Don't mess with peace, PM warns jehadis

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, FEB. 22. The Centre today formally announced its decision to extend the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir by three more months. The current ceasefire, which was to have expired on February 26, now stands extended till the end of May, 2001.

As per the widely reported decision taken yesterday by the Cabinet Committee on Security, the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, made a statement in the Lok Sabha, spelling out the Government's thinking behind the ``peace initiative''. Unfortunately, because of a procedural stalemate, no statement could be made in the Rajya Sabha; hence, the Government was deprived of its option of offering ``clarifications'' and elucidations of the statement made in the Lok Sabha.

In his statement, the Prime Minister recalled that the President's address to the joint sitting of both the Houses on the opening day of the budget session, contained ``the Government's approach to the whole question of Jammu and Kashmir''.

Confident tone

The overall tone of Mr. Vajpayee's statement was of a confident Government convinced of its game-plan. At least, three operative elements could be clearly discerned. First, Mr. Vajpayee told the Lok Sabha that ``the Government has decided to pursue this path (of readiness to have talks with every group in the State that abjures violence) by initiating talks with various groups in Jammu and Kashmir''. According to officials, this formulation could only mean that sooner than later the Centre would be ``formalising'' some kind of format to ``engage those groups and voices which are outside the mainstream''.

A necessary corollary of this decision would be to allow the All- Party Hurriyat Conference delegation visit Pakistan. Though there was no discussion on this specific point in yesterday's CCS meeting, the presumption is that the APHC's much-hyped visit could come about in near future.

Second, the Prime Minister asserted that ``we will not let this (peace) process be derailed, diluted or misused''. Without mentioning by name jehadi outfits such as the Laskhar-e-Taiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Mr. Vajpayee's statement contained a tough message: ``If you inflict injury on any Indian citizen in the State of 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.''

Message to militants

Apart from rectifying the apprehensions among the security forces that the ceasefire meant no level playing field, the Prime Minister's statement is a ``message openly delivered'' to the militants. This message, according to officials, is that there would be no let-up in operations against the jehadi militants while every effort would be made to spare the civilian population of any collateral hardship. In a way, the statement merely formalises the situation on the ground; and, as one official put it, to the extent that it ``ends the duplicity'', the statement betrays a self-assured approach.

Third, Mr. Vajpayee's statement reiterates the ``bilateral'' format of talks with Pakistan, thereby rejecting the APHC's penchant for a ``tripartite'' approach as well as rules out a mediatory role for any third party. However, this does mean a willingness for simultaneous dialogues - with Pakistan and with the APHC, though with separate agendas.

Against third parties

This point was further underlined by Mr. Brajesh Mishra, National Security Adviser and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. Speaking at a book-release function at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mr. Mishra noted that ``though international opinion is shifting in favour of India, (even) in the best of circumstances a third party has its own agenda. The most benevolent mediator could have his own interests which may not be in line with our national interests.''

However, the officials concede that apart from the unpredictability of Pakistan's response, there are many loose ends - political and operational - that need to be sorted out before the hope in the Prime Minister's statement could get materialised.

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