Search the Internet          Tips

Hurriyat leaders welcome extension of ceasefire

Onkar Singh in New Delhi and Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Abdul Gani Lone and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, both former chairmen of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference and members of the proposed team to visit Pakistan, have welcomed the Centre's extension of the ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir.

"I feel the Government of India has taken the right decision," Lone told rediff.com on telephone from Srinagar.

He said he had not expected the government to "take this kind of bold step again, particularly in light of the kind of statements that had been coming from Union Home Minister L K Advani, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and BJP chief Bangaru Laxman".

"I hope the forces that are interested in bringing peace to the valley will seize this opportunity and create an atmosphere conducive for talks," he added.

Lone recalled that when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had first announced the unilateral ceasefire at the beginning of Ramadan, "I had said that if the Government of India takes one step, the Hurriyat Conference will take two. But some people within the Government of India started dragging their feet and wanted to nominate the Hurriyat delegation that would go to Pakistan. This is unacceptable to us."

Lone said he expects Hurriyat Conference chairman Abdul Gani Butt to call a meeting soon to take stock of the latest developments.

Mirwaiz Farooq also welcomed the extension of the ceasefire. "We are of the opinion that it is a positive step," he said. But, he added, "mere military steps will not help. The Government of India needs to take political steps. I hope the Hurriyat Conference delegation will now be able to make a trip to Pakistan."

Asked if the Hurriyat would pressurise the non-Kashmiri terrorist groups to suspend violence in the valley, Farooq said they could talk to these groups only when they were allowed to go to Pakistan.

"I was just hearing the statement of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief this morning in which he said his group would support a peace initiative. Violence in the valley has been going on for the last 12 years and both sides are indulging in it. In the last two weeks one of our workers was killed by police and another is missing," he claimed.

Asked why the APHC was not condemning the attacks on the Srinagar airport or the killing of innocent people in bomb blasts and ambushes, Lone said, "I personally have been condemning violence. How much can you condemn? I have lost my teeth doing that."

Butt, the APHC chairman, had gone to Baramulla in north Kashmir and would return home only late in the evening, an official of his party manning the telephone at his residence said.

Meanwhile in Srinagar, J&K Minister of State for Home Mushtaq Ahmad Lone said, "It is a good step and to make the move successful the militants should also respond to the prime minister's announcement," said.

He said during the past two months situation on the Line of Control had eased and the locals living near LoC had heaved a sigh of relief.

Lone, however, said civilian killings have increased in the past two months and added that the police will act if it gets information that militants were planning to strike anywhere.

He said strict instructions have been given to the police that no innocent should be harassed.

"We are openly being told that the state police conducted this and that operation against militants across the Valley even when Army Chief General S Padmanabhan maintains that the situation at the border is showing a remarked improvement. This is open doublespeak," said Javid Gilkar, a local lecturer. He said the Kashmir police has been openly violating the ceasefire.

Another local on Residency Road in Srinagar, Ghulam Nabi, refers to the recent statement of Abdullah wherein he said that he had asked his police to shoot militants at sight as they have no space for them in various jails, and asks, "Where is the ceasfire?"

He says that the ceasefire should be strictly implemented by all security agencies including the state police.

"We welcome the extension and want peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute once for all," said G N Shaheen, the provincial president of the ruling National Conference. He says that all the three parties - India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir should sit together and solve the problem.

However, a senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, said the ground situation in Kashmir will deteriorate further. "I am against the extension. The militants are roaming freely and the security grid has been weakened. Our move will earn us some praise on the international level but the reality is that ground situation will deteriorate further."

The Government's Ceasefire: The complete coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report