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Kashmir wants democracy,

says Indian PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was quoted on Monday as saying people in troubled Kashmir were fed-up with separatist militants and wanted democracy.

The Business Times newspaper quoted Rao as saying that Kashmir was dealing with "exported terrorism" and "terrorists" were thwarting the electoral process.

"We have to a large extent controlled (militancy) but there are still incidents that are calculated to browbeat the people and stop the process," Rao said.

"But what I can say is that the people are fed up with terrorists. They want the democratic process. They feel that only under the democratic regime can they achieve democracy," he said.

Rao said during a four-day visit to Malaysia which ended on Saturday his government planned to hold elections in Kashmir in the next three to four months for a new state assembly.

The last assembly was dissolved and Delhi imposed direct rule in 1990 after a rebellion against Indian rule erupted. Police and hospitals say more than 20,000 people have been killed since.

Earlier plans to hold elections in July fell through when a shrine to Kashmir's patron saint was burnt down and the Indian government and Kashmiri militants accused each other of responsibility.

Kashmiri leaders have been critical of Delhi's plans to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir, largely Hindu India's only Moslem-majority state.

Scores of militant groups are fighting Indian rule of the Himalayan region, some seeking to join Pakistan, which rules one third of disputed Kashmir. Others want a re-united and independent Kashmir.

India accuses Pakistan of arming, training and guiding the Kashmiri militants. Islamabad says it offers only moral and diplomatic support.

Rao told the Business Times the Kashmiri problem was "simple in the way that what we are witnessing is exported terrorism".

"I think we should be able to cope with this. There is no other factor to be considered," he said.-Reuter