Journalists havecensured the Indian Government on its inability to implement the ceasefire on
the ground, particularly with the human rights violations at Haigam and Maisuma.
The alarming reports of the spontaneous intifada-type uprising and the violent
reaction of the state have jolted the Centre out of its over-optimism generated by
the ceasefire which has failed to live up to its promise of leading to peace in the
valley. If there was a reduction in cordon and search operations, fewer checks on the
highways, a drop in combat operations by the security
forces, then, logic would have it, the stresses on the ordinary Kashmiri would lighten
and perhaps one could gradually look forward to a much-needed restoration of
normal civil life. But this was not to be and the security forces are not the only ones
to blame. In the three months of the ceasefire, 87 militants were killed. The
corresponding figures of last year show that there has been a decrease of 42 per
cent, which indeed indicates a decline in the number of pro-active combat operations
against the insurgents. And yet the number of violent incidents by the militants
shows a rise of over 100 per cent from the previous year. Even
during Ramzan, when Islam strictly forbids acts of violence, far from reducing the
number of attacks, the mujahideen actually stepped up the violence from 54
incidents of the previous year to a startling 110 in December 2000.