Kashmiri separatists on Monday rejected the suggestion made by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, the powerful body of Deobandi clerics, at its Kashmir conference at Deoband that 'the issue should be resolved within the parameters of the Constitution of India.'
What everybody is losing sight of is the emergence of a new extremist segment in Kashmir which has taken advantage of the situation. This segment is now orchestrating events in a manner that suits their masters across the border.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet in New Delhi on Saturday amid indications that the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) could be partially withdrawn from Kashmir and Jammu, an issue that was deliberated upon by the top Congress leadership on Friday.
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.
Supporting Omar Abdullah's demand for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the chief minister is "the boss" in the state and the Centre should take his views on the controversial Act.
In the first part of this interview with Bula Singh, former home secretary G K Pillai had talked about why AFSPA need not be repealed immediately but the Disturbed Areas Act should be lifted in Kashmir. In the second and concluding part of the interview, he explains that no one wants to take a risk or bite the proverbial bullet in Kashmir, fearing that the situation might implode again.
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.
The case relates to the July 18, 2020 encounter at Amshipora in which three youths of Rajouri district -- Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar -- were killed and branded as terrorists.
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.
After the PDP-BJP government was sworn in, the two parties released its Common Minimum Programme, outlining its aims and objectives for the state.
Irom Sharmila, has been fasting for 9 years against a controversial law.
'Today's terrorist/insurgent/militant/Naxalite does not allow you the luxury of a magistrate's presence -- you are shot dead or blown-up in a jiffy, unless you are quicker and forestall him.'
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said there would be 'zero tolerance' towards militancy and violence while addressing a public gathering at Khonsa, the headquarters of troubled Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said recommendations of two panels on replacing the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, in force in some northeastern states, with a more humane law would soon be placed before the Cabinet.
Families of two civilians killed in the Hyderpora encounter in Srinagar held a protest here on Wednesday, demanding justice for the victims and the return of their bodies.
Kashmiri Pandits have impressed upon the central government that there should be no dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and nothing should be done to weaken the state's integration with the country. A group of Kashmiri Pandits met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi on Sunday night and apprised him of their views on the current volatile situation in the state.
With the government of India inclining towards Union Defence Minister A K Antony's adamant stand that the controversial and contentious Armed Forces Special Powers Act should neither be diluted nor withdrawn, the issue was not raised by either Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram, or even Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during Wednesday's all-party meeting on the Kashmir crisis.
The Centre has convened an all-party meeting on Kashmir on Wednesday. This was decided after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Monday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday met Home Minister P Chidambaram, ahead of a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security which will deliberate on the issue of partial withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had a threadbare discussion with Cabinet colleagues and senior party leaders in the Congress Core Group on Friday on the issue.
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 AFSPA was being "unnecessarily demonised" although it had "nothing to do with the present unrest (in Kashmir)", General Singh said while firmly sticking to his opposition to any withdrawal or even dilution of the Act which gives the Army vast powers to deal with insurgents.
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.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently ruled out the possibility of his resignation and expressed hope that the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers would be withdrawn from the entire state.
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'.
'Sadly, we don't have a single political leader in any party who carries any kind of conviction in Kashmir.'
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".
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.
Union Defence Minister A K Antony is learnt to have disapproved of the proposal mooted by J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in four districts in Jammu and Kashmir as it would affect the confidence of the armed forces, which were already managing in very difficult circumstances.
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.
"There is scope of reduction of troops is the Home Ministry's view. There are more than adequate forces in Kashmir and it can do with less central forces," Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said.
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has warned citizens of the state that the Centre might re-impose the Armed Forces Special Power Act in the Imphal municipal area if the different underground outfits continue to unleash their reign of terror in the city.Describing the sharply deteriorated law and order situation in Manipur, the chief minister pointed out that "killing, extortion, hurling of grenade and bombs are happening at regular intervals," he said.
Notwithstanding opposition from the Army and faced with reports of fake encounters, the government is planning to go ahead with certain amendments in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which includes handing over of an Army personnel in case of extra-judicial killings to the state authorities.
Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said that two army divisions, comprising around 30,000 troops, have been moved out of Jammu and Kashmir due to improvement in the situation there.
Relatives of the three youths, belonging to Dhar Sakri village in Kotranka of Rajouri area in Poonch, had lodged a written missing persons report in the local police station after they lost contact with them on July 17. The three were working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards in Amshipura.
Terming the Armed Forces Special Powers Act as an 'essential instrument,' Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju on Tuesday said the army was being 'demonised' and made a 'scapegoat' in Jammu and Kashmir affairs which are mainly linked to the peoples' 'aspirations.'
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