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| Omar puts his diplomatic stamp on CMs security meet called by Centre | | |
ABID SHAH
NEW DELHI, FEB 7: Chief Ministers’ conference on internal security that opened here today with an address by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has come amid hopes regarding a possible interaction between Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan.
This among other things is supposed to take up the issue of terrorism that dominated today’s deliberations of CMs though without a direct reference to the future bilateral engagement with the neighbouring country.
And, thus, Jammu and Kashmir found prominence in the discussions here. Omar Abdullah was first to speak among CMs at Vigyan Bhavan, the venue of today’s conference. He was also seen interacting with the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram through the course of the conference. There are reports that Omar also held separate discussions with Chidambaram about the situation in the border State.
The latter is supposed to visit Pakistan to take part in the Home Ministers’ conference of SAARC countries that Pakistan is now slated to host next month. Thus, the Union Government here tried to seek confidence of State heads vis-à-vis the steps it wants to take to ensure better security throughout the country which also includes tackling the threat from “across the borders” as mentioned by Manmohan Singh, Chidambaran and also Omar Abdullah besides others.
And as Kashmir Valley has been on the boil amid security forces actions leading to at least two deaths of teenagers while mystery hangs over the killing of a third youth, Chief Minister sought Centre’s help in finding out as to how the victim was gunned down. He also pointed out that the controversial Armed Forces Special Power Act could be lifted from certain districts where the level of violence ebbed down.
He voiced the desire of certain youth who crossed over the borders and were keen to return and join their folks after laying down arms. For this he sought to redefine the policy for surrender and rehabilitation together with the Centre.
If these propositions are to be viewed in the light of the present air of tension in the Valley where security forces are facing the ire of mobs amid a lull in terrorists’ strike, Omar’s predicament warranted him to duck confrontation and take a people savvy position where the sway of separatist Hurriyat takes a beating.
Besides this, he tried through a soft positioning to enable the Centre to return to the institutional framework of bilateral dialogue with Pakistan, a process that got disrupted over 14 months ago with 26/11 attack on Mumbai.
Omar tried to attach a stake for separatists by indicating the possibility of surrender or rehabilitation, in other words amnesty though with some conditions, for youth who crossed the borders amid the heat of insurgency that has been the main fallout of longstanding rivalry between India and Pakistan, trapping Kashmir in the crossfire.
Though these intricacies were not discussed in today’s conference in a direct manner, but the references made by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and its timing when the bilateral dialogue with Pakistan is in the offing make them obvious,
On their part the Central leaders, mainly Prime Minister and Home Minister, mentioned the threat for J&K that comes from across the borders. Addressing CMs drawn from almost all the States, Manmohan Singh said “All of you are aware to the major threat to the country. Hostile groups and elements operate from across the border to perpetrate terrorist acts on our country. The State of Jammu and Kashmir bears the brunt of the acts of these groups.”
The Union Home Minister in his welcome address expressed the hope that Jammu and Kashmir would see “further improvement” while saying, “last year, … in Jammu and Kashmir, there were 499 incidents: 78 civilians and 64 members of the security forces were killed and 239 terrorists/militants were neutralised.
“However, since the beginning of this year, there has been an increase in the number of attempts to infiltrate militants into India and in the number of encounters on our side of the border. So far, 16 militants have been killed and 16 more arrested.
“I draw your attention to a meeting held a few days ago – on February 4 – at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and attended by militant groups including Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. It is clear that these groups are implacably opposed to India; their weapons are mayhem and violence; and their goal is forcible annexation of Kashmir. Let me make it clear: these dark forces will not succeed in their designs. We will defeat them whenever and wherever we confront them.”
Strong words though these are Chidambaram nevertheless added, “I am confident 2010 will witness further improvement in Jammu and Kashmir…” signifying hope, indeed, after a dismal two decade long strife that the State has been caught in
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