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India and Pakistan traded bitter accusations Wednesday after New Delhi said Pakistani troops had killed two of its soldiers and mutilated one of the bodies in the disputed territory of Kashmir, a flash point between the two nations since their creation.

Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai summoned the Pakistani High Commissioner and "lodged a strong protest" about what India alleges took place Tuesday, increasing the strain on ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

But Pakistan reiterated its denial of the accusations, saying India was trying to distract attention from a weekend clash in the Himalayan territory that left a Pakistani soldier dead.

India asserts that Pakistani troops took advantage of thick fog in a wooded area on Tuesday to cross over to its side of the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two nations in Kashmir.

The Indian military says one of its routine patrols spotted the Pakistani troops in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district, and a firefight lasting about 30 minutes ensued, during which two Indian soldiers were killed.

The Indian government on Wednesday accused Pakistani troops of subjecting the two soldiers' bodies to "barbaric and inhuman mutilation," calling the alleged actions "highly provocative."

The Pakistani foreign ministry rejected the allegations that its troops had crossed the Line of Control and killed Indian soldiers.

"These are baseless and unfounded allegations," the foreign ministry said. "Pakistan is prepared to hold investigations through the United Nations Military Observes Group for India and Pakistan on the recent cease-fire violations on the Line of Control."

Pakistan said it is committed to "a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India," and is working to ensure their relations are normal.

In that clash, according to the Pakistani military, Indian troops crossed the Line of Control and attacked a military post. Pakistani army troops repulsed the attack, but one Pakistani soldier was killed and another critically injured, Pakistan said.

The Indian Defense Ministry, however, said Pakistani troops opened fire unprovoked on Indian posts in the north Uri sector of Indian-administered Kashmir. Indian troops retaliated and forced Pakistani troops to stop firing, the ministry said. It did not immediately report the number of casualties.

The disputed territory lies in India's Kashmir Valley, separated from Pakistan by the 450-mile Line of Control.

The two South Asian neighbors have had a cease-fire along the de facto border since November 2003. But it has been violated repeatedly, with both sides accusing the other of offenses.

Bilateral talks were suspended in 2008 after an attack by Pakistani militants in Mumbai, India's most populous city, killed more than 160 people. The negotiations have since resumed.

The conflict over Kashmir dates back to 1947, after Britain relinquished control of the Indian subcontinent, giving birth to modern India and Pakistan.

Kashmir was free to accede to either nation. Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of the kingdom at the time, initially chose to remain independent but eventually opted to join India, thereby handing key powers to the central government in New Delhi. In exchange, India guaranteed him military protection and vowed to hold a popular vote on the issue.

The South Asian rivals have fought two full-scale wars over the territorial issue.

Islamabad has always said that majority-Muslim Kashmir should have been a part of Pakistan. A United Nations resolution adopted after the first war called for a referendum allowing the people of Kashmir to choose which country they wanted to join, but that vote for self-determination has never been held. Pakistan wants that referendum to take place.

India says that Pakistan lends support to separatist groups fighting against government control and argues that a 1972 agreement mandates a resolution to the Kashmir dispute through bilateral talks.
 

India slammed arch-rival Pakistan on Wednesday over a fire fight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two of its soldiers were killed, and said the mutilation of one of the bodies was "inhuman".

NEW DELHI: An Indian soldier was beheaded and another killed by Pakistani troops after they crossed over into Indian territory in the Mendhar sector of Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday, in a grim reminder of the brutality perpetrated during the 1999 Kargil conflict which can make peace making even more difficult.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A self-described 'spiritual guru' has sparked outrage in India after saying that the 23-year-old rape victim who died after being assaulted by six men was partly responsible for her own attack.

Asaram Bapu said that the victim, whose fate has drawn the sympathy of the world and been treated as a national tragedy within India, was 'as guilty as her rapists'.

He added that she should have been more friendly to her attackers if she wanted to preserve her own life.

Politicians and web users have reacted with fury to the 71-year-old guru's comments.

Asaram Bapu's controversial intervention in the case comes on the day that five of the woman's six alleged attackers appeared in court to face charges of murder, rape and abduction.

A judge ordered that the courtroom should be closed to the public after more than 150 people tried to cram in to a room designed for around 30 during the suspects' initial hearing.

'Only five to six people are not the culprits,' Asaram Bapu said. 'The victim is as guilty as her rapists.

'She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop.'

He added: 'This could have saved her dignity and life. Can one hand clap? I don't think so.'

Leading political figures were quick to condemn the inflammatory comments, which one opposition politician called 'regrettable, deeply disturbing and painful'.

Sandeep Dikshit, from the ruling Congress party, said, 'Such comments should be condemned as much as possible,' while his colleague Rashid Alvi added that religious figures should 'give serious thought' before commenting on public affairs.

Many Indians took to social media to express contempt for Asaram Bapu's views.

@SahilBulla tweeted: 'Dear Asaram Bapu, one hand can never clap but one finger can easily show you what we think of you.'

The guru even sparked a protest by a social activism group, who gathered in Ahmedabad waving signs saying 'Shame on Asaram' and burning effigies of him.

'We demand that Asaram apologise to the women of the country and urge him to take back his words,' protest leader Sanjay Gadhvi said as he revealed plans to deface Asaram's publicity posters and demonstrate outside his talks.

