Pakistan violates ceasefire in J & K's Poonch

Pakistan violates ceasefire in J&K's Poonch

 Pakistan army late Sunday resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing along the Line of control (LoC) in J&K's Poonch district, an official said on Monday.

Defence spokesman Lt. Colonel Manish Mehta told IANS: "Pakistan army used 82 mortars, rocket propelled guns (RPGs) and automatics to target our positions on the LoC in Poonch district."

"Pakistan shelling and firing started at 11 pm on Sunday," he added.

"Our troops are effectively and appropriately responding. Intermittent firing exchanges continued till Monday morning," Mehta said.

          The Indian government has been crying hoarse about the necessity to adopt a dialogue-oriented approach to all contentious bilateral issues, and even if we were to trust the intentions of the democratically ( hence legitimately ) elected government in Pakistan, some random uniformed lunatic just refuses to open his eyes to this pressing need of the hour - that a stable South Asia can do wonders for all stakeholders, and every constituent nation will rise with a more powerful voice in a fast-emerging multipolar world. The end result being whatever progress is made on the diplomatic level ends up looking like a one-step-forward-two-steps-back move, only to the detriment of both nations.

         However pragmatic and level-headed the civilian government in Pakistan might be, the truth remains that for 365 days in a year its biggest enemy lies within its own territory - the perenially power-hungry Pakistan Army and the ISI, for whom the only way to earn legitimacy for their actions is to intensify their anti-India propaganda, and flex a muscle or two by means of callous ceasefire violations on the LOC and the International Border. 

A day after mortar shelling in Pargwal area, Pakistani Rangers and regular troops on Thursday started targeting forward Indian positions with mortar shells both along the international border in R S Pura and Tawi area of Jammu, besides Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch. Pointing out that this has been the third ceasefire violation by Pakistan during the last 24 hours, sources said that unprovoked firing by Rangers started in R S Pura and Tawi belt around 1.15 am. By 3.50 am, they started firing mortars on the Indian side.