US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI4300

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 08 NEW DELHI 004300 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, IN, Indian Domestic Politics, Kashmir 
SUBJECT: BIOS OF KASHMIR-RELATED LEADERS -- PART 3 
 
Classified By: A/Polcouns Matt Boyse for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) This is the third of a three-part biographic report 
compiling information and impressions A/Polcouns gained from 
contact with Indian Kashmir-related politicians, government 
officials, separatists, academics, journalists, NGO 
activists, and others during a 2002-2005 assignment at 
Embassy New Delhi.  The contents of this message, which 
includes bios on the individuals below, will be posted on the 
Embassy Siprnet site: 
 
-- Ghulam Hasan MIR, J&K Minister for Housing and Urban 
Development 
-- Harsh Dev SINGH, J&K Minister for Education 
-- Nawang RIGZIN Jora, J&K Minister for Science and 
Technology, Labor and Employment, J&K 
-- Dr. Shakti BHAN, "Pannun Kashmir" 
-- Dr. Riaz PUNJABI, Director of Center for Peace Studies 
(CPS) 
-- Muzaffar SHAH, General Secretary, J&K Awami National 
Conference 
-- Wajahat HABIBULLAH, Secretary, Panchayati Raj 
-- Ram JETHMALANI, MP, Rajya Sabha, Chairman, Kashmir 
Committee 
-- Dilip PADGAONKAR, Journalist 
-- Ashok BHAN, Supreme Court Lawyer 
-- Prem Shankar JHA, Senior Columnist ("Outlook" and 
"Hindustan Times") 
-- Parvez DEWAN, Resident Commissioner, J&K, New Delhi 
-- Girish Chandra SAXENA, former Governor of J&K 
-- Abdul Rashid SHAHEEN, MP, National Conference 
-- Vijay DHAR, businessman, philanthropist 
-- A.S. DULAT, former Chief RAW, and Officer on Special Duty 
(Kashmir), PMO 
-- Dr. Vijay K. SAZAWAL, President, Indo-American Kashmir 
Forum 
-- Moulvi Iftiqar ANSARI, Member, J&K Legislative Assembly 
-- S.S. BLOERIA, Chief Secretary, J&K 
-- Gopal SHARMA, Director General of Police, J&K 
-- Kuldeep KHODA, Additional Director General Police 
-- Balraj PURI, Human Rights Activist and Author, Jammu 
-- Prof. Amitabh MATTOO, Vice-Chancellor, Jammu University 
-- Prof. Siddiq WAHID, University of Jammu 
-- Radha KUMAR, Lecturer, Jamia Millia Islamia University, 
New Delhi 
-- Yusuf JAMEEL, Srinagar correspondent, "Asian Age" 
-- Muzamil JALEEL, Srinagar correspondent, "Indian Express" 
-- Izhar WANI, Srinagar correspondent, "AFP" 
-- Ved BHASIN, Editor/Publisher, "Kashmir Times," Jammu 
-- S.D. ROHMETRA, Editor/Publisher, "Daily Excelsior," Jammu 
-- Shujaat BUKHARI, Srinagar correspondent, "Hindu" 
 
2.  (U) The biographies for the foregoing follow below: 
 
Ghulam Hasan MIR 
---------------- 
 
Minister for Housing and Urban Development 
 
(C) A senior vice-president of the Peoples Democratic Party, 
Mir (55), is one of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed,s closest 
political allies, which makes him one of the most powerful 
ministers in the Cabinet.  Elected from Gulmarg in the 2002 
state Legislative Assembly elections, he is a law graduate 
from Aligarh Muslim University.  Mir also was law Minister in 
the GM Shah government in 1984.  Reserved in his demeanor, he 
speaks good English. 
 
Harsh Dev SINGH 
--------------- 
 
Minister for Education 
(C) Nephew of Panther Party President Bhim Singh, Harsh Dev 
Singh (42) was the first minister from his party to have a 
Cabinet position.  A law graduate, Singh was voted "Best 
Legislator" by the state assembly in 1996 and has been lauded 
across party lines for his oratory abilities and knowledge of 
legislative affairs.  He hails from the Ramnagar constituency 
of Udhampur district.  He was a POL nominee for an IVP in 
2004, but had to bow out because of unexpected legislative 
business.  Open to contact with the Embassy, he speaks 
excellent English. 
 
