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Kashmir : Azad moots Ramzan ceasefire

	September 18, 2006

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that both the state and Central governments are willing to consider a ceasefire with the militants to involve them in talks on the Kashmir issue. In a statement, issued in Jammu late on September 11, he said, “We are willing to consider ceasefire if the militants agree.”



Azad said that he is prepared to announce a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramzan and even beyond provided the militants declared cessation of violence.



“From the Government’s side, I will be happy to respond to the ceasefire which should not be limited to the holy month only, but can be extended even beyond that period in case the militants declare to shun violence,” he said adding the people of the state would appreciate the move.



“The people of Jammu and Kashmir are completely fed up with violence and bloodshed. Time has come to openly declare an end to all forms of violence... be it attacks on innocents, throwing of grenades, planting of IEDs and resorting to harassment of people by the militants,” he added.



“Militants will also accordingly realise that peace is the demand of the people and gun culture has no relevance in any civilized society when issues can be sorted out across the negotiating table in a peaceful atmosphere.”



Kashmir’s militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen has shown its inclination towards participating in the peace process. Its chief Syed Sallahuddin has said the outfit could join the dialogue if the Government reduced troops in the valley.



But not all agree on the ceasefire. The Army and intelligence agencies point out the sharp increase in infiltration in recent months to argue against a ceasefire. Security agencies say that the ceasefire would provide militants, who had sneaked into the state during the summer, a firm ground to carve out their space to relaunch attacks during the winter.



Pakistan-based terror group Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen has rejected the Chief Minister’s offer saying that it would on the other hand intensify attacks.



The chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani has said that the Chief Minister’s offer was not going to resolve the basic Kashmir issue. He alleged that this is only to divert attention from ‘real’ issues.



The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a constituent of the Congress-led ruling coalition in the state and the opposition National Conference have welcomed the ceasefire move. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the ceasefire would be good for the peace process. End of violence would provide relief to the people of the state who have suffered a lot in the past sixteen years. National Conference leader A.R . Rather said though the ceasefire would be welcome, the real issue was to resolve the Kashmir problem.



No demilitarization : Governor



State Governor S.K. Sinha has ruled out demilitarization of Jammu and Kashmir even if normality returns. Speaking at the launch of a book - Solving Kashmir - written by Lt. General M.C. Bhandari in New Delhi on Saturday, Sept. 16, he said Islamabad’s demand for self-rule and withdrawal of security forces from the state was misplaced.



The Army was the mainstay of relief operations during natural calamities such as the October 2005 earthquake and the recent floods in Ladakh and the Kashmir Valley. “Wherever I went after the earthquake, people wanted relief routed through the Army. In this context, its presence is essential,” he said.



There were other reasons too for continuing with its presence in the state. “How can you expect demilitarization when the State’s borders have been violated four times by Pakistan and once by China ? And the threat continues.”



In case peace returns to the state, the Army must go back to the barracks, “which it will be glad to do”. But still there could be no demilitarization, as the borders would have to be guarded.



Gen. Sinha saw a deliberate plan behind the vilification of the security forces on the human rights front. For 16 years, the Army had not used heavy weapons such as artillery or helicopter gunships in combating militancy. On the contrary, other armies had no compunction in taking recourse to them.



While there could be some aberrations, the Army had taken strong action, including dismissal and rigorous imprisonment for upto 14 years, against 70 personnel.



“I assure you that the allegations, by and large, are false or highly exaggerated. The Indian Army’s record is much better than that of other armies fighting insurgency elsewhere in the world.”



In his foreword to the book, Governor Sinha said that the contours of a settlement of the Kashmir problem appear to be emerging with Pakistan giving up its insistence on a plebiscite and the Centre not being rigid on discussing the issue with a foreign country. He said the ongoing confidence building measures and composite dialogue with Pakistan as well as talks within Kashmir with people of different shades of opinion hold out promise for the future.





Geelani re-elected chief of hardline Hurriyat faction



Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been re-elected chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference for a period of three years. Speaking after his re-election on Sept. 13 at a meeting of party members, Geelani again spoke of his stand on the right of self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He claimed that the Centre is not taking any concrete steps to resolve the Kashmir issue. About militancy, he said it was a compulsion of the Kashmir youth.





NC-Hurriyat pact : Farooq Abdullah says he is not averse to it



Former state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has said that he is not averse to promoting an alliance between his party, the National Conference and the All-Party Hurriyat Conference. In an interview published in a Srinagar newspaper, he said the alliance can be on the pattern of his arrangement with the late Maulvi Farooq-led Awami Action Committee in 1983. He said the possibility of an alliance between the National Conference and the moderate section of the Hurriyat cannot be ruled out.



In reply to a question on the slogan of “azadi” (Freedom) for Kashmir, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said it was a fraud, adding that both Pakistan and Hurriyat leaders had by now, realised that this could not be achieved. He claimed that as a result of this realisation, Islamabad had agreed to have a dialogue with Delhi and also suggested to the Hurriyat leaders to hold talks with the Government of India.





Beig retained in PDP’s top panel



In a sign of reconciliation, former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussein Beig has been retained in the PDP’s highest decision-making body, the Political Affairs Committee, which was reconstituted on Sept. 13. The party had recently dropped Beig from the Azad Government creating a crisis which threatened to split the party. A PDP leader said that the reconstituted panel shows that Beig has retained his third position in the party after its founder Mufti Mohd. Sayeed and party president Mehbooba Mufti.





Azad-Mufti to address global fora



Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and PDP patron Mufti Mohd. Sayeed would be putting forth their view point on the Kashmir issue at international fora in the coming few weeks.



Azad is slated to address leaders of the European Union at Brussels this week when he will explain his point of view on the Kashmir problem in detail.



He is expected to give details of the non-stop Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir despite the efforts of India to defuse the situation by holding round-table conferences with separatists and those holding other opinions.



Azad is also scheduled to address an Islamic conference in New York where too he is likely to draw the attention of the participants towards the un-Islamic actions of Pakistan that was indulging in bloodshed in Kashmir by aiding terrorists.



On the other hand, PDP leader and former Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, has been invited by the United Nations General Assembly next month to speak on his party’s proposal of introducing “self-rule” in Jammu and Kashmir.



Before the Mufti, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to address the UN General Assembly this week when he is most likely to highlight the unending Pakistan-sponsored terrorism not only in J&K, but elsewhere in the country.