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| PM Modi took first concrete step towards Govt formation in J&K on March 18 | | Demilitarization as confidence building measure | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 3: It was in the evening of March 17 that PDP president Mehbooba Mufti met with BJP president Amit Shah at New Delhi to discuss the modalities of government formation in J&K. The meeting lasted for less than half an hour. It was clear that the talks had broken. In fact, a senior PDP leader that evening gave his men to understand that "it's all over". Similar was the view in the BJP camp here in Jammu.
Just at a time when the alliance was at the verge of collapse, the Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it seems, intervened to save the coalition. New Delhi asked Governor NN Vohra to take some definite steps to mollify the offended Mehbooba Mufti. The very next day, Governor Vohra held meeting with Lt Gen D S Hooda, GOC-in-C Northern Command. The meeting was attended by BR Sharma, Chief Secretary; P K Tripathi, Principal Secretary to Governor; R K Goyal, Principal Secretary, Home; Asgar Hassan Samoon, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; and Dr. Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu.
It was decided in the meeting that the Army will be vacate large tracts of land held by it at four places in Jammu and Kashmir by month-end. It was one of four major demands of the PDP. The demands included revocation of AFSPA from certain areas, return of at least two NHPC-controlled power projects in the state to J&K Government and talks with Pakistan and Hurriyat leaders to resolve the so-called Kashmir issue.
As per the decision, Northern Command of Army agreed to hand over 16.30 acres of state land held by it adjoining the Campus of Jammu University, 212 acres of land held by it at Tatoo Grounds, Srinagar, and 456.60 kanals of land at High Grounds, Anantnag, and land held at lower Khurba Thang in Kargil, to J&K government.
The decision was considered highly vital in the wake of demands by PDP Chief that Army vacated land it had held and revocation of AFSPA from peaceful areas in the state as a big confidence building measure ahead of formation of the government in J&K with BJP.
It is, however, true that in extensive discussions with Hooda at the Raj Bhawan, the Governor reviewed the implementation of decisions taken in earlier Civil Military Liaison Conferences on all land matters relating to the Army. This is not an issue. The issue is why did the State Governor on March 18 ordered the Army to vacate certain highly strategic tracts of land held by it, a day after the talks between the BJP president and the PDP president had failed and the people had started asking as to when the State Governor would dissolve the Assembly?
It was not a mere coincidence that the decision to order the Army to vacate four tracts of land was taken on March 18. It was a last-ditch effort of the Modi Government to save the coalition and ensure the formation of the PDP-BJP coalition government. What the State Governor did on March 18 actually paved the way for the government formation in the state and the rest are only details.
It is a matter of grave concern that the Army had to be ordered to demilitarize certain areas to send a message to Kashmiri separatists that the Modi Government had decided to take certain steps they wanted New Delhi to take. |
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