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| Congress jumps on to NC bandwagon, demands revocation of AFSPA | | Changing attitude | | MINCING NO WORDS
Neha
Jammu, March 6: Gone are the days when JKPCC president and former ideologue of the National Conference and a staunch supporter of greater autonomy used to take on National Conference working president and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his stand on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and would insist on taking him and the Army on board before making any statement on this Act that provides legal immunity to the security forces involved in anti-insurgency operations and defence of the country.
The memory of the war of words between him and Omar Abdullah in October-December 2011 still lingers in the minds of the people of the State. Soz had tore into Abdullah and accused him of making a unilateral statement on the AFSPA without consulting him. Abdullah, on the other hand, had snubbed and ridiculed Soz saying there was no need for him to take him on board as he had already taken the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on board on the issue. Abdullah had just on the eve of Durbar move announced in Srinagar that the AFSPA would be revoked before the Durbar moves opened in Jammu. Such was the level of mistrust between the two that the Congress high command had to intervene to salvage the situation created by the two.
Today, Soz is a completely transformed person. Today, he, like separatist outfits and other Kashmir-based religio-political parties, including the National Conference, denounces the AFSPA and demands its revocation. In fact, he on Tuesday went several steps further and demanded removal of the AFSPA from the entire State. He went to extent of virtually directing Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to hold talks with Abdullah so that the AFSPA is revoked. "I wrote a letter to Home Minister and requested him to sit with Omar Abdullah and discuss the matters and how to revoke AFSPA," he said, adding the security forces are firing on Kashmiris for no reason. "I heard from senior officers of administration (in Jammu & Kashmir) that the firing was unprovoked". He was referring to the killing of a protestor in Baramulla on Tuesday.
That Soz went several steps further could be seen from the fact that while Abdullah demanded removal of the AFSPA in phases, he demanded its removal from the entire State. The change in his attitude should not surprise anyone. After all, he belongs to party which is the mother of all ills facing the country. |
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