[AM2000]

The implication is that Pakistan is responsible, but that peace activist was actually the leader of an Islamic political party, and the masked men who killed him also tossed a hand grenade into the moslem supporters at his rally. The terrorists all miraculously got away without being caught.

In all likelihood, the assassins were Hindu extremists, who had previously attacked this same politician last month.

You're right in pointing out that a Shiv Sena extremist had assaulted him in the recent past. If nothing, this does indicate the possibility that the assassins could have been Hindu.

However, there was plenty of motive for the hardline factions of Kashmiri separatist movement to do the same. Lone was one of the only leaders of the Hurriyat Conference who was willing to work with the Indian government in the upcoming elections. He was one of the only Hurriyat leaders who openly and publicly proclaimed that there was no place for violence in the Kashmiri separatist movement. He also, in contravention to other leaders of the Hurriyat, said that his goal was an independent and secular Kashmir. He faced serious opposition from the jihadi groups which have wet dreams of an Islamic Kashmir, in full union with an Islamic Pakistan. They had just as much, and maybe more, motive to eliminate the only serious Kashmiri Muslim leader who was mature enough to be a true leader, and not just another Arafat-style rabble rouser. Oh, and one more thing - I read in the NYT after he was assassinated that he was the only Kashmiri leader with links to the American Embassy in New Delhi. I see his assassination as a part and parcel of the current military standoff along the Indo-Pak border - a standoff which, as you so consistently point out, has been instigated by hardline Islamists.

[Dog Gone]

I think the Musharraf faction in Pakistan is the least likely culprit in the assassination, although I suppose it's possible. Lone was preaching exactly the kind of separatist movement that Musharraf claims that he endorses. By all accounts, Lone was a successful politician, and it just seems unlikely to me that Musharraf would have wanted to eliminate someone who was attracting Indian citizens to the goal Musharraf was articulating.

The reason I suspect Hindus is the previous attack, plus the fact that the attackers wore masks. They were hiding their identities and even their ethnic origin. I'm not aware of the Islamic terrorists ever doing such a thing, but I'm sitting here in Texas and don't get all the details of every attack, I'm sure.

The other thing that makes me suspicious is that the gunmen got away without a trace. In every other major Islamic attack recently that I'm aware of, the gunmen were quickly killed or captured. Where was the Indian security? Surely they had folks at a political rally for separatism this close to the election. Could the gunmen have had "permission" from Indian security forces? And what about the grenade tossed into the crowd? Fortunately, it didn't go off, but that goes way beyond a political assassination. That looks like an attack on the entire muslim population of Kashmir.

The other theory I have is that it was al-Qaida. They have everything to gain by causing a war between India and Pakistan, and it's the perfect crime from their standpoint. Pakistan thinks the Indians did it, the Indians think the Pakistanis did it, and someone who was a voice of moderation is eliminated. It definitely was an attack that was well-planned in advance.

Regardless of who did it, it seems to be a real tragedy. Lone was someone who rejected violence, and regardless of whether his political agenda was acceptable to Delhi, he was playing within the rules of democracy.