Kashmiri separatist leaders said today there was a need to recognise the difference between terrorists and legitimate freedom fighters following Washington's promise that its war on terrorism would include the type of violence India faces in the troubled state.
US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell gave the message to his Indian counterpart Mr Jaswant Singh at a meeting in Washington in which he expressed America's condolences for the 38 victims of Monday's suicide attack on Kashmir's state assembly.
Mr Powell called the attack on the legislature in Srinagar a "terrible terrorist" and "heinous act".
But a senior State Department official said later that Mr Powell had not intended to suggest that all separatists in Kashmir were terrorists.
"There are people in Kashmir who have legitimate political grievances that need to be addressed," the official said.
Mr Shabir Shah, a senior separatist leader, said the people of Kashmir were against terrorism.
"It was only after India denied them the right to self-determination that young Kashmiris took to guns," he said.
Mr Shah, who preaches non-violence, said there was a need to draw a line between groups indulging in terrorism and those fighting for freedom.
"I think this is very important before the fight against global terrorism takes off," he said.
"There is also a need to start a war against state-sponsored terrorism. Kashmiris have been the worst victims of state-sponsored terrorism," claimed Mr Shah.
"The US should try to resolve the basic issue of Kashmir to see everlasting peace and stability in the sub-continent," said Mr Shah, who has spent more than 20 years in different Indian jails for espousing Kashmir's secession from India.
The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist group initially claimed responsibility for the Srinagar attack, but yesterday denied any involvement, saying it was the work of the Indian army in order to malign the "Kashmiris' noble struggle for freedom from New Delhi's tyrannical rule".
AFP