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| Omar Revolts Against Army? | | Congress has no other option but to act one way or the other | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 10: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today left none in any doubt that he has no place for the Army in his political scheme of things and that he would not mind taking cudgels with the Army which has been fighting Pakistan-sponsored secessionist violence in Kashmir since decades now. The Chief Minister today told media persons that he was not going to listen to the Army's views on the AFSPA and that the said law had to go from certain areas. He was so angry that he crossed all the lines and sought to force down the Army's throat his stand on the AFSPA. "Yes or no is not the answer from the Army. The AFSPA has to go. No is not the option I am going to consider. It is for the state government to take a final decision. The Army should come out with options," he, among other things, told reporters. The Army had yesterday said that Jammu and Kashmir was a national issue and they required the AFSPA for fighting insurgency.
The manner in which the Chief Minister attacked the Army today indicates his unwillingness to evolve a consensus on the sensitive issue. Only the other day, he had announced that he would discuss the issue with the Army and others to evolve a consensus. By attacking those who are defending our borders and maintaining internal security after making supreme sacrifices is not the way consensus is evolved. It appears that the Chief Minister has politicized the whole issue for reasons not difficult to fathom. He is simply deflecting the people's attention away from the real issues, including his inability to deliver, mal-administration, corruption, death of Syed Mohammad Yousuf in mysterious circumstances and so on.
There are reports that the Chief Minister would soon convene cabinet meeting with a view to taking the Congress ministers on board as far as the AFSPA is concerned. It is obvious that the Chief Minister would confront his cabinet with an option between yes and no. As of now, the people generally believe that the Congress is against the Chief Minister's stand on the AFSPA. This belief has stemmed from the speeches the JKPCC president repeatedly made after October 25, as also from what a couple of Congress ministers said about the issue in the last cabinet meeting, held at Srinagar. It will be seen if the Congress sticks to the stand it has taken on the issue till date: The stand of the Congress was that nothing should be done against the wishes of the Army and Defence Ministry.
The Chief Minister has created a situation that would require the Congress ministers to take a clear stand on the issue. The Congress would suffer immensely if it goes with the Chief Minister, at least in Jammu province and rest of the country where the opposition would make a big issue out of it. The Congress would gain immensely, at least in Jammu, its core constituency, in case it rejects the Chief Minister's views on the AFSPA. It cannot and should not exercise the first option. Obviously, it has to go in for the second option. Will it or will it not? One has to wait for a few days to know which option the Congress finally exercises. |
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