Centre unlikely to accept J&K ceasefire for Ramzan, Yatra

NEW DELHI: The Mehbooba Mufti government on Thursday continued to push for a unilateral ceasefire with terror groups in the state and along the border with Pakistan during the holy month of Ramzan, but Delhi is unlikely to accept the proposal, particularly with regard to internal operations, officials said. The security forces, in particular, have conveyed their opposition to the move. Mufti’s ally BJP is against a ceasefire. “There is a demand; the issue is at the deliberation stage, but no final decision has been taken in this regard by the centre,” said one of the officials.

The person said that a ceasefire is already in force on the international border and the line of control (LoC), the de-facto border that divides Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupiedKashmir. But the person added that there have been constant violations of the ceasefire agreement. “The issue of whether the ceasefire would be extended within the valley or be enforced more strictly at the border and LoC is yet to be decided. A decision is expected within next couple of days,” added the person.

Officials in the home ministry, army, and Jammu and Kashmir police said an internal ceasefire is laden with risks, while the enforcement of a ceasefire with Pakistan is contingent on the latter’s behaviour. A second official said, “The situation in the valley is difficult. We cannot just declare a unilateral ceasefire.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state unit on Thursday refused to support chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s call for a unilateral ceasefire, during the month of Ramzan and till the completion of Amarnath Yatra, by stating that any such move would squander away all the work done by army in the state.

Interestingly, deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta was standing next to Mufti during her press briefing after all party meet (APM) on Wednesday.

Notably, the Army chief General Bipin Rawat also said that the youth of the Valley needs to understand that “azadi” is not possible as they can’t fight security forces.

Chief spokesperson of the state BJP, Sunil Sethi on Thursday said the army have been trying to contain insurgents with all their efforts and unilateral ceasefire would mean squandering away the work done by them. “We do not support Mehbooba Mufti’s opinion of declaring unilateral truce because several listed militants have been killed and remaining militants are still hiding. We feel the battle is in its final stage and it cannot be stopped at this crucial juncture,” he said.

Sethi also said the BJP feels the situation in the state is serious and stonepelting has not stopped.

“A tourist from Chennai was killed in stonepelting incident. We put forth this view at the all party meet. We feel the soft policy of the government towards stonepelters is responsible for the present situation. Amnesty (to stonepelters) has not helped in any way. The result of amnesty is opposite to what was anticipated. We feel any kind of relaxation to them should be stopped and a stern action should be taken,” he said. The BJP spokesperson also attributed the present turmoil in Kashmir to the absence of political workers on ground across Kashmir. “Political activities have virtually stopped in Kashmir. Workers of political parties are not on the ground, which in turn has caused a free-for-all situation and as a result stonepelting has increased,” he said.