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| Kamaal praises Soz, Taj opposes Soz & Omar | | AFSPA | | ET Plus Report
JAMMU, Mar 17: What is it that is going in Jammu & Kashmir? NC additional general secretary and CM Omar Abdullah's uncle, Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal, who till the other day had been abusing the Congress party and its leadership terming them as the enemies of Kashmiri Muslims, is now praising JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz. Attacking the Army and security forces and describing them as the "major bottleneck in the process of peace" and accusing them of committing "heinous crimes" in Kashmir, Kamaal yesterday praised Soz and said that he, like Omar Abdullah, is also taking up the AFSPA issue with the central government.
"Probably this was the first time when any Congress leader from the state has supported National Conference on this grave issue and advocated its revocation," Kamaal said. "We all know how Army and security personnel have been seen involved in the killing of civilians and how can a civilian killing be justified. Army doesn't want peace in Kashmir for the obvious reasons," he also said.
On March 7, Soz had taken a complete U-turn, backed Abdullah's demand seeking revocation of the AFSPA and urged Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to appreciate the J&K CM's point of view on the issue. "I don't say you remove it (AFSPA) now, but you must understand Omar Abdullah's perception of the subject. Omar and the Union Home Minister must be decisive in one voice. Otherwise, it would generate a lot of confusion," Soz said outside the Assembly Complex in Jammu, and added that "Let the Union Home Minister have a decisive meeting with Omar regarding the revocation of the AFSPA". Notwithstanding the snub from New Delhi on the same day, Soz had reiterated his stand a day later and said that the Union Home Minister must consider the view of the CM. Soz had in the meantime also reportedly met with Shinde and discussed with him the issue.
Interestingly on the day Kamaal presided Soz, Taj took a completely different line and very rightly. He contradicted the stand of the CM and the JKPCC chief and asserted that the AFSPA could not be revoked as the situation in Kashmir was volatile.
"Forces are operating in civilian areas against militants. They need some authority and legal cover to operate against militants in these areas. We cannot expect them to fight militants in absence of such a law," Taj said, and added that "in absence of AFSPA forces could become a soft target for militants and Army's view about revocation of AFSPA has to be respected". "It was better to send Army back to barracks rather than risking their lives by asking them to operate in civilian areas without legal cover," he was also quoted as saying.
"Army is saying that revocation of AFSPA from a particular area would pave way for militants to hide and remain safer there" and "their view has to be respected," Taj also said. In fact, he supported the view of the Army chief General Bikram Singh that the needed a legal cover while combating militancy.
All this shows that political equations are changing. It is true that the relations between Taj and Soz were never very cordial. In fact, the former had on a number of occasions publicly contradicted his party chief. But it is also true that he had come out openly in support of Omar Abdullah, particularly on the issue of rotational Chief Minister-ship. By taking the stand on the AFSPA that he took he established that he shared the views of the Army. On the contrary, the stand that Soz took established that the relations between Soz and Omar have improved. Soz had before March 7 criticized Omar Abdullah on a number of occasions that he didn't care for him and the NC-Congress Coordination Committee. It appears Soz is trying to cultivate the NC leadership for reasons best known to him. |
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