Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah will hold "crucial" meetings with Union Home Minister L K Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes on Thursday in the backdrop of his unhappiness over the continued killings by militants during the Ramzan ceasefire. Abdullah, who attended an Iftar party hosted by Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala at Nuh, was back here for the meetings on Thursday and was likely to raise the issue of heightened incidents of killings of civilians by militants during the last 21 days of holy month of Ramzan.

The Chief Minister had yesterday expressed his opposition to the continuation of ceasefire in the state if the killings by militants continued unabated. He had conveyed his resentment to the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Abdullah had told Vajpayee that "Pakistan must be told in very clear terms that while we have been very happy that the borders have become silent, the killings done by them inside the valley must end as otherwise ceasefire has no meaning."
He had opined that India should give up ceasefire if there was no commitment from Pakistan to stop killings in the valley. Abdullah had told Vajpayee that militants were continuing to target innocent civilians in the state and it was difficult to handle the situation in the present scenario.

According to official figures, 63 civilians were killed and 183 injured during the last 21 days of Ramzan while the figure stood at 57 and 62 respectively as compared to last preceding 21 days. Bureau Report