Nawang RIGZIN Jora 
------------------ 
 
Minister for Science and Technology, Labor and Employment, 
Jammu and Kashmir 
(C) A very impressive Ladakhi politician, Rigzin is a 
graduate of St. Stephen,s College, Delhi University.  After 
several years as a businessman (he started a tour company and 
hotel in 1982), he entered politics in 1987, becoming General 
Secretary of the influential Ladakh Buddhist Association in 
 
SIPDIS 
1990.  His long and vigorous campaign for the Ladakh Hill 
Development Council (LAHDC) ensured that he was elected 
(uncontested) from the Leh constituency in 2002 state 
Legislative Assembly elections as an Independent candidate. 
His personal appearance is closer to Wall Street lawyer. 
Accessible and friendly, he and his wife have at least one 
daughter.  He was born in 1958 in Nimmu village, Ladakh.  He 
was a POL IVP nominee in 2004.  He speaks excellent English. 
 
Dr. Shakti BHAN 
--------------- 
 
Pannun Kashmir 
(C) A medical doctor attached to the prestigious Apollo 
Hospital in New Delhi, Bhan (mid 50,s) and an activist in 
Pannun Kashmir (PK), an organization demanding that a 
separate area in the Valley for the Kashmiri Pandits be 
declared as a Union Territory directly governed by New Delhi. 
 She heads the PK women,s wing and also manages the PK,s 
press and public relations in New Delhi.  She speaks very 
good English. 
 
Dr. Riaz PUNJABI 
---------------- 
 
Director of Center for Peace Studies (CPS) 
(C) In his early 50,s, Punjabi chaired the Regional Autonomy 
Implementation Committee of Jammu & Kashmir during Farooq 
Abdullah,s government and follows Kashmir issues, Islamic 
Terrorism, and Indo-Pak relations closely.  CPS focuses on 
disarmament, peace initiatives, terrorism and insurgency 
studies and is affiliated with Jawaharlal Nehru University in 
New Delhi.  Opinionated and pretentious, he speaks excellent 
English. 
 
Muzaffar SHAH 
------------- 
 
General Secretary, J&K Awami National Conference 
(C) The son of GM Shah, one of the two non-National 
Conference Chief Ministers in post-1947 J&K, Shah is the 
principal organizer for Awami National Conference, which 
split from the National Conference in 1984.  Known as Muzzi, 
he worked for TATA Steel in Jamshedpur, but quit to start his 
own steel and coal business.  He is a minor player in Kashmir 
issues, but continues to engage the Embassy in support of his 
interest in convening a major peace conference in Srinagar 
and returning to the limelight.  He speaks very good English. 
 
Wajahat HABIBULLAH 
------------------ 
 
Secretary, Panchayati Raj 
 
SIPDIS 
(C) The most senior Kashmiri civil servant in the elite 
Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Wajahat has been 
involved in Kashmir issues for much of his professional life, 
which makes him among the most well-informed and 
well-connected GOI officials in India on this issue. 
 
(C) His most recent GOI positions have been as Secretary, 
Panchayati Raj; Secretary, Textiles; and Secretary, Consumer 
Affairs.  After his retirement in June 2005, he is expected 
to become Vice Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University in New 
Delhi.  During the 2003-2004 academic year, he was a Senior 
Fellow at the US Institute of Peace, Washington DC.  Sections 
of the Indian media criticized the paper he wrote there ("The 
Kashmir Problem and Its Resolution"), for suggesting that the 
US might play a positive role in Kashmir.  Prior to that, he 
was Director of the IAS training program, the National 
Academy of Administration, in Mussoorie. 
 
