Indian Spin Covers up Violent Results of One-sided Ceasefire
Subodh Atal,
December 6, 2000

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Indian officials are claiming that violence and killings have decreased in Kashmir following India's unilateral ceasefire declaration nine days ago. A closer analysis reveals the hollowness of this claim. The total number of killings have gone down principally because Indian security forces are no longer attacking Pakistani terrorists. They are no longer carrying out search and cordon operations that resulted in weekly killings of dozens of terrorists during the last few months. The terrorists thus can now move about without fear.

The average number of killings by terrorists of military and police personnel, Hindus and other pro-India civilians, has actually gone up during the last few days. Eight security personnel died in two attacks just yesterday. Four Hindu children were massacred in cold blood late last week. Terrorists attacked a school bus yesterday injuring two young schoolgirls. Two family members of a policeman were killed today in fresh attacks by the jehadis, while a housewife was kidnapped from her home and shot dead by terrorists.

Thus while the overall violence has indeed gone down, the only beneficiary so far has been the Pakistan-trained jehadi who can now roam freely in the state looking for targets. Do not tell the beleaugered security personnel and the civilians that the violence has gone down - they feel more threatened than ever, waiting for the Ramzan ceasefire to be implemented by the Muslim terrorists towards which it was directed. So far the Indian ceasefire has boomeranged harshly on its own citizens.