The Centre proposes to send an all-party delegation to Srinagar for assessing the volatile situation there and exploring the options available to the Government for defusing the strife prevailing in Kashmir Valley for the last three months.
This will be the main agenda for discussion at the all-party meeting convened by the Government in Delhi on Wednesday.
On the eve of the crucial meeting, the Centre heaved a big sigh of relief when the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) confirmed participation in the consensus-building exercise. Earlier, the party had kept away from similar meetings convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar.
“We have received a call from New Delhi and decided to attend the meeting,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti told The Pioneer. She said the all-party meeting was a “serious step” to address the situation in Jammu & Kashmir. “Our problem is that flights are not operating out of Srinagar. But somehow we will send our representative,” she said.
Government sources said the all-party meeting was part of a broad-based approach to finding out a long-term solution to the problem and it was not uni-dimensional in approach with the revocation or dilution of AFSPA as its single-point agenda. The meeting would aim at taking confidence-building measures (CBMs) while addressing issues like trust deficit and poor governance.
Wary of creating the impression that it was ready to consider Omar’s demand for diluting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Centre now wants all major political parties to go along in deciding the contours of “Kashmir package”. Faced with severe criticism from the BJP and resistance from the Army, it has virtually given up the dilute-AFSPA idea and told Omar not to press for it, sources said.
Launching a fresh attack on the Government, NDA’s working chairman LK Advani on Tuesday said there was no Government worth its name in the State. “It has completely collapsed, ceding the ground to secessionists,” he added.
At a party function here, Advani said the Kashmir mess was not the making of only the Government in Srinagar, but the UPA Government in New Delhi was also “totally clueless and spineless”. He added, “Each passing day strengthens our apprehension that the UPA Government is about to capitulate in front of the Pakistan-supported secessionists.”
Maintaining that everyone was in favour of giving greater powers to all States “as the concept of federalism warrants”, Advani maintained that the process of Kashmir’s integration could not be allowed to reverse in the name of autonomy. “There is talk of a ‘political solution’ to the Kashmir issue. Instead of giving a fitting reply to the secessionists, the Government has been demonising security forces. There is continuing talk of diluting the AFSPA and withdrawal of the forces. This is nothing but surrender before Islamabad’s strategy of breaking India’s post-1947 unity,” Advani asserted.
Saying this is what the military rulers of Pakistan had been dreaming of ever since their defeat in Bangladesh’s War of Liberation in 1971, Advani said it was a shameful irony that if one Congress Prime Minister was responsible for India’s historic victory in that war, another Congress set-up was now working towards the country’s surrender to Pakistan’s proxy war on India in Kashmir.
On “maximum autonomy” to Kashmir, Advani said it would mean giving J&K its pre-1953 status. He lashed out at the UPA Government for bending over backwards to placate the secessionists instead of abrogating Article 370. “Far from repealing Article 370, the UPA Government looks all set to repeal years and decades of our collective gains in Kashmir; all because of its lack of will, vision, commitment and competence,” he lamented. The veteran leader told partymen that Kashmir could become the main issue of mass agitation in the coming months.
Earlier, the BJP asserted that total peace should be restored in the Valley prior to any talks between the Government and separatists. "The Valley is in the grip of rioters. The BJP wants total peace in Jammu & Kashmir prior to any talks…and is of the opinion that unless this happens, any form of talks is useless," party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
With BJP on the offensive, the Army resentful and the Congress not ready to be seen succumbing to Omar's pressure, the options available to the Government are limited. To begin with, it would like to get all the parties on board so that it is not blamed for the failure of any major political initiative in Jammu & Kashmir.
Sources said the decision to send the all-party delegation was formalised at the CCS meeting on Monday. The delegation would report back to the CCS, said sources. It is expected that the Centre would get support from the Left and other parties -- including the SP, BSP and RJD -- on this suggestion. The Centre is also pursuing the State administration to hold panchayat elections in the troubled State for ensuring people's participation at the grassroots level of administration.
Though the Centre had rejected Omar's demand for amending the AFSPA, the CCS discussed removing "harsh" language in the Act, which has been inherited from the colonial days, sources said. "There was a discussion on the harsh language of the Act and modifications to make it humane. For instance, Section 4 reads: 'It gives the Army powers to...use force even to the extent of causing death'," they added.
The meeting pointed out that while agreeing to the Army's considerations, the civilian perceptions should also be respected, sources said. "The media reports and perceptions on the amendments of AFSPA were incorrect. The CCS discussion was on representing this Act more humanely from civilian point of view," they added. (Courtsey: www.dailypioneer.com)
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