(C) During the early years of the insurgency, has served as 
an interlocutor between the GOI and Kashmiri separatists.  In 
1993, while serving as the Divisional Commissioner in Jammu 
and Kashmir, he negotiated with terrorists who occupied the 
Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar, and later the same year 
survived a near fatal car accident in Srinagar.  In 1994, GOI 
posted him to the Indian Embassy in Washington (reportedly to 
get him closer to the medical care he needed to complete his 
recovery), where he served as Minister Counselor (Commercial) 
until 1999.  Among his other assignments, Habibullah was 
Secretary, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (1991-93); Divisional 
 
SIPDIS 
Commissioner, Kashmir (1990-91); Director, Prime Minister,s 
Secretariat (1982-90), where he served under both Indira and 
 
SIPDIS 
Rajiv Gandhi and developed very close ties to the Gandhi 
family.  He is accessible and friendly to Embassy officers, 
and is not overly protocol conscious.  His slightly British 
accented English is excellent. 
 
Ram JETHMALANI 
-------------- 
 
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha 
(C) One of India,s most promient lawyers, Jethmalani was 
chairman of the Track II Kashmir Committee until it disbanded 
in early 2004, in which capacity he made important 
contributions to opening channels of communication with the 
most significant Kashmiri separatists and preparing the 
ground for the two rounds of talks between the APHC and 
former DPM LK Advani in early 2004.  Under Jethmalani,s 
leadership, the Kashmir Committee brought together some of 
the most sophisticated Indian Kashmir observers from media 
and the legal profession.  Law and Justice Minister in the 
first Vajpayee government, he resigned from Vajpayee,s 
cabinet and had tense relations with the former PM, opposing 
him in last Parliamentary elections in his home seat of 
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.  An eccentric political reformer, 
Jethmalani has been involved with most political parties, but 
his most recent affiliation is with the Hindu nationalist 
Shiv Sena, which he joined in 1995.  He is unabashedly 
pro-American, and came out in favor of US "regime change" 
policy in Iraq.  He divides his time between Mumbai and New 
Delhi's Akbar Road.  He has one daughter, Rani, also a lawyer 
(who was once married to Prem Shanka Jha), and a son, who 
lives in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan.  He speaks excellent 
English. 
 
Dilip PADGAONKAR 
---------------- 
 
Journalist 
(C) A former Editor of the "Times of India," Padgaonkar was 
an active member of Kashmir Committee during its 18-month 
existence during 2002-2004 and has been involved in other 
Indo-Pak Track II organizations such as the South Asia Free 
Media Association.  Padgaonkar began his journalism career at 
the age of 18, and was with the "Times of India" off and on 
for much of his career (he still writes a Sunday column).  A 
strong francophile at least since obtaining a PhD in 
philosophy from the University of Paris, Padgaonkar worked 
with UNESCO as Director for Public Affairs in Paris.  In 1994 
he started his own communications company, Asia Pacific 
Communication Associates, which deals in news and current 
affairs.  He is protocol conscious and prefers to meet only 
more senior Embassy/USG officials.  He speaks excellent 
English and French. 
 
Ashok BHAN 
---------- 
 
Supreme Court Lawyer 
(C) Convener of the Kashmir Committee headed by Ram 
Jethmalani, Bhan was its only Kashmiri Pandit member.  Bhan 
fled to Delhi after the insurgency began in the Valley, 
leaving his property behind, but he is one of the few Pandits 
who is not bitter about this personal and family tragedy.  He 
is pro-Congress and stays in constant touch with Hurriyat 
leaders.  He has one son, who lives in Bangalore.  He is very 
approachable and friendly, and partial to the US and the 
Anglo-Saxon world.  He speaks excellent English. 
 
Prem Shankar JHA 
---------------- 
 
Senior Columnist 
(C) Jha is well known for his anti-Bush ranting, as well as 
his pro-French and pro-Russian political leanings, but his 
writing (in columns in the newsweekly "Outlook," "Hindustan 
Times," and a number of books) on Kashmir is outstanding.  He 
is close to several separatists, particularly JKLF head Yasin 
Malik, and although he is strongly pro-India, he takes the 
view that New Delhi has to do much more to accommodate the 
separatists, aspirations.  Jha has edited such reputed 
dailies as the Hindustan Times and Financial Express,and was 
briefly Media Advisor to PM VP Singh in 1990.  An economist 
by training (he has an M.A.), Jha worked as a consultant to 
the UN Center for Human Settlement and as Special Assistant 
to the Managing Director of UN Special Funds, prior to 
entering journalism.  He likes to entertain at his large 
house on Golf Links, where he used to live with his former 
wife, Rani, Ram Jethmalani,s daughter.  He speaks excellent 
English. 
 
