Sticking to his demand for revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from those areas where normalcy has returned, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the move will ensure that benefits of peace in the state percolate to all sections of the society.
Backing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor M M Ansari on Tuesday said the Centre must give "full support" to the plan for partial revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the border state at the earliest to reduce any "trust deficit".
The meeting with the Prime Minister comes a day after Omar had discussions with Defence Minister A K Antony and Army Chief V K Singh to press for early removal of the Act from certain parts of the state.
The crucial unified headquarters meeting that had been convened in J&K winter capital Jammu on Wednesday evening to discuss partial removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) ended without any consensus.
Hundreds of supporters of 'Iron Lady' Irom Sharmila, whose indefinite hunger-strike for repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act entered 11 years on Saturday, fasted in Imphal and across the country.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday opposed withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying such a step could help extremists who are "caught in crossfire" in Pakistan.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from certain areas of the state was in no way an effort to undermine the role of the Army.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has been urged to support the demand for repeal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 by Manipuri social activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on an indefinite fast on the issue for nearly 11 years now.
The 'Iron Lady of Manipur' Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike since 2000 demanding repeal of Armed Forces Special Power Act, will be completing 12 years of fast on Monday.
"The villagers came first, and then the Naxalites, dressed in black. They were some 300 Naxalites, all wearing black," a jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force said.
Without pointing to any political party or organisation, he alleged that some vested elements were hell-bent upon creating an atmosphere of mistrust against Army and advocating revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act and recalling army back to barracks.
The solidarity demonstration and the fast is being organised by rights activists to attract global glare on the unabated human rights violation in the conflict zone of the Northeast by security forces empowered by the AFSPA.
Magsaysay Award winner and social activist Sandeep Pandey on Wednesday rued continued imposition of 'draconian' Armed Forces Special Powers Act and other 'black laws' in conflict-ridden north-east India and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Centre is willing to review the controversial Armed Forces Special Power Act, he told them.
'Students cannot sit calmly in classrooms and study in the prevailing situation,' a joint statement issued by various student bodies said.
The protestors pelted stones at the Singjamei police station on Tuesday night.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has sought sanction from the Centre for the prosecution of armymen under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in 41 cases of human rights violation in the state. "The Jammu and Kashmir home department has sought sanction from the central government for the prosecution of army personnel under AFSPA in 41 cases since 1990," a senior army officer of Northern Command told PTI. A total of 41 cases have been received by the central government.
The Cabinet Committee on Security is meeting in New Delhi on Friday, two days after the return of an all-party delegation from Jammu and Kashmir.
LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan on Thursday said he favoured autonomy for Kashmir and withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the region.
Amid a raging debate on the dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and its partial withdrawal from Kashmir, Army chief General V K Singh on Saturday said the AFSPA was an 'enabling provision' and not 'arbitrary'. The army has given its views on the issue and the government will take the "correct decision," he said.General Singh also said there have been more infiltration attempts into Jammu and Kashmir in the last two months and did not rule out 'some methods'.
I thank the prime minister for calling this meeting. Before I begin I want to express my deep sense of sorrow at the continuing loss of life in Kashmir. I share the anguish of those who have lost their loved ones, and my heart goes out especially to the parents and families of children who have died.
Amid demands for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from their state, Kashmiri Pandits on Wednesday opposed any such move and asked the Centre to take the views of all shades of opinion of the state before deciding on any major issue related to the state.
Distressed over the events in Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Singh said the government was willing to talk to anybody or any group but asserted that it could not happen till the end of violence, some of which is "orchestrated by certain groups".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced last week in Imphal that the government was considering amendments in AFSPA, which has evoked resentment from a cross-section of the people of Manipur where it is in force.
Official sources said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) could be held in the evening and if political parties want, an all-party delegation might also go to Jammu and Kashmir. The all-party meet is scheduled for 11:30 on Wednesday morning, a decision for which was taken after the Monday's CCS meeting.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has threatened to resign in the wake of the government's decision to call an all party meeting on Wednesday on the issue of repealing of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the valley. "I will have to think whether to continue as chief minister of the state or not. Let my party president Dr Farooq Abdullah return and we will discuss the situation," Omar said.
Ahead of a crucial meeting of the Centre on Kashmir, state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony to seek their support on the partial withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state. Sources said Omar had met Mukherjee late on Wednesday night at the latter's residence for about half-an-hour, during which the chief minister presented his case for withdrawal of the AFSPA.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will on Wednesday convene the Cabinet Committee on Security meet to discuss the current crisis prevailing in the Kashmir Valley.
The state government declared closure of all educational institutions on Wednesday to prevent the students from carrying out their protest.
The Iron Lady of Manipur, who has been on hunger strike for 11 years against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, is an ordinary woman fighting an extraordinary struggle, finds Sumit Bhattacharya.
Security forces have also been deployed at various places in view of the agitation launched yesterday by 32 organisations spearheading the month-long stir to press for lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
The sanction by the Government of India is mandatory for intitiating legal suit against any personnel of the security forces for any action taken by them while discharging their duties under section 197(2) Cr.P.C and Section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the release said.
Dr Singh said a number of assurances made by him during his previous visit to the state two years back have been kept.
Holding that the government has to have courage to take a decision on the issue of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday questioned the need for "protection" to the army in areas where they have not operated for years.
Amid reports that the army is opposed to withdrawal of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Army Chief General V K Singh on Thursday said the issue is under the purview of the home ministry. He said the army has already given its inputs on the issue.
'It is in the interest of China and Pakistan to give a bad name to the Indian Army and remove AFSPA 'completely' from the north east.' 'Hopefully, better sense will prevail and the ground realities of the army countering insurgency in the north east acknowledged,' asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People's Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has linked the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and reduction in the number of deployed troops to the ongoing peace process.
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