Militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba on Sunday said that ceasefire announced by the government of India was merely a drama to achieve covert targets.
Reacting to the calling off of the unilateral ceasefire by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Lashkar-e-Toiba spokesperson, Dr. Abdullah Ghaznavi, in a statement issued to media said that the “unmatched sacrifices of Hurriyat leadership and public have rendered the vicious motives of India into failures.”
“The funeral prayer[s] of martyrs and Eid prayer were offered together. This is a response to India’s cease-fire drama. We are thankful to public for their support to our call,” he said, in the statement.
Dr. Abdullah, on behalf of Lashkar chief Mahmood Shah, said that they have been exposing India’s “cease-fire drama” since the beginning, “which in reality is an effort by Indian forces to achieve covert targets.”
He said India would have implemented Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) like end to atrocities, halting of killings and release of Hurriyat leaders from captivity, had it been “reasonable and honest in the cease-fire.”
“But Indian forces opted to mercilessly kill innocents under the disguise of cease-fire, the violence was being imposed on the pro-freedom individuals, and the family members of freedom fighters were continuously facing harassment,” he said, in the statement.
He said that renowned journalist Shujaat Bukhari was “Martyred” after the release of UN’s report on Kashmir. This, he said, is an evidence that Indian forces were “never honest” in their settlements and negotiations. “They themselves impose cease-fire and end it whenever they wish.”
” We are thankful to people for their complete trust and belief in their sons. This is the war of our freedom”, Mahmood Shah added.