NEW DELHI, May 20:
J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been advocating partial withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some parts of his State, today expressed hope of finding a “common meeting ground” with the Army on the vexed issue.
Omar, who listed removal of AFSPA as an important confidence building measure, contended that the special law has been misused from time to time and has forced various human rights body to support for its repeal.
“We understand that you cannot overnight take it (AFSPA) away. It has to be a gradual process. It has to start with those areas where Army is no longer required to operate and that is what we have been asking for,” he told reporters during an interaction at Foreign Correspondents’ Club here.
Omar was given an honorary membership of the club on the occasion.
He said there are areas in the State where infiltration and militancy continue to be a problem and thus, making a ground for Army’s presence.
“There are also areas where Army has not operated for a number of years now – where the security situation is controlled by J&K police and central paramilitary forces.
“In such places, the requirement for AFSPA that we discussed, that is exactly what we are doing, the Army has been very reluctant to go forward on this. But I believe there is a common meeting ground that can be found and we are talking about it,” Omar said.
The Chief Minister cited the coalition Government in his State as a hurdle for revoking of the Disturbed Areas Act, a prelude to the removal of AFSPA.
“I have a coalition Government. A coalition Government in which Congress is an ally of mine. They are also the single largest constituent of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the centre. Clearly for me to do anything in the State I need a majority of my own or I need to take Congress on board.
“Both of which require discussion or a dialogue. I don’t have a majority of my own. And therefore, I need to carry political parties like Congress along with me and that is what I am trying to do. I wish it would be easier for me to remove DA Act. Before 2002 it would have been possible when the NC had a full majority in the Assembly, but that opportunity is unfortunately not available now,” he said.
There will not be any significant impact in J&K after the withdrawal of international security forces from violence-hit Afghanistan in 2014, Omar said.
“I am perhaps in minority here, but I don’t feel that there will be any significant impact in J&K with the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan. For a number of reasons.
“I don’t believe that international community will leave a vacuum in Afghanistan. They paid a heavy price for the vacuum in the past when Soviet forces evacuated (from Afghanistan). You can very well correlate it with 9/11,” he added.
Omar said for the massive influx of militancy in J&K from Afghanistan, it would have required complete sort of turning a blind eye towards the situation.
He said international community knows what happened in the region when Indo-Pak situation flared up, and the measures in the State to tackle militancy has been well on the ground.
“None of which is going to miraculously change if international forces downsize from Afghanistan. There may be some implications for my State while I don’t expect any dramatic reversal in the situation or sudden spurt in militancy in terms of what happens in Afghanistan in 2014,” the J&K Chief Minister said.
Omar hoped for “decent” allotment of funds from the Planning Commission for 2013-14.
“There are still unfinished agenda which I would like to do. I still feel there are some progress which I would like to make on AFSPA. I believe it is an important step in the right direction,” he said when asked about his tenure as chief minister.
Omar had taken over the reins of the State in January, 2009.
“I hope we get a decent plan size after discussion with the Planning Commission for the development works which we have set up. The development works include large infrastructure projects which I won’t be able to complete in this term of the Government but I would like to see them moving forward,” he said.
Omar said the State was also grappling with power shortage and he would give priority to start hydro electric projects for developing electricity.
“Laying of Jammu and Srinagar National Highway and a couple of hydro-electric projects I would like to complete,” he said, adding that power shortage is a huge issue which he has been dealing with.
“There was a time when we were thinking of buying electricity from Pakistan, but now there is a time when we are thinking of selling electricity to Pakistan. But I still have shortage of electricity in J&K, and the only way the economy of Jammu and Kashmir can be turned around is not only we develop electricity but we become surplus which require a lot of our hydro electricity projects to run,” Omar said.
He said there was a need to do more work for ensuring ‘paperless’ offices.
“A lot more needs to be done to made e-governance widely available. On the e-governance pyramid, J&K ranks very close to the bottom,” Omar said, adding that the Government will put in efforts to work for transparent administration.
To a question as to whether National Conference will support Congress in the general elections due in 2014, the Chief Minister said he would “wait and see”.
“Let’s wait and see. … The NC has authorised its President to take assessment of the situation and then decide. Let us hope the similar situation develop in Congress side as well.
“Ours is not a pre-poll alliance. Ours is a post-poll alliance. So when we go into the next election with the alliance or not — its an open question…Parliamentary elections are an year away, Assembly elections are a year-and- half-away, so we have time before we decide on this,” he said.