Parvez DEWAN 
------------ 
Resident Commissioner, J&K, New Delhi 
(C) An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 
1977 batch of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, Dewan is probably 
the most visible of the upper-middle ranks of the state IAS 
cadre.  He is very well informed, accessible to Embassy 
officers, and communicative.  As Divisional Commissioner 
(Kashmir), during the 2002 state Assembly elections, he was 
responsible for the conduct of these landmark polls and was 
very helpful to the many diplomats who traveled to the state 
to observe them.  He has authored three thick and very useful 
volumes on Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh.  He graduated at the 
top of his class at St. Stephens College, Delhi University 
and won a scholarship to study at Cambridge, from which he 
obtained an M.A. in History.  During the 1980s, he travelled 
to Nicaragua to help the Sandinistas.  He is single. 
 
Girish Chandra SAXENA 
--------------------- 
 
Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir 
(C) Saxena has served as J&K Governor twice (1990-93 and 
1998-2003).  He joined the Indian Police Service in 1950, but 
was seconded to India,s external intelligence agency, the 
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) where he spent most of his 
career and which he headed under Mrs. Indira Gandhi.  He also 
served as Security Advisor to her son, Rajiv Gandhi, and in 
sensitive positions under two other former PMs.  His brother, 
Naresh Chandra, was former Indian Ambassador to U.S.  The 
landmark October 2002 State Legislative Assembly elections in 
J&K were held during his second term as Governor.  While 
retired, he keeps up on Kashmir issues, and still has a 
security detail courtesy of the GOI.  His wife, Rajni Kaul, 
is a Kashmiri Pandit.  He speaks excellent English. 
 
Abdul Rashid SHAHEEN 
-------------------- 
 
Member of Parliament, National Conference 
(C) Shaheen, a National Conference MP, is a second-term 
member of the Lok Sabha representing the Baramulla 
constituency.  A Minister in J&K (1977-82), he chaired the 
Board of Khadi & Village Industries before his election to 
the Parliament.  He has also conducted research on the lives 
of Muslim rishis (a Sufi sect prevalent in Kashmir).  He is a 
member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of 
Communications.  Shaheen's brother was killed by suspected 
militants.  He willingly receives Embassy visitors at his 
house/office on South Avenue.  He is a liberal Muslim and 
open to contact with US diplomats.  His English is very good. 
 
 
Vijay DHAR 
---------- 
 
Businessman, Philanthropist 
(C) A Pandit, Dhar hails from a prominent Kashmiri family of 
bureaucrats and businessmen which continues to have very 
close ties with the Valley and remains unusally engaged in 
Srinagar civic life, despite the trauma Pandits experienced 
in the 1990s.  His father, the late DP Dhar, was a key 
advisor to PM Indira Gandhi during the 1970s.  Close to the 
Gandhi family, he was an Officer-on-Special Duty in the Rajiv 
Gandhi PMO in mid-1980s, Dhar has concentrated on his 
philanthropic activity in recent years, particularly the 
branch of Delhi Public School in Srinagar which he opened in 
2003.  This school is a tremendous achievement, and 
represents his intense personal commitment to ensuring that 
the Valley remain secular and liberal in outlook.  It has 
modern facilities for students up to high school.  He lives 
in a fantastic house in Srinagar, off of Gupkar Road, in 
which he entertains regularly, and a place on Golf Links in 
New Delhi.  His wife is charming and very active.  He is very 
open to contact with the Embassy and speaks excellent 
English. 
 
