Jammu: State government coalition partner Bharatiya Janata Party distanced itself from Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s statement that all parties have agreed to vouch for a Ramadan unilateral ceasefire. BJP Thursday said they don’t second the idea neither had they in the meeting calling it pro militant and ‘giving militants time to regroup, reorganise’.
Party headquarters, BJP State chief spokesperson, Sunil Sethi in a presser claimed that the party had rejected the idea of unilateral ceasefire as ‘counter productive’ and of being a ‘breather to dying militancy’.
“Operation All out of Army should continue and only after that peace will come to Kashmir as it came to Punjab,” Sethi said.
Sethi claimed that the idea of unilateral ceasefire was pitched by MLA Langate Er Rashid.
BJP according to Sethi had rejected the idea of unilateral ceasefire as it is counter productive and is to give breathing space to militancy.
“Under Operation All Out listed militants have been killed and the one still there, too will be wiped out. It is like giving them a time to regroup and reorganize,” Sethi said.
BJP has took a diametrically opposite side of what the state chief minister had told media outside SKICC were an All Party Meet was conducted.
“Everyone agreed that we must appeal Government of India that they should consider a unilateral ceasefire like Vajpayee ji did in 2000,” Mufti, flanked by deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta, told reporters.
When Sethi was asked that BJP, a day after CM said that all are for ceasefire, are contradictory.
“I am not contradicting, only clarifying. The idea of Unilateral ceasefire was not put to vote like that of a meeting with PM. She asked for meeting six times but not once was the idea of unilateral ceasefire put to vote,” Sethi said.
“No opinion on ceasefire was sought,” Sethi said. Not only did Sethi train guns against his own government chief but also rebutted CM that to compare the situation of 2018 and 2000 of Atal Bihari Vajpayee too is incorrect.
“Vajpayee’s was a different time and situation,” Sethi told reporters.
Sethi also said that counter to cesefire idea, the BJP had said in meeting that the situation in Kashmir is bad because of ‘soft approach of government’ towards ‘stone pelters, separatist’.
“Stone pelters are potential militants. There is no need to go soft on them. We have reports that there are groups of these boys who are shifted from one encounter site to another,” Sethi claimed.
Interestingly Sethi claimed that the prevailing situation in the Kashmir valley is due to no political activity ‘on ground by political parties’ which gives other elements ample opportunity to interfere.
“Political workers of parties must be activated. No political activity of any party is happening there,” Sethi claimed.
In June 2017 the lower house of J&K Legislature lawmakers were informed that the right wing Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has spread its foothold across Kashmir Valley.
BJP’s J&K unit chief, Sat Pal Sharma told the house, “let me inform you, BJP has three and half lakh members in Valley itself.”
“Fear of Army is in place and this unilateral ceasefire will only benefit militants,” sethi said.
