Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah was recently brought under inordinate pressure by the Opposition in the state on the custodial death of an alleged political broker with links to the National Conference, the CM’s party. From this some inferred that advocating the lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from parts of the state was Mr Abdullah’s clever way to outmanoeuvre detractors, the calculation being that the line would be popular and trump the case of Haji Yusuf’s death as a live issue. From Union home minister P. Chidambaram’s public comments on Monday, we know that the chief minister was not saying anything different from what the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) held as far back as September 25 last year.
So while Mr Abdullah pleading for the AFSPA’s partial removal in Kashmir just when he faces political heat might be cited as opportunism, clearly New Delhi and Srinagar are on the same page. If the defence establishment is uneasy, it has to consider that the defence minister sits on the CCS. We also have to remember that it is the Centre that has initiated the move, not the state government. All the same, the state Congress is engaged in a war of words with the chief minister on the issue of lifting AFSPA.
It would be rash to think that the Congress and the Manmohan Singh government it chaperones are on different wavelengths on a key question concerning a sensitive part of the country. What is more likely is that the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir is reflecting opinion on the ground in the districts. The pointers are that while people, particularly in Srinagar, might be relieved to see a less conspicuous security presence where they live, they also seem to think that uniformed personnel give them a sense of security against terrorists and extremists seeking to sneak back in. Seeing the J&K Congress’ mood, Mr Chidambaram has been politically smart and now suggests there’s no harm in greater consultations on the subject (in spite of CCS clearance). But this is unlikely to earn him brownie points with those who want the Army out.
Scrapping the Disturbed Areas Act — which is what the CCS hinted at — will mean the end of AFSPA. This in turn means pulling the Army out from specific locations, for it cannot operate effectively without the legal protection which AFSPA provides. Has the time really come for that? Or is it better to thin the Army’s presence all around — rather than scrap the AFSPA — if we are persuaded that terrorism is essentially a thing of the past in Jammu and Kashmir.