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| Mufti calls for restraint over ceasefire violations | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
SRINAGAR, Jan 10: Cauti-oning against any further downside in Indo-Pakistan relations Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) has strongly condemned the repeated violations of ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) which have culminated in unfortunate casualties in Poonch sector this week.
In a statement, the party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed expressed the hope that the political leadership of the two countries would rise to the occasion to save the biggest Confidence Building Measure (CBM) that had come as a great relief to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. "Earlier innocent civilian lives were also lost in Churunda village of Uri bringing back the spectre of border shelling that had made life impossible for the residents in those areas for nearly six decades," he said.
Mufti said while strategic considerations needed to find place in our response to the lately volatile environment on the LoC it was of supreme importance that the hawks on either side are not able to derail the peace process between two neighbours. It is the people of Jammu and Kashmir who are the basic stakeholders in peace, he said emphasizing that their life, property and dignity was in direct line of fire in any hostilities between our country and Pakistan. "2003 ceasefire was a statesmanly response by the then Prime Minister Vajpayee to the urge for peace he found among people during his visit to Srinagar, a process that was carried forward by Dr Manmohan Singh even in the face of Mumbai atrocities. The people of J& K have invested a lot in the peace process and it would be highly dangerous if the process is allowed to be sabotaged through misadventures like the ones in Mendhar," he said.
Describing the ceasefire as mother of all CBMs, Mufti said no progress was possible on other fronts like trade between the two countries or the reopening of traditional routes across LOC for travel and trade if the borders remained tense. He said the people of the state who lived in border areas had rediscovered the meaning of life after the 2003 peace initiative and they are looking at the deteriorating situation with immense anxiety. |
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