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| Omar again ups the AFSPA ante | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 8: After deciding to allow the hot AFSPA debate to cool down for a while State Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has again raised the pitch on his AFSPA revocation proposal. Addressing people during Wullar Lake preservation and protection function in Bandipora district the Chief Minister has said he would continue his pursuit to have AFSPA revoked as people needed to be given relief in areas where the security situation has become stable.
Prior to this, the Chief Minister announced he would not pursue his proposal to have the PRC amended to accommodate the army by adding sections those would afford protection to the army personnel during operations against the militants.
Omar Abdullah ruffled many a feather by announcing that he would have the RPC amended. Opposition leaders said Omar finally planned to have the temporary AFSPA replaced by a permanent law that would remain in force continuously in the State.
An official statement issued in the wake of the RPC amendment announcement said the State government would do nothing that would not be in the interests of the people. This was done only after the RPC amendment announcement received stiff opposition from the common man, the opposition and the civil society in the State.
Why is the Chief Minister again playing the AFSPA tune when he has been categorically told that his proposal to have the AFSPA revoked from some districts must wait? Why is the Chief Minister wittingly pursuing an apparently lost cause? The answer to this vital question is not difficult to find. After having failed on all other promises made on account of employment, weeding out corruption, giving equitable share in the overall development to all the three regions of the State, the government has finally decided to do what the NC has always been best at doing, playing the emotional card that would appease some in the Valley. Accepted that special laws are enacted for special situations and these cannot be incorporated into the statute books as a permanent features. Yet, the Chief Minister must realize that playing an emotional card on something that concerns the security of the State and thereby the rest of the country could have serious implications. The army has been doing its job and doing it well. What the Chief Minister and others in the ruling NC are saying this time could not even be imagined a few years back. That is something nobody can refute. At the same time nothing should be done to disturb the delicate security balance till the situation returns to normal without the fear of a relapse. If that is done for political expediency or any other reason, we would have fettered away the gains made through sacrifices of the security forces in the State. |
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