The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blamed the “cold response” of the separatists for the Centre’s decision on Sunday to withdraw the orders on the cessation of operations in Jammu and Kashmir, while the Opposition parties described it as “an admission of the grave situation prevailing in the State.”
Government spokesman and PDP Minister Naeem Akhtar said the Hurriyat’s inability to come up with a positive response and contribute to the ceasefire offer “is a testimony to the new reality that the separatist leaders are no more a factor in J&K and have lost the leverage over their own constituency.”
“It’s sad that the measure that could have set the stage for dialogue was not reciprocated,” said Mr. Akhtar.
Both the separatists and the militant leadership in Kashmir had rejected the Centre’s gesture to stop counter-insurgency operations, saying “it’s not serious to address the Kashmir problem.”
Former chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah described the Centre’s decision as “admission of failure.”
“The failure is the failure of everyone who wanted to give peace a chance,” said Mr. Abdullah.
The Congress claimed the situation in the State has slipped back to the 1990s.
“There were no takers for the unilateral ceasefire both within and outside and across the borders. Instead, the situation took an ugly turn on the borders in the Valley, resulting in its revocation,” said State Congress president G.A. Mir. He said the fresh situation has posed a challenge to the smooth conduct of the Amarnath yatra.
“The Centre has failed to take all mainstream parties on board and evolve a national consensus on the Kashmir situation while taking significant decisions,” said Mr. Mir.
The heightened militant activities during the ceasefire period left 51 people dead in the Valley, including 20 militants and 13 civilians. Eighteen security personnel also died as militants resorted to firing, used improvised explosive devices and set off over 20 grenade explosions.
