news details |
|
|
| Under pressure from Army, Chidambaram says it's ' difficult' to amend AFSPA | | Omar stands isolated | |
Neha
jammu, Feb 7: Gone are the days when NC leader and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would attack JKPCC president Saif-ud-Din Soz for his stand on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and say there is no need for him to take Soz on board, as he has already taken on board former Union Home Minister and incumbent Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Soz, it may be recalled, had tore into Omar Abdullah a number of times in October 2011, when Omar Abdullah made a unilateral statement that he would see to it that the AFSPA was revoked before the Durbar move offices opened in Jammu in November that year. Soz had taken on him and said that the Chief Minister needed to take on board all the stakeholders, including the Army, before making a controversial statement on the AFSPA. The refrain of Soz was that the AFSPA could not be revoked or amended without the consent of the Army, involved in anti-insurgency operations. Omar Abdullah had, on the other hand, instead of trying to pacify Soz, told him through media that he did not consider it necessary as he had already taken on board Chidambaram, who had on occasions endorsed the Chief Minister's demand and stated a number of times that amendment to the AFSPA was round the corner.
Things today stand totally changed. Today's Chidambaram is not the same Chidambaram. Today, he says what Soz used to say and candidly admits that it is "difficult" to amend the AFSPA. "The armed forces, and especially the Chief of Army Staff, the present one and the previous one, have taken a very strong position that AFSPA should not be amended," he said on Wednesday while delivering the K Subrahmanyam Memorial Lecture in New Delhi. In other words, he acknowledged that the Army is the principle stakeholder and that if the AFSPA is to be revoked or amended the concurrence of the Army is a must. "My view on AFSPA is known, the view of the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on AFSPA is known. We have Jeevan Reddy Committee report but yet if the Army takes a very strong stand against any dilution or any amendment to AFSPA, it is difficult for a civil Government to move forward," he also said. He expressed his utter helplessness when he said: "I think you (reporters) should ask the question to the armed forces and ask why are they (Army) so opposed to even some amendment to AFSPA which will make AFSPA more humanitarian".
The statement of Chidambaram on the AFSPA should leave none in any doubt that there are responsible elements in the Army who are quite capable of puncturing and defeating the controversial moves of the political establishment, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and supported to the hilt by the Congress party. Had the Army not put its foot down, our political establishment would have surely revoked the AFSPA or rendered it ineffective for all practical purposes by so amending it. The statement of Chidambaram, who has of late started presenting the Government view point on almost all issues, including even those which fall under the purview of Union Law Ministry, as for example, Ordinance on Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2012, clearly indicates that he and others of his ilk, including Omar Abdullah, stand isolated. This is a very positive development. The credit goes to the Army, the institution, which like the Supreme Court of India, Comptroller and Auditor-General, has been playing the role of saviour. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
