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| What is PDP now waiting for? | | |
Jammu, June 13: If the stand of Peoples Democratic Party on demilitarisation is a principled and not guided by the electoral interests, the Muftis should follow the suit of Bhim Singh and pull out of the coalition government after today’s rebuff to their demand coming from a highest forum.
The Defence Minister AK Antony, after chairing a conference Unified Commanders in New Delhi, has categorically ruled out any move of troop reduction. Antony’s this statement assumed paramount significance as he ruled out troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir after chairing the conference of Army commanders –which means after getting strategic inputs on the situation and discussing the ramifications of any such move.
It is important to mention here that ward off the pull threat by Peoples Democratic Party, the Prime Minister had on March 29 constituted three committees to examine the demand of troop reduction. Interestingly, all these committees are supremely headed by the Defence Minister –the man who today categorically ruled out the troop reduction move.
On March 27, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had indicated clearly, while he was camping in Delhi, that his party will pull out of the government if the demand for troop reduction was not accepted. It was in this backdrop that Prime Minister did a fire-fighting exercise by constituting three committees to examine the demand.
Since then more than three dozen times the Peoples Democratic Party has threatened to pull out of the government and an equal number of times the Defence Minister Antony –who heads all three committees –has ruled out the move. Today’s statement of Antony was perhaps last nail in the coffin as people have started questioning PDP’s stand of staying back with the government when every third day there is “loud no” to troop reduction from New Delhi.
The statement of Antony could further distance Congress from its ally PDP, which has been holding rallies across the valley demanding troop reduction and withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
The PDP’s indecisiveness is severely hampering the functioning of government and administration at different levels. While the decision making process at the cabinet level has been seriously affected due to indifferent attitude of the PDP ministers, the pace of works at different levels down the line has slowed down drastically as bureaucratic machinery is not certain about stability of the government.
The National Panthers Party of Prof Bhim Singh, which quit from the Government on Sunday though did this primarily for consolidating the “pro-Jammu sentiment”, but they exhibited a show of principles –talking of the interests of Jammu and then walking out of the ruling arrangement on this issue.
The PDP is issuing veiled threats every day but not taking a decision in principles. Political observers feel that if the PDP leadership is waiting for the outcome of the three committees than they must be making an unwise move to the party as well as people. The Union Defence Minister who heads all these committees on troop reduction has hardly left any scope of what may be described as “wait and watch”.
Antony said in Delhi today, "the two committees are functioning. They are assessing the situation. Whatever decision has to be taken will depend on professional advice as of now there is no proposal of demilitarisation”.
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