One Step Closer To War

0.cached.png

By Newsweek Editors

See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.

He was the last moderate leader left in the Kashmir Valley. At Friday prayers, Moulvi Mohammed Farooq often criticized India's ironfisted administration of the I predominantly Muslim state. But he preached that Muslim and Hindu must live in peace. That was no protection. Farooq, 45, was alone in the early morning stillness of his house on Nagin Lake last week when three young men confronted him. Gunfire brought Farooq's family rushing to the scene, but his killers escaped. As secessionist fervor flared, at least 60 people were killed when Indian troops fired on chanting crowds bearing the rosecovered coffin through the capital, Srinagar. With another peacemaker out of the way, India and Pakistan moved a step closer to war.

There aren't many such steps left. The two sides talk peace, but both are shopping for arms, NEWSWEEK learned. Another war over Kashmir--the last was in 1965--could be catastrophic. India has exploded a nuclear device and Pakistan is developing a bomb; both could deliver such weapons. A group led by President Bush's deputy national-security adviser returned "alarmed and discouraged," last week from a regional tour, said a U.S. official. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev will take up the deepening crisis at their summit this week, a senior Bush aide said, adding: "The kindling is dry."

Read More on News