2000 ceasefire saw more violence but was longer

NEW DELHI: The month-long halt on counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for the month of Ramzan will end after Eid, which was celebrated on Saturday.

The government is discussing whether to extend the halt or to resume operations, given the recent spike in violence including Thursday’s killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar. HT looks back at 20002001, the only other time when security operations were put on hold in the state, in a decision taken by the government of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The 2000 experiment and its extensions and outcome will have a significant bearing on any decision that the government will announce on Sunday — whether it extends the halt on operations in Jammu and Kashmir or decides to resume them.

The fate of future negotiations between the centre’s current Kashmir interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma and the separatist leadership too depends on the government’s announcement.

Preliminary data shows that around five dozen violent incidents took place in the Valley during the halt on operations which started in May; a majority of these were grenade attacks.

There also have been calls to extend the ceasefire till the Amarnath Yatra which kicks off on July 28.

The number of serious terror attacks was limited to half-a-dozen and recruitment in militant ranks came down to 13 from an average one a day in the preceding two months.