A whiff of peace in the Valley

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU, DEC. 4. Notwithstanding the rejection of the Centre's unilateral ceasefire by militant organisations, violence in Jammu and Kashmir has shown a significant decline in the past one week. This, despite the daily statements of the separatist All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) accusing the security forces of violating the ceasefire.

Militancy-related violence had increased in the last few months with militants adopting new tactics to take on the security forces. According to statistics available, in all 2,560 people have died in 11 years. Of these 1,466 were militants and 386 security personnel. The victims include 17 children, 71 women and 620 men.

However, since the beginning of the ceasefire on Tuesday, 31 people have been killed, which has brought down the average daily casualties from 10 to five. More significantly, the weekend passed almost incident-free, a rarity in the post- insurgency phase.

Calm on the border

The trend is not confined to the hinterland alone; reports from the borders also indicate a change in the atmosphere. Though Pakistan announced ``maximum restraint'' only on Saturday, there has been a calm on the otherwise volatile borders well before that. On Friday evening, the Inspector- General, Border Security Force (Frontier), Mr. Vijay Raman, said, ``The firing along the International Border and the Line of Control has considerably come down.'' A senior security official echoed these views: ``The ceasefire has certainly made an impact on the borders as well.''

Notwithstanding the sporadic killings on the Srinagar- Jammu national highway or Kishtwar, or lately of the four children in Udhampur, a new phase of minimal violence seems to have begun. In Srinagar city too, the security forces have been full of ``goodwill''; demonstrating that the ceasefire was being implemented in letter and spirit. Throughout the city, the BSF has erected green banners conveying Ramzan greeting, ``trying to build trust and create confidence among people'', as a BSF official put it. In the rural areas too, the security forces are under pressure to observe restraint.

Violations not denied

However, the APHC has been issuing daily statements accusing the security forces of violating the ceasefire, detailing specific instances, which, however, have not been denied from any quarter so far. A report from Handwara said the security forces resorted to a large-scale crackdown a few days ago, harassing and intimidating people. It is alleged that the security forces still force the local youth to go for night patrolling and ask them to keep vigil on militant movements.

It is noteworthy that almost all active militant organisations - Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen and Al-Badr - have rejected the ceasefire offer; in the case of some incidents, a new militant outfit, Mujahideen-e-Haq, has claimed responsibility. But observers think the new outfit is fictional - an attempt by the well-known militant outfits to not expose themselves.

The locals-dominated Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has neither rejected not accepted the ceasefire. ``The doors are open for talks and sincere efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue.''

The overwhelming response of the average Kashmiri to the ceasefire, as also Pakistan's announcement of ``maximum restraint'', has forced the militants to cut down activities. Though there are rumours that a formal dialogue between militants (read the Hizb) and Government is likely after Ramzan, there is no such indication on the ground. The Hizb's Kashmir unit chief, Mr. Abdul Majid Dar, has chosen to be silent, with only one ceasefire-related statement coming from the organisation.

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