By IANS
Udhampur : The Indian Army does not favour a ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as it has apprehensions that the truce might give an opportunity to the militants to regroup and pose a bigger security threat during winter.
Lt. Gen. H.S. Panag, general officer commanding in chief of the Northern Command, told media persons at the Northern Command headquarters here Saturday that any ceasefire during this month, especially ahead of winter, would offer a chance to militants to regroup and rearm themselves.
“Militarily, I don’t think we should go in for the ceasefire, but these are political decisions and if there is a political decision to this effect, we would abide by it,” he added.
As Ramadan began Friday, there have been suggestions from political groups like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference and even some separatist organisations that the government should announce a ceasefire for the month to ease the situation.
In 2000, the government had announced a Ramadan ceasefire, which was twice extended, lasting in total for six months.
Terrorists, however, stepped up their activities and intensified their campaign beyond Jammu and Kashmir during the ceasefire.
Despite Islamabad’s support to armed militants, Panag said that Pakistan cannot be classified as an “enemy nation”. He said that ceasefire on the borders has been holding for the past four years and there is no visible hostility there.
“There is the problem of terrorism and that we are dealing with diplomatically, we would continue to do so. That issue cannot allow us to go to war with Pakistan.”
While he conceded that that 40 percent of militants are from Pakistan, he said that there was no need for the use of helicopter gunship in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations.
“The Indian Army is acknowledged as the best in dealing with insurgency and terrorism because we believe in not causing any collateral damage. If gunship is used, there are chances of collateral damage in the villages and other populated areas. That is what we want to avoid.”
Panag said that the army did not envisage any role in the 2008 assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. “The internal security for the polls is the responsibility of the state police,” he said.