India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quit the ruling coalition in Held Kashmir on Tuesday where violence had worsened in recent months, the party announced.
The Hindu nationalist BJP entered into an unlikely alliance with a regional party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), after an inconclusive election in 2014 to govern the state. “It has become untenable for the BJP to continue in the alliance government in occupied Kashmir,” Ram Madhav, party general secretary, told reporters.
The BJP quit the coalition following a rift over extension in the Ramazan ceasefire. Indian-Held Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti wanted the ceasefire to be extended, while the BJP decided against it.
The Indian government had suspended cordon and search operations during the holy month of Ramazan. Following BJP’s announcement, Mehbooba Mufti also announced her resignation at a press conference she addressed in Srinagar. “I have resigned from the post of the chief minister,” she said.
Mufti said that the Kashmir issue could only be resolved through talks and stressed the need for talks with Pakistan for resolution of the decades-long conflict.
Published in Daily Times, June 20th 2018.