The guru abandoned his family as a young man to live in an ashram and practice meditation, before starting up his own his own ashram in Ahmedabad.

He is believed to control more than 300 ashrams with thousands of followers, but this is not the first time he has run into controversy.

Asaram Bapu is currently involved in an investigation into the deaths of two young boys in the grounds of one of his ashram, which the boys' parents blamed on the guru himself.

He was also accused of attempted murder in 2009 after a former devotee was shot at, allegedly by hitmen hired by the leader.

And in September, the self-declared 'godman' was accused of slapping a cameraman who he believed was filming a religious gathering incorrectly.

The woman, a trainee physiotherapist, was returning to her Delhi home with a male friend on December 16 when the pair were lured on to a bus being driven by six youths.

They proceeded to gang-rape her and beat both her and her friend, before leaving them for dead at the side of the road.

The woman was flown to hospital in Singapore, but died in the early hours of December 29.

Five of the men currently standing trial for her rape and murder could face the death penalty if found guilty, but the other is aged under 18 and cannot therefore receive a sentence of more than three years in prison.

As well as sparking sympathy for her, the case has led many within India to call for a change to the role of women in society.

While the victim's name has never been released by officials, her father revealed her identity this weekend, and called for a rural hospital to be renamed in her honour.

The five suspects - named as Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur - were transferred from prison in police vans under heavy armed guard to Saket district court in New Delhi this morning.

There was a strong police presence with numerous officers stationed outside the court - poignantly located opposite the cinema where the victim watched a film with a friend the night of the attack.

A sixth suspect, who is 17, will be tried separately in a youth court.

The case has dominated headlines around the world for the last week but a judge today ruled all hearings will be held in private with the media also excluded from proceedings.

The move came after a large gathering of media and members of the public packed out the courtroom, which can seat about 30, but had more than 150 people crammed in.

'It has become impossible for this court to conduct proceedings in this case,' magistrate Namrita Aggarwal said, ordering anyone not directly connected to the case to exit.

She ruled all future hearing to also be held in private for the safety of the accused. It is standard practice in India for rape cases to be held in private.

Earlier, an argument broke out in court when a lawyer offered to defend the men after members of the bar association in Saket district, where the case is being heard, vowed not to represent the accused.

Supreme Court lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma was shouted down by colleagues who say the accused do not deserve representation, given the brutality of the crime.

'We are living in a modern society. We all are educated. Every accused, including those in brutal offences like this, has the legal right to represent his or her case to defend themselves,' Lal Sharma said.

'I'm afraid they won't get justice, that's why I have decided to appear for them in the court,' Sharma said, but added it was up for the court to decide.

Two of the accused, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta, moved an application on Saturday requesting they be made 'approvers', or informers, against the other accused, a public prosecutor in the case, Rajiv Mohan revealed.

Sharma and Gupta, along with co-accused Mukesh Kumar, Ram Singh and Akshay Thakur, have already been charged with murder, rape and abduction along with other offences.

Prosecutor Mohan, who last week claimed DNA tests confirmed that the blood of the victim matched bloodstains found on the clothes of all the accused, said he was seeking the death sentence given the 'heinous' crime.

'The five accused persons deserve not less than the death penalty,' he said, echoing public sentiment and calls from the victim's family.

Police have conducted extensive interrogations and say they have recorded confessions, even though the five have no lawyers.

The opening of the trial comes after the victim's father, a factory employee in the Delhi suburb of Noida, said he wanted 'the world to know' his daughter's name.

He said: 'I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks,' said Mr Singh Pandey. 'They will find strength from my daughter.'

Photo: Distraught: Badri Singh Pandey, father of the 23-year-old victim, who was gang raped on a bus in New Delhi, India, poses for a picture in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
 

The brutal attack has caused uproar in India, with mass demonstrations for women's rights and calls for the six suspects in the case to be hanged.

The distraught father made his comments in an interview with the Sunday People, given from his ancestral village of Billia in Uttar Pradesh, a state in the north of India, where the family has gone to grieve.

'Death to all six of them,' he said. 'These men are beasts. They should be made an example of and that society will not allow such things to happen.'

Miss Singh Pandey was raped after she and a male friend, 28-year-old Awindra Pandey, were lured onto a bus as they travelled home from the cinema, where they had been to see blockbuster Life Of Pi.

In an interview with Hindi TV channel Zee News, Awindra Pandey said the gang of six men aboard the bus - fitted with curtains and tinted windows - had planned to trap them.

Once on the bus, he was attacked and Miss Singh Pandey was gang-raped by a group of allegedly drunk men, including the driver, who also violated her with an iron bar causing immense internal damage that lead to her death, he said.

The man, believed to be the only witness in the case, said he did his best to fight off the attackers.

'They beat us up, hit us with iron rod, snatched our clothes and belongings and they threw us off the bus on a deserted stretch,' he said.

'From where we boarded bus, they moved around for nearly two and a half hours. We were shouting, trying to make people hear us,' said the 28-year-old, who suffered a broken leg in the attack.

'But they switched off the lights. We tried to resist them. Even my friend fought with them, she tried to save me.'