Arun joshi

The Centre is weighing its response to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s appeal for Ramazan ceasefire amid contesting versions on the merits of such an initiative but it is bogged down by Pakistan’s continuing support to anti-India militancy that is consuming Kashmiri lives , too.

The Peoples Democratic Party, the leading partner in the coalition government with the BJP, has invoked the need to bring to an end the violence in Kashmir as it would otherwise amount to an eternal failure to close the chapter of bloodshed in the paradise on earth.

The BJP has rejected the idea of the unilateral ceasefire, claiming that it runs against the national interest as it would take steam off the anti-militancy operations of the security forces.

There is valid logic from both sides, but the moot point is how the November 2000 Ramazan ceasefire had unfolded despite being extended by five months. The extraordinarily bold experiment in search of peace and the Kashmir solution was sabotaged by Pakistan.

On November 19, 2000, Vajpayee had said: “The holy month of Ramazan during which Prophet Mohammad exhorted one and all to live in peace and harmony is soon approaching (November 28, 2000). The government has, therefore, instructed the security forces not to initiate combat operations against militants during the most pious month in the Islamic calendar.”

The situation and times were different in 2000. This time around, the gun battles and clashes between militants/stone throwers and security forces are at a never-seen-before level. The overall scenario is bad, close to 300 local militants are operating in Kashmir and more are joining. More are coming from across the border too.

In 2000, a ceasefire had also been announced by the Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen in July. It was responded to with exuberance and warmth by the Centre. There was a first, which turned out to be the last, face-to-face meeting between militant commanders and the Centre’s representatives in Srinagar on August 3.

Former Governor of Manipur Gurbachan Jagat, who also served as DGP of J&K (February 1997 to November 2000) observed that the “the militants were made to sabotage their own ceasefire by Pakistan”.

“No ceasefire would be successful unless Pakistan ceases its hostile actions, and that doesn’t seem to be happening. The sanctity of the ceasefire needs to be upheld by all sides. But, Pakistan continues to push armed militants from across the border and fuel the machinery of violence.

“The ceasefire can gain meaning and deliver result only when Pakistan rolls back its hostile activities,” Jagat said, drawing from his experience of dealing with the most critical situations in J&K.

There is almost a consensus that the killings should stop as the Chief Minister underscored time and again that all those getting killed are “our own people”.

But experts believe that the objective can be achieved only when there is no outside (Pakistani) interference.

What Vajpayee had said about Pakistan in 2000 — “the entire world now knows who is misusing the name of Islam to prolong the agony of the people of J&K” — holds true even today.

His “Ramazan ceasefire” had failed in achieving the objective for which it was initiated because of Pakistan.

Courtesy: Tribune Srinagar, May 11, 2018