Jammu : Parties advocating a unilateral ceasefire by the Centre in Jammu and Kashmir are playing politics over Ramzan, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said and asserted that the government had a consistent policy with regard to Pakistan and terrorism.
“I want to ask a question to those who are suggesting a unilateral ceasefire whether they are true followers of Islam? As long as we understand Islam and Holy Quran, those who observe fast it is imperative for them not to indulge in any type of violence or harm anyone.
“Instead of advising them (militants), suggesting others means that you are not faithful to Ramzan but you are playing politics over it,” Singh told reporters here.
On May 9, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the Centre should consider a unilateral ceasefire in the state starting from Ramzan in mid May till the completion of the Amarnath Yatra in August.
She made the remarks after chairing an all-party meeting, which was convened to discuss the present situation in Kashmir Valley, especially after a tourist from Chennai was killed in stone pelting on May 7.
“Everyone (all parties) agreed that we should appeal to the Centre to consider a ceasefire like the unilateral ceasefire in (former PM Atal Bihari) Vajpayee’s time during Ramzan (later this month) till Amarnath Yatra and Eid,” she had told reporters.
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP, which is sharing power with Mufti’s PDP, opposed her call for a unilateral ceasefire claiming such a step was not at all in “national interest”.
Union Minister Singh asked why those advocating unilateral ceasefire on the pretext of Ramzan had not advised the terrorists.
He said ceasefire was never one-sided. “If the other side makes a mercy plea, then it makes a sense,” he said.
Singh said the Centre had not received any proposal with regard to a ceasefire from the state government so far.
Meanwhile, the Concerned Citizens’ Group led by former union minister Yashwant Sinha on Saturday called for a ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir during the sacred month of Ramzan.
In a statement issued here, it said it strongly endorses the joint demand of the state’s political parties for the ceasefire, stressing that “the security forces must observe the ceasefire strictly and should fire only when fired upon.”
Signatories to the statement, who include former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah, retired air vice-marshal Kapil Kak, veteran journalist Bharat Bhushan and activist Sushobha Barve, said the Government of India must initiate a purposeful dialogue in the meanwhile with all stakeholders in a time-bound manner.
They appealed to all concerned in J&K “to abjure violence during Ramzan as well as the ensuing Amarnath Yatra and respond positively to the initiative of the government if it takes such an initiative.”