Army surprise for J-K: No frisking during Ramzan

As a goodwill gesture to the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army has decided to suspend frisking of people and checking of vehicles durin...

As a goodwill gesture to the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army has decided to suspend frisking of people and checking of vehicles during the holy month of Ramzan.

No ceasefire during Ramzan: George

GUWAHATI: Defence Minister George Fernandes on Saturday said there was no move to offer a ceasefire to militants in J-K during the ongoing month of Ramzan.
To queries on the ceasefire offered by the Centre last year, he said, instructions were given to the Army then not to initiate any action against the extremists unless they struck first. (PTI)

The Army has also decided to relax the night curfew for the first time in over a decade in the border districts and mountainous areas of the strife-torn state.

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‘‘We have stopped checking and frisking of people on the roads. There will be no checking and no frisking during the holy month of Ramzan,’’ General Officer in Command, 15 Corps, Lt Gen V.G. Patankar told reporters at the BB Cantonment here today.

‘‘We have also relaxed the night curfew in the border districts so that our Muslim brethren can pray in peace in mosques,’’ Gen Patankar said.

The dawn-to-dusk curfew in the border districts and mountainous areas of the state has been in force since 1989, the year armed insurgency reared its ugly head in the state. Though there has been a relaxation of the curfew for a few hours from time to time, this is for the first time in the past 13 years that the night curfew has been entirely lifted.