A ray of hope for return of peace has generated in the otherwise turbulent Jammu and Kashmir with the armies of India and Pakistan deciding to stop cross-border firing and adhere to the ceasefire agreement declared in 2003, and with the Kashmiri separatist leadership too responding to the dialogue offer of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Both the developments, aimed to restore peace in the Valley and along the International Border (IB) and the LoC in Jammu division, came on Tuesday.
Though the separatists have set a condition for the Centre to elaborate the agenda of talks before they come to the negotiating table, their response to Rajnath Singh’s offer is being seen as a positive development. What was an encouraging sign is that hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani too has this time sent positive vibes along with Mirwaiz Umar Frooq and Yasin Malik.
It is yet to be seen as to how the new breed of militants responds to the gesture shown by the separatist leadership. The local terrorists under the influence of their bosses in Pakistan have for the past some time been talking of introducing Islamic ideology in the state instead of independence or political resolution of Kashmir.
Residents of villages on both sides of the IB in Jammu and Sialkot district on the Pakistan side witnessed lot of bloodshed during the recent nine days of cross-border mortar shelling by BSF and Pakistan Rangers. As many as 12 people, including women and children, were killed and more than 100 were injured in villages on this side of the IB due to shelling by the rangers. Almost equal amount of loss was suffered on the other side of the border. This was for the third time in the past two years that more than 80,000 people had to flee the border villages of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts for safety of their lives.
The commitment made by the DGMOs of India and Pakistan on Tuesday to stick to ceasefire has been welcomed here. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti responded to the development by tweeting; “wholeheartedly welcome the reiteration of the commitment to the ceasefire on the border by both DGMO’s. This brings great relief to the people residing in the vicinity. Peace on our borders is the first essential step to a larger understanding & I truly hope it sustains”.
Mehbooba had for the past one year been mounting pressure on Prime Minister Narendera Modi for implementation of the agenda of alliance of the PDP-BJP wherein it was provided for starting dialogue with Pakistan and also the separatists for restoring peace in the state.
The ceasefire declared by India and Pakistan in 2003 during the era of them PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and General Pervez Musharraf is considered the longest stretch of peace on the borders. No major incident was reported on the IB and the LoC between 2003 and 2012 after the declaration of ceasefire.
It was broken on 8 January 2013, when a Border Action Team (BAT) of Pakistan ambushed an Indian patrol and beheaded two soldiers, following which 347 ceasefire violations were witnessed on the LoC during that year. Thereafter, the situation continued to worsen and incidents of cross-border mortar shelling and exchange of gunfire kept multiplying year by year.