Ceasefire violations: BJP chief threatens matching response

Assures villagers around the border that India’s ruling party would look into their problems

India will give a “befitting reply” to the alleged ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah said on Monday.

“Home Minister Rajnath Singh has clearly said that if Pakistan resorts to firing, we will definitely give a befitting reply to them,” the Times of India reported, citing the BJP leader who is credited with steering the party into power.

Shah, who is on a visit to the R S Pura area of Indian Kashmir, was due to meet villagers living close to the border in the state.

The BJP leader assured villagers who were displaced due to shelling near the border with Pakistan that the government will look into their problems, particularly of those displaced after the partition in 1947 and the 1965 and 1971 wars between the two countries.

Over the past weeks, tension has escalated on the international border with no let up in ceasefire violations from both sides.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2014.