The Centre had Wednesday announced a conditional ceasefire for the duration of Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting, amid a particularly restive phase in Kashmir marked by frequent encounters between militants and security forces.
New Delhi: Hints of reconciliation from the Pakistani army have been greeted with cautious optimism in the troubled Kashmir Valley even as the Ramzan ceasefire underlined the deep fractures in local politics.
According to a report in The Hindu, Pakistan’s military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor has indicated that the country’s army, ever hostile to India, is ready to “inject itself” into dialogue between the two governments, an unprecedented development.
Naeem Akhtar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one of the constituents of the coalition helming the Jammu & Kashmir government, welcomed Ghafoor’s statement.
“If Pakistan is concerned about Kashmiris, as they claim, they have to join the dialogue process,” he added.
“Pakistan must seize the opportunity… We want an amicable engagement between India and Pakistan. No one other than the people of Jammu & Kashmir understands the pain and misery inflicted on us on the border,” Akhtar told ThePrint.
Hurriyat hardliner Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai said India and Pakistan, if serious, were welcome for talks to resolve the Kashmir situation, but in the same breath denounced the Ramzan ceasefire as a “cosmetic” bid for peace.
‘Artificial ceasefire’
Speaking to ThePrint, Sehrai said the ceasefire did not reflect “seriousness”. “How can it be called a ceasefire? The government has said they will stop killing in the holy month of Ramzan, which means the killings will continue after Eid,” he added. “It is an artificial ceasefire that lacks vision.”
The Centre had Wednesday announced a conditional ceasefire for the duration of Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting, amid a particularly restive phase in Kashmir marked by frequent encounters between militants and security forces, as well as civilian deaths.
The decision followed calls from the BJP’s alliance partner PDP and others for a unilateral government ceasefire during Ramzan, on the lines of a similar initiative by the Vajpayee government, as part of efforts to check the deteriorating situation in the Valley. The demand was agreed on at an all-party meeting held in the wake of a tourist’s death in stone-pelting and two alleged attacks on school students.
Sehrai said the ceasefire should have been long-term, and followed by a “concrete and practical road map” for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Other prominent separatists, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, have termed the ceasefire a “cruel joke” against people “engaged in a legitimate movement for right to self-determination”.
However, hailing the decision of the central government, the PDP’s Akhtar said it was a “long-awaited development”. “It conveys the idea of peace and reconciliation in Kashmir,” he added.
Akhtar said they were still hopeful of a positive response from the Hurriyat. “Let us take this development in a positive manner. We urge everybody, including Pakistan, to contribute to this,” he added.
The statements came days before PM Narendra Modi arrives in the state Saturday, with his itinerary including stops in all the three regions, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Akhtar, a minister in the PDP-BJP state government, said the NDA government under PM Modi had taken more steps for restoring peace and stability than the UPA-II.
“Modi showed magnanimity by accepting the invitation of Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif (in December 2015), which was unfortunately followed by Pathankot (the attack on the IAF base in January 2016). Last year, he appointed an interlocutor without a restricted agenda,” he added.
“The real face of the country is peace and development,” he added, “Guns are not the face of India in Kashmir, but democracy and the tradition of dignified co-existence. The NDA, like before, has been more active in pursuing peace,” he said.
PM in Kashmir
During his visit, among other things, PM Modi will lay the foundation stone for the Zojila tunnel in Kargil, which will provide all-weather connectivity from Baltal in Kashmir to Minamarg near Gumri in Ladakh. The project is aimed at the quick mobilisation of troops in the event of incursions from across the borders with China and Pakistan.
He will also attend the convocation of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.