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| Army again snubs NC, say AFSPA won't go | | Situation in Kashmir Unpredictable | | RUSTAM
JAMMU, June 9: Lt Gen S A Hasnain, who is to take over as Military Secretary in New Delhi and whose 19-month-long tenure in Kashmir would be remembered as controversial, did a great service yesterday by putting things in perspective and ruling out the possibility of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) revocation or even its partial withdrawal. Lt Gen Om Prakash will today take over as GOC 15 Corps.
As said, Lt Gen Hasnain will be remembered for years for some of his controversial statements, including the statement that Kashmir was a political problem. But what he said yesterday while addressing a press conference at Corps headquarters in Srinagar will also be remembered for days and days to come because what he said only reflected the Army's viewpoint on the prevailing situation in Kashmir - viewpoint that needs to be hailed by all well-wishers and friends of India and the people of Kashmir whom the so-called freedom fighters in the Valley have exploited to the hilt to promote their own vested interests - viewpoint that needs to be appreciated taking into consideration the fact that Pakistan has fixed its evil eyes on Jammu & Kashmir and that Islamabad could foment anti-India trouble in the Valley using the disgruntled elements at whom chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party (JKDLP) Hashim Quresi hinted only the other day.
Lt Gen Hasnain not only categorically stated that the "AFSPA won't go" and that "there is no plan to reduce armed forces from the areas where the militancy is at its lowest ebb", but also said that the "situation in Kashmir is unpredictable and dynamic" and that he was quite "hopeful" that the "Army and political leadership will take a decision regarding the matter after assessing the situation and that must be in the interest of the nation". There was no ambiguity whatever in what he said. He was as candid and clear as any true General should be. The upshots of his whole argument were three. One, "around 399 militants are active in the Valley; the ground situation does not allow its (AFSPA) revocation". Two, "in summers the militant activities go high and in winters they are low; infiltration is going on; it is not possible till militancy in the Valley is not fully controlled". He made his point by referring to district Ganderbal. He said, "Ganderbal district has lowest militancy, but the area is the lifeline for strategically important Ladakh region. Reduction in armed forces in this district is not possible". Three, "militants" from across the border and Line of Control "are trying to sneak in". His message to the armed forces deployed in the state in general and Kashmir in particular was that they must "not allow anybody to sneak in, as they (our troopers) have sophisticated weapons and latest surveillance equipments". What Lt General Hasnain said could be legitimately construed as a severe criticism of those, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his uncle and National Conference additional general secretary Mustafa Kamaal, who have made revocation of the AFSPA the cornerstone of the speeches and statements. It would be no exaggeration to say that Lt Gen Hasnain has snubbed the NC. The fact is that he not only snubbed the Chief Minister and others of his ilk without naming them but also showed Mustafa Kamaal the place he deserved by terming his "statements" as "odd". "Those were odd statements and we never took them seriously," he said in response to the media suggestion that "Kamaal had blamed armed forces for several grenade explosions in the Valley".
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