Pro-India militant group urges Kashmir ceasefire

November 18, 2000
Web posted at: 9:34 PM HKT (1334 GMT)

SRINAGAR, Kashmir (Reuters) -- A pro-India militant group launched a political party on Saturday to press for peace in Kashmir, urging a six-month truce between separatist guerrillas and Indian security forces in the Himalayan region.

Leaders of the Jammu Kashmir Ikhwan group said they had launched a political organization called Jammu and Kashmir Awami (People's) Conference (JKAC) to push for a restoration of peace in the region.

"Let us give ceasefire a try again," JKAC spokesman Captain Tickoo told a news conference.

"We appeal to both security forces and militants to declare a ceasefire for six months from the holy month of Ramadan."

Ramdan, Islamic holy month during which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, is due to start by the end of November.

Officials say separatist violence has stepped up in the restive Himalayan state this year, particularly after a frontline militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ended a brief ceasefire in August.

More than a dozen militant groups are fighting for Kashmir's independence or merger with neighboring Pakistan and at least two pro-government militant groups are helping Indian security forces in combating militancy.

"Bloodletting has made us insensitive to our own sufferings... peace alone can restore our self-confidence," said Liaqat Ali, former Ikhwan chief commander and convener of the JKAC.

India, which controls 45 percent of the Kashmir region, accuses Pakistan of arming and training Kashmiri separatist, a charge Islamabad denies.

Pakistan rules over a third of Kashmir and China the rest.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in nearly 11-year-old separatist rebellion in the Himalayan region.

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