Centre tells Omar: Restore normalcy
The Cabinet Committee on Security, which met early Monday morning, was of the opinion that Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah needed to act to restore normalcy in the Valley.
The Centre asked Mr Abdullah to take all possible steps to curb the unrest. Mr Abdullah also attended the CCS. During his meeting with the PM, other top Union ministers present included Mr P. Chidambaram, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Mr A.K. Antony and Mr S.M. Krishna. There was so far no move to put the Army on standby, sources said.
“We will require that the people stop taking the law into their hands, stop attacking government property, police stations and other such buildings,” Mr Abdullah told the media. He felt that “unfortunately, as much as one wishes not to resort to the use of force, people take it upon themselves to take the law into their hands... there are consequences to such decisions and often those consequences are serious and tragic.” He pointed out that the security forces in the state were “stretched to their limits” and that he has sought reinforcements from the Centre. The J&K CM has also sought the deployment of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) in the Valley.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also voiced concern at the fresh violence and said elements with “ulterior motives” were instigating the attacks. She wanted these elements identified and brought to book.
Sending a strong signal to the protesters and indicating that curfew would be implemented strictly , the CM said the “cycle of violence must end, otherwise the consequences will be tragic and serious if curfew regulations are violated” . Mr Abdullah said he has come to Delhi with a single-point agenda: to brief the PM and “get any input that the Centre may have on the ongoing problem”.
On talking to the existing outfits in the Valley, he said: “We have both privately and publicly tried to involve the Hurriyat Conference in the dialogue process... But for any result, a semblance of normalcy is a prerequisite. We are also exploring the possibility of opening other channels.”
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