A.S. DULAT 
---------- 
 
Former Director, RAW, and Officer on Special Duty (Kashmir), 
PMO 
(C) Dulat was Officer on Special Duty, PMO, during the 
Vajpayee government, where he was a key adviser on Kashmir. 
Before that, he served for two years as the head of the 
Reasearch and Analysis Wing (RAW), India,s external 
intelligence service.  Born in 1940, Dulat joined the 
Rajasthan cadre of the Indian Police Service in 1965.  From 
1969 until his retirement in December 2000, he was deputed to 
the Indian intelligence services.  He is approachable and 
open to contact with the Embassy, although he tends to listen 
more than speak (ever the intelligence officer).  Since his 
retirement, he has retained a strong interest in developments 
in the Valley, and continues to be in touch with a few 
separatists.  He lives in a very spacious house in New 
Friends Colony, New Delhi.  His English is excellent. 
 
Dr. Vijay K. SAZAWAL 
-------------------- 
 
President, Indo-American Kashmir Forum 
(C) Sazawal is an outstanding US-based source on 
Kashmir-related issues, ranging from the personalities, 
backgrounds and political views of people who think about 
Kashmir abroad to the economy of J&K.  He can also tell you 
who did what when and who is aligned with whom in the 
Kashmiri diaspora.  Overseas Coordinator of three Kashmiri 
expatriate organizations -- the US-based IAKF, the 
Indo-Canadian Kashmir Forum based in Ottawa, and the 
Indo-European Kashmir Forum based in London and Geneva -- he 
is most involved in the work of Kashmiri Hindus (Pandits), 
because he is one.  Born and raised in Srinagar (along with 
his wife), the plight of the Pandits is an important part of 
his work, but he is objective and not bitter about it.  He 
responds quickly and thoroughly to questions on specific 
expat-related issues.  He spends an inordinate amount of time 
keeping abreast of Kashmir issues, which he uses to brief the 
USG, Congress, the media, and speak at think tanks like CSIS, 
the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, 
the United States Institute of Peace, and the Asia Society. 
He received a PhD in Engineering in 1975, and is currently a 
program director in a global energy company.  An American 
citizen, he lives with his family in Maryland outside 
Washington, DC. 
 
Moulvi Iftiqar ANSARI 
--------------------- 
 
Member, J&K Legislative Assembly 
 
(C) A prominent Srinagar-based Shia religious leader, Moulvi 
Ansari was a Congress party leader when Dr. Farooq Abdullah 
inducted him into his Cabinet after 1996 Assembly polls. 
Following differences with Farooq and the National Conference 
in early 2005, he resigned from the party and started 
speaking the language of separatists to create political 
space for himself.  He has survived several terrorist 
attacks.  He has spent time in Iraq, Iran and Egypt. He also 
has business interests.  He is in his 60s and receives 
Embassy officers in a spacious, very well guarded house in 
downtown Srinagar.  His English is very good. 
 
S.S. BLOERIA 
------------ 
 
Chief Secretary, J&K Government 
(C) Dr. Sudhir Singh Bloeria was appointed Chief Secretary in 
2002 by the Mufti Sayeed government.  Before that, Bloeria 
served in J&K in different capacities, including Principal 
Secretary to the Governor and Home Secretary.  He also served 
 
SIPDIS 
in New Delhi as Joint Secretary, J&K Affairs, in the Home 
Ministry in 1997.  Born in 1945, he joined the IAS in 1972 
after serving in the army.  His degrees are in chemistry and 
history, in which he has a PhD.  He has written several 
books, including, Pakistan,s Insurgency vs. India,s 
Security: Tackling Militancy in Kashmir; The Battles of 
Zojila, 1948 and Ballot Defeated in Jammu and Kashmir. 
 
(U) Bloeria,s wife, Rani Bloeria, is a Congress politician 
and was elected to the city council in Jammu in early 2005. 
In the past, she unsuccessfully contested state elections. 
His English is excellent. 
 
Gopal SHARMA 
------------ 
 
Director General of Police, J&K 
(C) A member of the J&K cadre of the Indian Police Service 
(IPS), Sharma (57) was appointed by the PDP-Congress 
government (superceding several officers senior to him) after 
the massacre of Kashmiri Pandits at Nadimarg (March 2003) 
which led to the removal of his predecessor A.K. Suri. 
Sharma has a M.S. degree.  Originally from Rajasthan, he was 
inducted into the Service in 1974.  His son was married in 
Jaipur, Rajasthan, in May 2005.  He is open to contact with 
Embassy officers and speaks excellent English. 
 