“The NC will take all things into account as it is not an unilateral decision. Both Congress and NC has to decide at the decision making level,” he said.
Omar asked China to sit with India and clearly demarcate the boundary in Ladakh region at the earliest to ensure that any incident like the recent incursion does no recur and peace prevails along the boundary.
The state shares a large boundary with China. “We are affected by what happens. It is no secret that tourism in Ladakh has been affected by the recent incursions,” Omar said during his interaction with members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club here.
He said the incursions was nowhere near the places where tourists visit but “suddenly you have a build up in the media about the tensions between the two countries”.
“There is no demarcated Line of Actual Control, we understand that but having said that I don’t know in whose interest is that you come across, sets up camps and takes so long to go back,” the Chief Minister said.
He was replying to a question as to what message he would wish to give to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang who is on an official visit to India.
“So I think my message to them would be to please allow us to live in our parts of the region as they chose to live in their parts and please sit down with the Indian side and work out. Let us have the formal demarcation and then we can do away with these incursions,” he said.
He said tourism sector became a victim of the recent incursion incident following media spotlight. “We are hoping now that as the situation picks us, the number of tourists also will go up,” Omar said.
Omar said he supported the message conveyed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that India wants to share good relations with China and maintain peace and tranquillity at the LAC under any circumstances.
He, however, expressed concern over the recent incursion along the LAC in Ladakh sector saying the Chinese have objected whenever India has taken development works on its side.
“It is for the first time that they (Chinese) had come and set up camps there which obviously was a cause of concern for us.
“The interesting development was that from time to time every time we try to do some development work in region, they have objected even though on that side of LAC, a lot of development work is going on,” he said.
Asked about New Delhi’s approach to the recent incursion by the Chinese troops in Daulat Beg Oldi sector of Ladakh, Omar said “with the Chinese premier here, I don’t want to say anything that will send the mandarins in South Block into a tizzy.
“But it is true. Just for the moment just imagine Pakistani forces had come 19 kms inside the LoC and set up camps. How would we have reacted? I understand that comparing our relationship with Pakistan and comparing it with China is like comparing chalk and cheese. It is completely different.
“China has not sent terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir the way Pakistan has done. Our trade relations are completely different. In these special areas, our approach towards dealing with situations have been different.
“It has been, infact, the best way to go about it. Time will tell…,” he said.
The return of Nawaz Sharif to power was a “heartening” development for Jammu and Kashmir, says Omar who expressed the hope that India and Pakistan would soon come to the dialogue table.
Talking about the just-concluded elections in Pakistan, Omar said it was for the first time that Kashmir was not an issue in their domestic politics.
“This time obviously for various domestic internal reasons, Kashmir had not been as much of an election issue. If anything, it will do good for relations between India and Pakistan as also for Jammu and Kashmir because more than any other state in India we have benefited from good relations between both the countries.
“And we also suffer when relations are bad,” Omar said.
On the election of Sharif, he said “obviously it is better to have a known leader one than an unknown one. I don’t know how government of India feels but there was a certain amount of disquiet among the people of Jammu and Kashmir about what possibly an Imran Khan government could mean for us.
“He (Khan) was very moderate when talking to western audiences and very strident and completely different when talking to his own domestic audience…His pronouncement on Kashmir was something different when he was sitting in Delhi and different when he was back home campaigning.
“So, clearly we are far more comfortable with Nawaz Sharif who in any case has a track record of trying to improve relations between the two countries. Will he be strong enough to do this is a million dollar question to which I don’t have an answer,” he said.
Omar said it was heartening to know that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Sharif had talked about reviving the incomplete peace process which was interrupted by the Kargil War in 1999.
While sounding a word of caution by saying that there could be always a slip between the cup and the lip, the Chief Minister said “I don’t expect much obviously in a year or so. Let’s not forget while Pakistan has come out of the elections, India is going into one.
“….And this will be the last year of UPA II. So, clearly expecting any major development or initiative on Jammu and Kashmir front will perhaps be expecting too much but we, of course, could talk to each others. Some of the larger issues can be taken care of,” he said.
In the wake of controversy over spot-fixing in IPL matches, Omar favoured life ban on players guilty of such unethical practice.
“It is a serious issue. The players (if found guilty) should not be suspended. They should be given strictest punishment like life ban so that it act as deterrent for others,” Omar said.
