M A I N   N E W S

PM warns Lashkar
Ceasefire extended till May-end
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 22
Strengthened with almost a unanimous mandate from political parties, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today announced in the Lok Sabha the extension of the three-month-old ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir till May-end and asked the military regime in Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism for clearing hurdles on the way to peace.

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha on the decision taken at yesterday’s meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the Prime Minister, while announcing three months’ extension of the ceasefire also gave a stern warning to Pakistan-based terrorist organisations like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad saying that the Indian security forces have “clear instructions to act decisively” to defeat their designs.

Expressing the Centre’s readiness to initiate talks with various militant groups which abjure violence, Mr Vajpayee said: “We will not let this (peace) process be derailed, diluted or misused”. In a message to Islamabad, Mr Vajpayee asked Islamabad to abjure violence, give up its continuous hostile propaganda against India and stop promoting and aiding cross-border terrorism.

He asked Islamabad to take the path of peace through bilateral talks as enshrined in the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration.

“Let this opportunity not be missed by all those who desire peace, for our patience is not infinite”, the Prime Minister said, adding that “having examined all aspects of the question in its totality, the government has decided to further extend the period uptil the end of May.”

“Peace is our objective, to peace and dialogue we remained committed because that, above all, is what the people of Jammu and Kashmir need most,” Mr Vajpayee said.

Quoting the speech made by the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, in his joint Address to MPs on the opening day of the Budget session of Parliament that the government was ready to have talks with every group in the state that abjured violence, Mr Vajpayee said the government had decided to continue with the peace process and further extend the period of non-initiation of combat operation by security forces.

Mr Vajpayee also quoted the President’s speech which said “the government is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to bring peace and normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. As part of this, it launched a major peace mission in November, 2000, by announcing a unilateral non-initiation of combat operations in the state during the holy month of Ramzan. This bold initiative was extended twice up to February 26, 2001.”

The President also stated that this was warmly welcomed by the people in the state who “are longing for an end to militancy and violence in their beautiful state. The international community has also given an overwhelming support, because it sees in it yet another demonstration of India’s sincere commitment to a peaceful and permanent solution to the Kashmir issue”.

Mr Vajpayee said the government had seriously addressed the question of continuing with the peace process and further extending the period of non-initiation of combat operations by security forces.

“For such organisations or elements, as have vowed to disrupt the peace process or intend to continue with violence and killing of innocents in Jammu and Kashmir, my message is un-equivocal and clear.

“If you inflict injury on any Indian citizen in Jammu and Kashmir, or elsewhere, or commit any act of violence or terrorism, then the security forces have clear instructions to act decisively and to defeat such intentions,” he said.

Asserting that law and order would be maintained, the Prime Minister said, “Those who think that our security forces are less determined today to put an end to terrorism are only deluding themselves.”

The peace process, Mr Vajpayee said, was to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to live peacefully. “It is their voice that has to be heard, not of the militants or foreign mercenaries.” Immediately after the Prime Minister’s statement, a Congress leader, Mr Madhavrao Scindia, sought a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir situation. He said the government had benefited by the detailed briefing and consultations with all political parties yesterday.

Truce extension eyewash: APHC
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 22
Describing the extension of unilateral ceasefire as an “eyewash” the Hurriyat Conference has favoured a comprehensive dialogue to address the “basic dispute” for restoration of peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

The separatist Hurriyat Conference had earlier welcomed the announcement of the ceasefire offer by the Prime Minister and constituted a five-member team to visit Pakistan for having a dialogue with the leadership there. Blaming the central government for not issuing passports to its leaders for the Pakistan visit scheduled for January 15 last, the separatist conglomerate had on January 20 asserted not to insist on the issuance of travel documents.

“We should initiate a dialogue involving all parties to the dispute with a view to making it a purposeful political reality”, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, told TNS while commenting on the extension of the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir. He added that peace would not return in this trouble-torn state unless the “dispute is addressed”. The APHC Chairman said, “As a matter of fact, the dialogue should have preceded the ceasefire, but then it did not. Now is the time that ceasefire and dialogue go hand in hand.”

Professor Bhat pointed out that the central government “will have to spell out the rationale behind the extension now for the simple reason that you cannot have ceasefire and fire too simultaneously”. He added that there was no harm in “recognising the ground reality”. In this connection he referred to various incidents during the past term of ceasefire, saying that there was “no respite in crackdowns and disgraceful searches”. He alleged that there was a spurt in custodial killings in this period.

Former APHC Chairman and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said the extension of the ceasefire was “merely an eyewash”. Describing the move of the extension of ceasefire for the third consecutive term as “patchwork”, Syed Ali Shah Geelani said “such patchworks do not work”. He reiterated that the Kashmir issue had been lingering on for the past 53 years, adding that “unless positive steps in view of its historical background are taken”, the basic issue cannot be solved.

Mr Geelani said the Government of India had approached the UN on this issue and thereby agreed that the Kashmir dispute was to be solved. He also referred to the UN resolutions on the issue.

Elaborating on the issue, the Jamaat-e-Islami leader said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were demanding their basic “right of self-determination” for the past 53 years. Even the former Chief Minister and founder leader of the National Conference, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was jailed for 22 years for the same but then he had to strike a compromise in 1975, Mr Geelani pointed out. He added that a majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir demanded “UN resolutions to be implemented”.

“Unless positive steps are taken the ceasefire remains only an eyewash”, Mr Geelani said. He claimed there was no visible change on the ground during the past three months of ceasefire. Referring to the recent demonstrations against the killings, Mr Geelani held the government should see the writing on the wall.