Security agencies reassess Valley
The contentious issue of partial lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir is seeing signs of revival with the security and intelligence agencies carrying out a fresh ground-level assessment of the security situation in the state.
Last time when the issue was discussed threadbare it led to bitter acrimony between the security forces and the state government with the former blaming the state political leadership of not taking them on board while dealing with such a vexed issue.
However, in this fresh initiative now the state government is engaging the security forces right from the beginning, even asking them to carry out a detailed security audit of the security situation particularly during the winter season.
Highly-placed governments sources disclosed that four districts: Srinagar and Budgam in the Valley and Samba and Jammu in the Jammu region, were being analysed by the security and intelligence agencies. The Army too has a minimal role in these sectors as there is greater deployment of the para-military forces. Even earlier the state government was keen that in the initial phase the controversial act should be lifted from these regions.
“We are in constant touch with the state government. Talks are being held at various level and both sides are now more receptive to each others view point. Once there is a broad consensus at the state-level then the talks can be extended to the Centre as a final decision will have to be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS),’’ a senior government official said.
Once, sources added, the security analysis is completed the report would be discussed threadbare by the state’s Unified Command which is headed by chief minister Omar Abdullah.
Sources admit that the security situation in the state was better than ever before as there was considerable drop in incidents of violence and infiltration.
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