End Of Ramadan Ceasefire Upsets PDP, Amit Shah Summons Leaders

BJP president Amit Shah has called for an urgent meeting of all ministers in PDP BJP Alliance and some top leaders are been Summoned to New Delhi for a meeting,” a senior BJP leader of Jammu and Kashmir BJP said.

BJP state chief Ravinder Raina and Party General Secretary (Organisation) Asho Kaul have also been called for the meeting.

While the official reason has not been stated, sources say that the Central government’s decision to resume anti-terror operations has upset their ally — the PDP.

The centre’s Special Representative Dineshwar Sharma – who is free to reach out to all stakeholders – is in the Valley.

The PDP BJP Alliance government’s special peace initiative in the Kashmir Valley – suspension of cordon and search operations – was taken with the aim of providing respite to the people during the holy month of Ramzan. But data showed terror activities had more than doubled during that period.

Two days before Eid, senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead by terrorists near his office in Srinagar. With it, any faint hope of an extension of the ceasefire ended.

Also Read: Shujaat Bukhari murder case: Fourth suspect  arrested, SIT to probe the matter

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced that security forces have been directed to resume operations.

“It was expected that everyone will cooperate in ensuring the success of this initiative. While the Security Forces have displayed exemplary restraint during this period, the terrorists have continued with their attacks, on civilians and SFs, resulting in deaths and injuries,” Mr Singh tweeted.

The ceasefire initiative was the brainchild of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, and the state BJP unit had fought it tooth and nail. It had even asked the Centre to spike her recommendation, arguing that “we should not do anything to demoralise the security forces”. Union minister Jitendra Singh had suggested that leaders advocating the ceasefire were “playing politics”.

While the PDP maintains that the Centre needs to reach out to the separatists, the Centre argues that the separatists lost an opportunity as they did not take a cue from civil society, the sources said. The Central government’s special peace initiative in the Kashmir Valley — suspension of cordon and search operations — was taken in view of providing respite to the people during the holy month. But data showed the terror activities had more than doubled in this period.