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| Defence, Home ministries pulling in different directions | | Revocation Of AFSPA | | Rustam
Jammu, Oct 23: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday announced that he would withdraw the Armed Forces Special powers Act (AFSPA) from certain areas where things had considerably improved. As mentioned yesterday, it was a desperate move of the frustrated NC to woo Kashmir constituency - move which will boomerang. The response which the Chief Minister's controversial announcement evoked from Jammu and Kashmir was on expected lines. In Kashmir, the "mainstream" and separatist outfits dismissed the chief Minister's move saying what they needed was withdrawal of the AFSPA from the entire state and not from certain areas. In Jammu, all the non-NC, non-Congress and non-PDP formations denounced the Chief Minister and the Congress, described the proposed move as a deliberate attempt at facilitating the task of those seeking the state's segregation from India and demanded the Chief Minister's head. The BJP demanded dismissal of the Chief Minister and the Panthers Party dismissed Omar Abdullah as a "threat to national security", urged the state Governor to invoke Section 92 of the State Constitution and take over the state administration and hold fresh elections.
The Chief Minister's unilateral statement also evoked negative response from the Army. The Army made it quite clear that the time is not yet ripe for the revocation of the AFSPA as hundreds of terrorists are trying to sneak into the state from across the border, as also because Pakistan has not dismantled terror producing factories, 42 in number. So much so that the Army, according to reports, practically snubbed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah saying the latter made the statement without any consultation. According to trustworthy reports, the Defence Ministry may agree to reduce the number of troops in certain comparatively peaceful areas but with the condition that the AFSPA must remain in force as the situation in the Valley continues to be volatile. According to reliable sources, the Army, which is fighting insurgency splendidly and defending the borders against the Pakistani evil machinations, is of the view that anything can happen anytime in Kashmir as hundreds of dreaded militants are active no only in Kashmir Valley but also in certain mountainous areas of Jammu province, especially the Doda and Kishtwar areas.
If reports regularly emanating from the Defence Ministry are to be believed, then it can be said with confidence that a full-scale confrontation between the Army and the NC-led coalition government in the state is in the offing. It is imminent. The Army's view is supreme as it is the Army which know the ground situation. It is the fundamental duty of the Army to defend borders, defeat the enemy's ulterior game-plan and protect the unity and integrity of India. It is also its duty to catch and eliminate the enemies within when asked to do so by the failed civil administration. The Army need an instrument to fight out the Indian enemies and, hence, they need the AFSPA.
The chief Minister, who has lost the ground over the period because of his innumerable acts of omission and commission, as also because of his utter failure to deliver on any of the fronts, is, it appears, all out to spoil the Indian pitch in the Kashmir Valley by taking recourse to rabble-rousing under the misguided notion that such an approach might help him retrieve the lost ground. He is living in a world of the past. In fact, he is creating an environment that would ultimately culminate in the collapse of his failed government. Those who think that Omar Abdullah would ultimately see reason and behave like a genuine constitutional authority behaves are living in a fool's paradise. Frustrated and isolated as he feels, the Chief Minister is likely to vitiate further the religio-political environment in the Valley believing that he has been left with no other option but to go extremely radical to completely identify himself with the Kashmir's communal constituency and cultivate it. The report that he would move ahead even if the Army oppose his move is a clear indication.
What Omar Abdullah is doing is what he is expected to do. After all, he has been conducting himself in an utterly irresponsible manner ever since he became the Chief Minister. That's not the issue. The real issue is the irresponsible conduct of the Union Home Ministry. It is P Chidambaram, Union Home Minister, who has been striving to the hilt to dilute, or even revoke, the AFSPA for quite sometime now. It is not a secret. It is also not a secret that he told Omar Abdullah in the second week of this month that he could do whatever he wanted to do. In fact, it was the Home Minister who encouraged the Chief Minister to make such a controversial announcement without taking into confidence the Army and the intelligence agencies.
It is disgusting that the Union Home Ministry is creating difficulties for the Defence Ministry in the terrorist and separatist-infested Kashmir by extending unstinted support to the Chief Minister. It appears that the AICC president Sonia Gandhi and her son and the Prime Minister-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi are supporting the Chief Minister in their desperate bid to appease Pakistan and the Kashmir-based Pakistani agents. Hence, it is time for the Army and the non-Congress and the non-NC formations to defeat those seeking revocation of the AFSPA at a time when things in the state are far from normal and when Islamabad is doing everything possible to foment troubles in the state. In any case, things are not inspiring for the nation. |
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