New Delhi:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is locked a in battle with the Indian Army over the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some parts of his state, has met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the capital in a bid to "narrow down differences" over the issue.
Mr Abdullah, who also met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, said that the effort was to try to work out a compromise to balance national security and the aspirations of the people. "I believe that there is ample opportunity to address the concerns that the armed forces have while allowing us to still go ahead with our position," he said.
"I have met the Home Minister and have discussed security as well as AFSPA. I have also met the Prime Minister and have shared our perception on the issue," he said after meeting Mr Chidambaram.
"Obviously the effort is to narrow the differences between what we would like to see happening and what the Army is so far as publicly stated as comfortable to let happen," he added. He added that the Army was not present in the areas from where were the state government wanted to remove the law - in this case, at least four districts including Srinagar, Budgam, Jammu city and Sambha.
When asked about separatists' threat over the Valley as soon as AFSPA is removed, Mr Abdullah said, "Let them try it, this is a ploy of the separatists. If the act is not removed they agitate against it, and when we are trying to remove the act they will threaten and scare people."
The J&K chief minister has told the Army that "no is not an option" when it comes to lifting the military law from areas where the state administration believes it is not needed any longer.
The chief minister is also expected to discuss the matter with Finance Minister and the Congress's chief trouble shooter Pranab Mukherjee. He met Defence Minister AK Antony yesterday.
Mr Abdullah, however, said that he did not expect an immediate solution nor was he keen on "brinkmanship".
Maintaining that there was no politics involved in his demand, Mr Abdullah said, "I have been talking about the partial rollback of AFSPA right from the day I became chief minister."
The Chief Minister had made an announcement a few weeks ago that the law would be lifted and has been in talks with the Army since that had led to a stalemate. The Army is against lifting AFSPA from any region of state, saying the time is not ripe for it. The confrontation seems to have reached a crescendo after a defiant Mr Abdullah said on Friday that he had the authority to revoke the contentious law.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra is in Delhi too and he too met the Defence Minister yesterday. The meeting assumes significance after Mr Abdullah said that the authority to revoke AFSPA lay with the Governor "who would act on the basis of the state government's recommendations."
Mr Vohra is expected to meet Army Chief VK Singh today.
The Army's objections to the proposed revocation stems purely from a long-term perspective although everyone agrees that 2011 has been an exceptionally peaceful summer.
"AFSPA is an enabling act to counter terrorist operations. It has also to be seen in context of the proxy war. Pakistan continues to have its proxy infrastructure. Until we remove the terrorists fully, it's not time to partially revoke the AFSPA", Lt. General KT Parnaik, Commander of the Northern Army, had said.
The Army also says people in rural areas do not bother much about the politics of the Act. All that they want is peace.