Kuldeep KHODA 
------------- 
 
Additional Director General Police 
(C) Khoda (53) has held a number of key internal security 
positions in J&K. A native of Kashmir, he is in charge of the 
intelligence wing of the J&K police.  He entered the IPS in 
1974 and, since then, has held various responsible positions 
in the state.  He holds a master,s degree in science.  He is 
friendly, communicative, and open to contact with Embassy 
officers.  His English is excellent. 
 
Balraj PURI 
----------- 
 
Human Rights Activist and Author 
(C) Balraj Puri (77) is a prominent Jammu-based intellectual, 
known for his liberalism and focus on human rights and the 
interests of the Jammu region (which in his view get short 
shrift vis--vis the Valley).  A frequently commentator on 
Kashmir affairs, he also edits the useful monthly bulletin 
&J&K Human Rights Perspective.8  He chaired the Regional 
Autonomy Committee appointed by the Farooq Abdullah 
government in 2000.  He is much better on paper, as his 
English is difficult to follow (he mumbles) and is not 
focused in conversations.  He is also absent-minded and 
protocol conscious (he believes he should have been chosen 
Chief Minister or Governor).  His son, Luv Puri, writes for 
the Hindu from Jammu and was a POL IVP in 2004. 
 
Professor Amitabh MATTOO 
------------------------ 
 
Vice-Chancellor, Jammu University 
(C) Dr. Mattoo, a Kashmiri Pandit, is a rising star in 
India,s defense and strategic affairs community.  Professor 
at the Disarmament Division of the School of International 
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), prior to his 
appointment as Vice Chancellor of Jammu University in 2003, 
he has been attempting to build a strong program on Kashmir 
and Indo-Pak issues there and has recruited a number of good 
staff.  After obtaining his M.Phil degree from JNU, he earned 
a D.Phil. from Oxford.  He has also been a Visiting Professor 
at the Joan B. Croc Institute for International Peace 
Studies, University of Notre Dame.  He was a Special 
Correspondent of Calcutta-based Daily, The Telegraph, for 
about four years.  Mattoo writes columns for the national 
dailies, and is a Review Editor of the International Studies 
(Sage).  His recent publications include India and the Bomb: 
Public Opinion and Nuclear Options (1996), Securing India: 
Strategic Thought and Practice in an Emerging Power (1997), 
and articles in Survival and Asian Survey journal.  His 
latest book India's Nuclear Deterrent: Pokharan II and Beyond 
has been well reviewed.  He and his charming wife maintain a 
salon for intellectuals in the Vice Chancellor,s beautiful 
bungalow at Jammu University.  His English is excellent. 
 
Professor Siddiq WAHID 
---------------------- 
 
University of Jammu 
(C) Originally from Leh (Ladakh), Siddiq returned to India in 
2003 after spending many years in the United States, 
including at Harvard, where he held a teaching position.  In 
recognition of his US experience and fresh, modern outlook, 
Amitabh Mattoo recruited him to join the faculty at Jammu 
University, making him Maharaja Gulab Singh Chair and giving 
him the freedom to pursue whatever academic activities he 
wants.  Siddiq has become very close to the Pugwash 
organization, and heads its Kashmir activities.  He attended 
the American Embassy School in New Delhi in the 1960s.  He 
has American children in the US from his American wife (they 
are either divorced or separated).  His English is excellent. 
 
Radha KUMAR 
----------- 
 
Lecturer, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi 
(C) Radha joined Jamia in 2004 and continues as a Trustee of 
the Delhi Policy Group (one of New Delhi,s most prominent 
group of foreign policy intellectuals), which she joined 
after returning from the US in 2002 to attend to her aged 
mother.  In New York she was a Senior Fellow in Peace and 
Conflict Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and was 
associated for a time with the Institute for War and Peace 
Studies at Columbia University.  A "peacenik," she has long 
been an advocate of disarmament, Indo-Pak reconciliation, and 
dialogue between Delhi and the separatists.  Her periodic 
op-ed pieces on these issues appear in the "Indian Express." 
She has sought (and not received) Embassy financial support 
for numerous seminars she has held on the Kashmir issue, in 
Delhi, Jammu, and Srinagar.  She is about 51, single, and 
lives with her 90  year old mother in the family,s large 
house in Sundar Nagar, one of Delhi,s most desirable 
locations.  Part of her education is from Cambridge, UK.  Her 
money is inherited.   She adopted a very cute baby girl in 
2004.  Her slightly British-accented English is excellent. 
 
