SRINAGAR, 9 September 2007 — The supreme commander of the front line Hizbul Mujahedeen and the chief of the Muzaffarabad-based United Jihad Council (UJC) Syed Salahuddin has watered down the possibility of a cease-fire during the fasting month of Ramadan saying the offer would only be considered if made cogently from responsible quarters of the Indian government.
Talking to a local daily, Syed Salahuddin said, “No option of a cease-fire is under our consideration at the moment. However, if there is any proposal from the Indian government, it would be discussed in the UJC forum and the decision in this regard would be taken collectively by taking all parties into confidence.”
“There should be no talks on petty issues like Baghlihar or Wullar Barrage, rather there should be focused negotiations between all the principled parties of the dispute to get the issue settled amicably.”
Dismissing bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan as futile, he said, “Both India and Pakistan had been engaged in talks since long and no concrete results could be achieved.”
It must be mentioned here that the possibility of a cease-fire between the security forces and the militant groups in Kashmir during the holy month of Ramadan had become a hot topic here in the wake of an earlier interview given by Salahuddin in which he spoke of a cease-fire during the holy fasting month beginning next week.
Mainstream politicians like Omar Abdullah, the president of the National Conference, have also issued statement seeking a cease-fire between the deployed troops and the separatist militants during Ramadan.
It must be recalled that in July 2002, the then Hizbul Mujahedeen operational commander Abdul Majid Dar had announced a unilateral cease-fire which was later withdrawn by Syed Salahuddin who made the withdrawal announcement from Muzaffarabad that time.
Senior Congress leader and state health minister, Mangat Ram Sharma, has, however, said the issue of a cease-fire was not being considered by the state government as the increased incidents of infiltration this year indicated the intention of the militants to increase violence in the hinterland.
