Ceasefire has ushered peace in J&K

Besides the silencing of guns across the Line of Control (LoC), the fruits of the ceasefire between India and Pakistan are already visible all across Jammu and Kashmir.

"There has been substantial decrease in the level of violence in the state after the historic ceasefire," a state government spokesman told rediff.com on Saturday evening.

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During the one month that it has been in force, since November 26, not only has "the border remained absolutely quiet for the first time, but militancy-related incidents within the state too showed a 32 per cent decline as compared to the corresponding period last year. The decline in killing of civilians is 40 per cent lower as compared to corresponding period last year."

Since November 26, militants have killed 41 civilians while this number was 67 during the corresponding period last year.

During the same period, 18 security personnel were killed as compared to 30 in the month before the ceasefire. In the corresponding period last year, 21 personnel had been killed.

At the same time, 103 militants were killed during the ceasefire against 142 in the month preceding it and 127 in the corresponding period last year.