KASHIMIR Limit to Patience

The curious mountain war sputtered on. At Yusmarg, a tiny Himalayan village near Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, Indian police fought off a night attack by "hundreds" of Pakistani infiltrators armed with mortars, light machine guns and Sten guns. On the winding highway between Srinagar and Leh, a vital link to Indian forces manning the Communist Chinese border in Ladakh, a 14-man police detail guarding a wooden bridge clashed with night raiders.

Insisting that the mysterious marauders were part of a 3,000-man force of Pakistanis, India struck back last week by occupying three deserted Pakistani outposts on the Kargil ridge line (see map). Not far away, Pakistani artillery was reported to be shelling the road to Leh. Kashmir's Governor Karan Singh warned, "There is a limit to the patience of even the most patient country in the world. They are driving iron into our souls."

In New Delhi, the right-wing Jana Sangh Party wanted more than vague metallic threats. It wanted war -and now. Trains and buses brought adherents from as far as Jammu, north of Kashmir, and more than 250,000 saffron-clad demonstrators marched from the ancient Red Fort to Parliament, led by eleven buglers and 200 men on motor scooters. In unison, the throng chanted such slogans as, "Shastri, you cannot beg peace, you have to win it!" and "Tit for tat is the right policy against Pakistan."

Though strong in the streets, Jana Sangh was weak in Parliament. Its anti-government motion was overwhelmingly defeated, 262 to 17. Despite the new fighting in Kashmir, Prime Minister Shastri was determined to eradicate the causes of the old fighting in the barren Rann of Kutch where Indians and Pakistanis had clashed last spring. But he canceled the scheduled visit of Pakistan's Foreign Minister Zulfikar AH Bhutto to discuss the Rann of Kutch because "no useful purpose" would be served.

Thus, the problem will automatically be put before a three-man tribunal. India and Pakistan will each select one member, while the vital third will be a man acceptable to both countries. The ruling Congress Party introduced a motion approving the Kutch agreement and giving Shastri a free hand to reach a settlement. It was accepted by Parliament, 269 to 28.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.