SRINAGAR, DEC 3: Day six of the cease-fire saw the violence graph in Kashmir stay below the average mark. There is a growing feeling among forces fighting militancy here that in order to ensure that Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's cease-fire is successful, the Government needs to take some more confidence-building measures.Interestingly, the Government has issued verbal directions to the forces'not to give any interviews to the media, especially regarding the cease-fire and related matters. The word of caution came after the confusion created by the statements of Director General of Police A.K. Suri and Inspector General of the BSF G.S. Gill. ``There are clear directions from the top that the officers should avoid elaborating on the modalities of the cease-fire because it can create confusion and send out wrong signals,'' a senior security forceofficer said.The Army, however, has been tight-lipped from the very first day. ``We have very clear directions. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, no Army officer or jawan is allowed to interact with the press about this issue,'' said Maj Bharat Shahane, spokesman for the Army's 15 Corps here. ``We are, however, very happy that the cease-fire is holding,'' he added.But despite the virtual ban on interaction with the media, officers on counter-insurgency tasks here have been giving suggestions to improve the chances of the success of the cease-fire. ``Kashmir is almost peaceful today and this is a very good sign. We need to take advantage of this situation and carry it forward to end the violence,'' a senior Army officer told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity.``The Government should announce more confidence-building measures tosubstantiate the sincerity of its purpose. Let them announce a free passageto all foreign militants so that they can go back home. Let the Governmentrelease those militants who are not involved in any grave atrocity. Let itwithdraw troops from civilian areas. This might not mean much but it will definitely send out a message that will help restore the confidence of the other party in this cease-fire,'' the officer added.He pointed out that during the past six days, militants had not made even asingle attempt to render this unilateral cease-fire into a meaningless exercise. ``It is almost my fifth year here and I have absolutely no doubtthat the militants cannot go in for a series of violent attacks to show theirdispleasure. But whether this is strategic silence or a covert support, only time can tell decide,'' he added.Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) A.K. Bhan too called thesporadic incidents as ``nothing abnormal''. Giving details, he saidmilitants fired at a bus at village Bonigam in Qazigund, close to the Jawahar tunnel, injuring two women. ``The bus was in the middle of a BSF convoy and had screened windows. The militants fired at it, presuming it carried BSF jawans,'' he said. In yet another incident, said, militants threw a grenade at a BSF picket at Muslimpeer in Sopore. ``The grenade missed its intended target and exploded on the ground, injuring eight villagers,'' Bhan said. ``However, it is nothing alarming. We still have a lot of hope that the cease-fire will succeed.''
