After J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah exhausted all his options to press for revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, now it seems it is the turn of Union Minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah to pick up the gauntlet and raise pitch in support of selective withdrawal of AFPSA from peaceful districts of the State.
On Sunday, speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a book release function in Jammu, Farooq Abdullah said, “The State Government alone cannot revoke AFSPA. The decision will be taken by the Centre and they have to agree to it. (Yeh mera kanoon nahin utha sakta yeh Centre ko uthana hai. Jab tak Centre is pay agree nahin karegi State nahin utha sakti).
Referring to the efforts made by his Chief Minister son vis-a-vis AFSPA Farooq Abdullah said, “Our Chief Minister has done his best. There’s lot of agreement in the Centre, he met many people. Even the interlocutors recommended phased withdrawal. Our block is only at one place i.e., the Army”.
He said, “The time has come to allow the people to heave a sigh of relief now. We say that wherever it is not required, it should be revoked. Is AFSPA required in Jammu, Samba or KathuaIJ Similarly in the Kashmir Valley, there are certain areas where the AFSPA is not required,” he said.
He said it is desirable now to look into these aspects and revoke it. If the situation deteriorates in future or things go out of control following its revocation, it can be enforced again.
Earlier in the day, the Central working committee of the National Conference adopted a resolution in support of phased withdrawal of AFSPA from various parts of the State where militancy has been substantially reduced and the security apparatus has been handled by the State police and the paramilitary forces.
Commenting on the Supreme Court’s decision to stay execution of eight prisoners, Farooq Abdullah said, “We repeatedly told them (Centre) that he (Afzal Guru), his family were denied last meeting. Today I’m very elated that not just us even the Supreme Court too shares the same observation and it has admitted that a wrong has been committed.”