The 43-year-old Chief Minister, who himself is a cricket enthusiast, said the whole spot fixing issue was a “huge disappointment” for all the sports lover.
Omar was also critical of restricting the whole incident as spot fixing.
“This hair splitting what authorities are doing on spot fixing and match fixing. In a 20-over game, if you give more than 12 runs a over you might have fixed the match as well. The margin is so small.
“Let us not hair split that it is a spot fixing and not match fixing. In a twenty over game, spot fixing is as good as match fixing,” he said during an interaction at Foreign Correspondents’ Club here.
Omar also called for corrective steps to check fixing like instances.
“I don’t think it is going to be an easy task for authorities. Given the number of matches and number of teams. It is very easy to criticise players for attending parties but I feel it was a part of their contract to attend the parties …The system was at fault which needs to be corrected and I hope those corrections are (being) made,” the CM said without elaborating further.
Omar said he was eagerly waiting for the final report of National Investigating Agency (NIA) which is probing role of surrendered Kashmiri militant Liyaqat Shah for allegedly planning a terror attack here.
“It is heartening for us that his (Liyaqat) bail application has been accepted and he is able to go back home. It indicates to us that the stand taken by J&K police and J&K Government is the correct one.
“That having been said, I don’t know what would be NIA’s final findings should their final findings be on the same line then yes, we would have a lot more to say to Delhi Police,” Omar said.
Liyaqat was booked by Delhi Police for allegedly being a part of a suicide squad tasked to carry out attacks in the national capital during Holi. However, J&K police contested their claim saying Liyaqat was returning from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir via Nepal as part of the State Government’s surrender policy.
NIA will complete the inquiry and may give a clean chit Liyaqat deserves, Omar said.
Lashing out at the State’s political parties, Omar said when his Government signed on a document supporting NIA for carrying out the probe, “my political opposition claimed we were creating a brand new terror force or it’s going to be sort of special operation group which will terrorise Kashmiris.”
However, the facts speak for themselves and it has been proved beyond doubt that it (NIA) is an organisation which believes in transparent inquires.
The Chief Minister refrained from saying more on Liyaqat as that may threaten his life. “Let NIA finish its probe, I may have a lot to say to Delhi Police then,” he added.
Omar said J&K police were taking measures to clamp down on false information given by informers there.
“There is an army of informers. An informer is available to more than two forces. We had unfortunate situations where we had fake encounters taking place on the basis of bad informations. There has been an attempt to clamp down on these activities and cross check the information given by them. There are vested interests for giving information too,” the Chief Minister said.
Omar said the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was not handled properly.
“I hope it (execution) was not deliberately done and I would like to believe in that way. There have been aspects of hanging which have clearly been badly handled, particularly the way his family was informed.
“I mean in this age if a letter is sent by Speed Post, which takes at least four days to reach there, then there is something seriously wrong with the way the things have been done,” he said.
Omar said there has been a lot of concerns among the people of J&K with regards to his execution.
“The fact that how somebody went from number 28 to 1 (in the list of people to be considered for decision on his mercy plea by the President) and why it was said that he has exhausted all legal options and then was hanged.
“Whereas, Veerappan gang members got stay on their execution in spite of the fact that the President had rejected their mercy petitions,” he said.
Omar also charged the Centre with its selective approach in implementation of its policy in J-K.
“My point is with government of India is that you cannot be selective with the policies on J&K. You turn around and tell me that revocation of AFSPA is a risk. We can have implications of the situation on the ground.
“But when I told you that hanging Afzal Guru is a risk and you don’t know how the situation will play out and if you don’t know how the situation on ground comes out, it is a risk you are willing to take. Why in J&K you are selective, what risk to take or not?” he said.
Omar said the Centre gets complacent about Jammu and Kashmir when there is not any major problem to deal with there.
“In spite of Afzal Guru’s execution, we managed the situation there. We have been doing well. While I would like to give a lion share of the credit to the Centre, I think the credit also goes to people. Without their cooperation, it would not have been possible. The normalcy has gone up astronomically,” he said.
Omar also asked the Centre to follow recommendations contained in a report of interlocutors on J&K.
He said the Government of India goes through one crisis to another. “They have their own problems at the moment one pretty soon after another. Hopefully within this environment, they will not find time on this interlocutors’ process.
“But call an all-party meeting, if you have to. Start taking that process forward. Otherwise, next time if we have a problem in Kashmir, it would be very difficult to find people in Kashmir to talk to,” Omar said. (PTI)
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