Rakib Altaf
SRINAGAR: Celebratory functions on India’s 64th Republic Day passed off peacefully in the state, but the Governor called for a greater vigil along the de-facto border dividing the region between India and Pakistan.
In Kashmir valley, where heavy security measures were put in place and cellular networks jammed for few hours to prevent subversion, most of the people stayed indoors as separatist leaders had called for observing Jan 26 as a ‘black day’.
Police said flag-hoisting events passed-off peacefully with no reports of violence from anywhere.
Armed violence which has killed tens of thousands of people since it erupted in the early nineties is gradually waning and authorities say it fell to its lowest last year.
However, Governor NN Vohra, who took the salute at a parade by security forces in winter capital Jammu, said people could enjoy the “benefits of peace” only if there is calm at the heavily militarized Line of Control in Kashmir.
“Till such time as sustained calm prevails on the northwestern frontiers, our security forces cannot even think of lowering their guard, under any circumstances,” IANS quoted Vohra as saying after he hurled the national flag at M.A stadium.
Vohra’s remarks came in the backdrop of recent clashes at the LoC which threatened positive bilateral developments between the two countries, particularly in trade and commerce.
Uncertain
The Himalayan region, claimed by India and Pakistan in full, has been the cause of two of the three wars between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
But both the countries agreed to a ceasefire in 2003 and started a peace dialogue the next year, which led to a decline in militancy violence in the state.
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Since then, the south Asian neigbours have also taken what they believe are confidence Building Measures (CBM) to ease tensions over the decades-old dispute. These include starting a cross-LoC bus to cities in both parts of Kashmir in 2005 and also sending goods since 2008.
But both trade and travel through Chakan-Da-Bagh point in Poonch district remain suspended since the two countries accused each other of killing their soldiers and violating the truce agreement in a series of border clashes in early Jan, the worst in a decade.
The friction over the LoC fracas, which even prompted many quarters on the Indian side to call for a magnified response, was settled at a meeting of top Indian and Pakistani army Generals, who agreed to respect the ceasefire agreement.
The governor, however, called for stepping up vigil along the frontier with Pakistan and said Jammu and Kashmir’s growth and development could take place only in an environment of “sustained peace and normalcy”.