 
Yusuf JAMEEL 
------------ 
 
Journalist, Asian Age 
(C) Formerly a correspondent for the BBC and a stringer for 
Reuters and "Time" magazine, Jameel has been the Srinagar 
correspondent for the "Asian Age" since 1998.  In 1996, a 
letter bomb exploded in his office injuring him and killing a 
colleague, after which he relocated to London and worked with 
the BBC for several months.  As a result, he was also awarded 
the Committee to Protect Journalists, International Press 
Freedom Award in 1996.  Very well informed and open to 
contact with the Embassy, he was a POL IVP nominee in 2004. 
To our knowledge, he has never violated the ground rules we 
establish for conversations.  His English is very good. 
 
Muzamil JALEEL 
-------------- 
 
Journalist, Indian Express 
(C) A well-regarded Srinagar-based journalist, Muzamil works 
primarily for the "Indian Express" but is also a stringer for 
the "Washington Post," whose South Asia correspondents think 
very highly of him.  He is an objective and balanced 
journalist who also writes human interest stories on the 
turmoil in the Valley.  He has spent time as a Fellow at the 
University of Minnesota.  To our knowledge, he has never 
violated the ground rules we establish for conversations. 
His English is excellent. 
 
Izhar WANI 
---------- 
 
Journalist, AFP 
(C) AFP Srinagar correspondent, Wani also has contributed to 
"Time" magazine.  He is well informed and open to contact 
with the Embassy.  He was a POL IVP nominee in 2004.  To our 
knowledge, he has never violated the ground rules we have 
established for conversations.  His English is very good. 
 
Ved BHASIN 
---------- 
 
Publisher, Kashmir Times 
(C) In his late 70s, Bhasin is Proprietor and Editor-in-Chief 
of the Jammu-based Kashmir Times, which many refer to as the 
"Hurriyat Times" for its pro-JKLF and pro-separatist 
editorial policy.  Prior to the J&K Legislative Assembly 
elections in 2002, the separatist All-Parties Hurriyat 
Conference (APHC) named him to the parallel Election 
Commission it wished to oversee the polls (but which never 
took shape).  Bhasin visited the US in the mid-1990s to 
attend a conference on "Peace in Kashmir" and regularly 
attends Kashmir-related conferences in Europe and elsewhere 
to represent pro-Kashmiri or pro-Pakistan positions.  He is 
involved in Track-II diplomacy, particularly Indo-Pak 
media-to-media relations.  Many observers wonder why an 
Indian Hindu like Bhasin is so pro-Hurriyat.  To our 
knowledge, he has never violated the ground rules we have 
established for conversations.  His son-in-law, Prabodh 
Jamwal, will take over the paper after he leaves the scene. 
He speaks very good English. 
 
S.D. ROHMETRA 
------------- 
 
Publisher, Daily Excelsior 
(C) Proprietor and Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Excelsior, 
the best and largest circulation daily paper in J&K, Rometra 
publishes from a well-guarded, gleaming new HQ building in 
Jammu.  In his 60s, he has pro-BJP political leanings.  To 
our knowledge, he has never violated the ground rules we have 
established for conversations.  He speaks excellent English. 
 
Shujaat BUKHARI 
--------------- 
 
Journalist, Hindu 
(C) Special Correspondent, The Hindu, Bukhari is one of the 
most prominent Srinagar-based journalists specializing in 
Kashmir affairs.  Bukhari was a POL IVP grantee in 2004.  To 
our knowledge, he has never violated the ground rules we have 
established for conversations.  He speaks excellent English. 
BLAKE