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| Partial AFSPA lifting to wait till November end | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, July 30: The Defence Ministry has decided to keep Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah's demand for withdrawal of AFSPA under the carpet at least till the end of the autumn season.
Informed Government circles said that despite Omar Abdullah having raised the matter pertaining to the withdrawal of AFSPA with the Defence Minister, A K Antony, during the latter's two-day visit to Kashmir, Antony is said to have given no firm assurance to Abdullah.
No doubt Antony has agreed with Omar that the security scenario in the state has registered a marked improvement, the Defence Minister was not prepared to dish out any promise on revocation of the AFSPA, which has been in force in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990. These Government circles said that Antony's opinion would be guided by the suggestion from the Army Chief who has to bank on the reports from the field commanders. Till date the field commanders have not been specific about their opinion on Omar Abdullah's demand for withdrawal of the AFSPA. At one stage when Omar Abdullah had found that the top Army functionaries were opposed to lifting of the AFSPA from the state the Chief Minister had suggested to the centre that the Act could be withdrawn from those districts which were no longer sensitive.
Omar Abdllah had identified the districts of Srinagar, Budgam, Samba, Jammu and Kathua. In the initial stages he had included the district of Ganderbal too but when he came to know that the Army authorities were opposed to lifting of the AFSPA from Ganderbal district which connected Srinagar with the border and forward areas including Ladakh and Kargil the Chief Minister had dropped his demand for including the district in his demand for withdrawal of AFSPA.
The Chief Minister has, so far, received the support from the union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, who has been vocal on a phased withdrawal of the AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir. At one stage Chidambaram had forwarded his recommendations to the CCS but the CCS rejected it after the demand received no support from the Defence Minister. Government circles said that Omar Abdullah has been advised to have patience and wait till October-November and if by that time the security situation had registered further improvement AFSPA could be withdrawn from four to five districts. |
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