‘India has right to respond to ceasefire violations by Pak’

September 07, 2009 11:57 am | Updated 11:57 am IST - Rajouri (J&K)

J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah takes a picture from his mobile of Gurez valley during a two- day tourism festival on Saturday. Photo: PTI

J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah takes a picture from his mobile of Gurez valley during a two- day tourism festival on Saturday. Photo: PTI

In the backdrop of recent ceasefire violations by Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said India has the right to respond to them.

“It is our right to respond in case of ceasefire violations,” he told reporters at an army function here on Sunday.

He hoped that Pakistan will keep its promise of holding truce along the LoC as it has helped people on both sides.

Mr. Abdullah said the army will return to the barracks only when the situation improves in the state.

“Stay of the army depends on the ground situation and as the situation improves the army will definitely go back to barracks in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Without pointing to any political party or organisation, he alleged that some vested elements were hell—bent upon creating an atmosphere of mistrust against Army and advocating revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and recalling army back to barracks.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and separatists are demanding revocation of the AFSPA and Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) in Jammu and Kashmir and subsequent troops’ withdrawal from the state.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.