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Centre took Farooq into confidence on extension of ceasefire

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government took Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah into confidence before extending its unilateral ceasefire in the state for the second time on Tuesday.

"The present ceasefire is being extended [for restoring peace in the state] by another month," External Affairs Minister Jaswant singh told reporters outside Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 7 Race Course Road residence.

The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the prime minister discussed the situation in Jammu & Kashmir for three hours before deciding to extend the truce.

"Yes, the CCS felt that despite the continuing violence unleashed by the militant groups, especially by Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the government must extend the ceasefire by another month," Singh said.

But the government is still debating the issue of clearing the proposed travel plans of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference delegation which wants to go to Pakistan to ostensibly persuade the militants to suspend violence in the state.

Farooq Abdullah had met both Prime Minister Vajpayee and Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani a few days ago to apprise them that "nationalist forces", including the security forces, were being killed in the state.

Dr Abdullah argued that although the firing from across the border had decreased, the Kashmiri people were fed up of the continuing cycle of violence that Pakistan continued to instigate.

Abdullah, however, told rediff.com that he would go along with the government's decision on the matter of the ceasefire.

The extension of the ceasefire appears to be a calculated gamble by the Centre to restore peace in strife-torn Jammu & Kashmir, according to 'Pakistan-watcher' Sreedhar of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

"The government's peace initiatives have been recognised and appreciated by the world community. My information is that there was a difference of opinion among government leaders on the question of further extending the ceasefire. But the fact that it has gone ahead and extended it by yet another month shows that the prime minister really wants to give peace another chance in the violence-infested state," Sreedhar said.

He, however, also pointed out that security personnel deployed in the state had complained of the unequal fight between them and the terrorists -- the terrorists now attack them whenever they want, but the security personnel's arms are tied.

Sreedhar said the continuing attacks by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed had become a "cause for concern", but with the international community aware of Pakistan's role in the violence, Islamabad would "sooner or later be forced to explain its role".

Meanwhile, former parliamentarian and former J&K Congress chief Ghulam Rasool Kar made a strong plea for discouraging "hardliners" in both India and Pakistan from going ahead and sabotaging the peace process.

Kar, who met reporters outside the prime minister's residence on Tuesday, appreciated Vajpayee's peace initiative.

In a letter to the prime minister, he emphasised, "Your sincere peace initiatives and the ceasefire policy perceptions for Kashmir have not only eased the continuous hostile border situation on the Line of Actual Control between the two neighbouring countries, but has brought a new ray of hope about peace in the social psyche of the Kashmiri society which is undergoing the trauma of violence, death and destruction for more than a decade now."

EARLIER REPORT:
Centre decides to extend ceasefire for another month

The Government's Ceasefire: The complete coverage

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