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Landmine Blast Deals Major Blow To Kashmir Ceasefire Hopes
by Surinder Oberoi
SRINAGAR (AFP) - A landmine blast by Muslim fighters killed three soldiers in Kashmir on Tuesday, dealing a blow to the Indian government's historic ceasefire initiative in the disputed region.
The leading Kashmiri group, Hizbul Mujahideen - whom New Delhi had been desperate to bring into the ceasefire process - accepted responsibility for the attack and said more would follow.
The blast shattered the calm on the first day of the unilateral ceasefire ordered by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to coincide with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
In New Delhi, Indian Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani said Vajpayee's government had taken a "calculated risk" in offering the ceasefire and would not allow "terrorists" to derail the process.
"Security forces have been asked not to carry out searches or engage in combat action but they have been kept in a state of readiness to retaliate in full measure if attacked," Advani added.
He asserted that Muslim fighters in the past three months had been put "on the run" by an intensified Indian military offensive in Kashmir.
"The decision for the ceasefire was taken from a point of strength," Advani said.
In Srinagar, a senior army official who asked not to be named said incidents were expected and that the ceasefire would remain in place.
In a separate incident, police said two soldiers, five Kashmiri fighters and two civilians were killed in a shootout in Kashmir's Poonch district, near the border with Pakistan.
Aggressive action to prevent any intrusion across the Line of Control (LoC) was not included in the ceasefire order, under which Indian forces ceased all operations against Muslim groups in Kashmir as of midnight Tuesday.
In the landmine ambush, three soldiers died and 12 were injured when their vehicle was blown up near Anantnag town in Nawpora district, some 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar.
"A blast was carried out by our mujahideen," Pakistan-based Hizbul spokesman Salim Hashmi said.
"We are determined to continue our operations," Hashmi said.
Hizbul has more indigenous Kashmiris among its fighters than any other group and its role will be crucial in determining the success or failure of the ceasefire.
Hizbul had earlier rejected Vajapyee's offer, saying peace was impossible until New Delhi agreed to include Pakistan in any peace talks.
More hardline groups have also dismissed the initiative as a propaganda ploy and threatened to step up attacks on Indian forces during Ramadan.
Kashmir police chief Gurbachan Jagat stressed that the security forces were not expected to behave like sitting ducks during the truce.
"If attacked, we will retaliate in self-defense," Jagat said.
This is the first time the Indian government has implemented a unilateral ceasefire in Muslim-majority Kashmir since the launch in 1989 of the separatist insurgency that has claimed some 34,000 lives.
In the past, militant-initiated ceasefires in Kashmir have heralded sustained phases of violence by hardline separatist groups opposed to any deals with New Delhi.
The region's last ceasefire - offered by the Hizbul in July - lasted 15 days before collapsing when India refused to allow Pakistan to participate in peace talks.
During the Hizbul ceasefire, hardline groups opposed to the peace process massacred nearly 100 people, mostly Hindu pilgrims and migrant workers.
Police said measures had been taken to ensure the safety of Kashmir's non-Muslim minorities during Ramadan.
"Troops have been deployed in strength in minority villages to prevent any attack," said Munir Khan, senior superintendent of police in southern Kashmir.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir.
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