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BJP against extension of ceasefire

The Bharatiya Janata Party Saturday urged the Union government not to extend the unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir in view of the "continuing violence and increasingly desperate attempts by militant groups to sabotage India's peace initiatives."

"It is time to think hard on the proposal to extend the ceasefire beyond January 26 as Pakistan has not ceased to abet terrorism," the party president Bangaru Laxman told a press conference in Hyderabad.

Advocating a "fitting reply" to militant groups, he said it was time to "review the entire situation" as militants and their masters across the border had not displayed any intention to reciprocate Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's gesture.

He disagreed with the view that the BJP's call for a review of the ceasefire may undermine the attempts of the All Party Hurriyat Conference to resume talks with Pakistan.

"Even without the ceasefire, Hizbul Mujahideen had come forward for a dialogue. Let Hurriyat's efforts continue along with stern measures to crush militancy," the BJP president said.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister George Fernandes was quoted in Bombay as saying that the country would adopt a "wait and watch" policy regarding the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The ceasefire is on till January 26. We shall wait till 26th to see how Pakistan reacts to it," Fernandes told reporters after inaugurating a residential complex for the Defence Accounts Department at Kanjurmarg in north-east Bombay.

"The ceasefire is holding so far as the Line of Control is concerned where the troops on both sides, for all practical purpose, can stare at each other. However, the Kashmir valley has seen no great let up in militant activities," he said.

PTI

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