Kashmir: Mehbooba’s ceasefire call falls on deaf ears

Malik Sameed 

Srinagar: Government of India (GoI) has formally rejected Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s call for ceasefire in the State to ease tension during Ramadan and the Amarnath yatra.

Speaking to the media, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Indian Army has to firmly handle any terrorism which threatens the peace and harmony of Jammu Kashmir as a state and of the rest of country. The Army’s position is that it has to be firm on terrorism.”

CPI (M) leader and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami  , while talking to The Kashmir News Bureau Stated – “ It is really surprising  that the state and central government are not on same page in the serious matter like ceasefire , despite ruling BJP at centre also coalition partner of PDP in State. I don’t really know how this government is functioning. We gave our suggestions in al party meet but what we have felt the ruling Party and the state government had no action plan and done no ground work to turn the call of ceasefire into reality.  Kashmiri people are fed up with violence and destruction and they are craving for peace, the state government proposes one thing and central government disposes it off same in no time.”

Inam Un Nabi, socio-Political Analyst , while talking to The Kashmir News Bureau state Ceasefire not being implemented and the recommendations of all party meetings virtually thrown into dustbin shows the seriousness with which New Delhi is taking the so called mainstream parties of the Kashmir valley. The immediate rejection of same shows state is not much interested in peace and it is just a slogan for them rather than something they mean. Kashmir political problem needs wide ranging initiatives to help in its resolving it so that unfortunate scale of bloodshed comes to end. This clear no to ceasefire signals that state government in Jammu and Kashmir is toothless Tiger and also PDP just tried to use it as slogan rather than doing work on ground to make it happen.

Undoubtedly, with no ground work done on ceasefire it seems no headway has been achieved in this regard.