minority government.
But the apparent unanimity on his appointment was overshadowed by divisions over the party's support for the Prime Minister, Mr H. D. Deve Gowda.
Congress deputies elected Mr Kesri unopposed to replace the former prime minister, Mr P. V. Narasimha Rao, as the head of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), party officials said.
Mr Kesri wasted no time in seeking to dispel nagging rumours that a reinvigorated Congress, which suffered its worst ever defeat in general elections last year, would set out to challenge Mr Deve Gowda's United Front minority coalition.
"All this talk about our withdrawing support to the United Front is wrong. It is a ploy to frighten you," Mr Kesri told the CPP.
But Mr Kesri's senior party colleagues soon dismissed the remarks.
"It was a tactical comment," laid a key Kesri aide.