New Delhi:
At a three-hour long meeting this evening, the government debated the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), but did not decide on either alterations to the Act, or whether to withdraw it from parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting stressed that the decision to leave the Act unchanged for now is not related to the violence today in the Kashmir Valley - 15 people were killed and 45 injured in protests based on a report that the Quran had allegedly been desecrated in the US.
The most notable part of the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, may well be a snub to J& K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah - the CCS said the government will focus on reducing "trust-deficit and governance-deficit." Sources close to the chief minister say he's disappointed with that remark.
The meeting stressed the government's intention to reopen dialogue with the stakeholders in Kashmir, and to hold an all-party meeting on the Kashmir crisis on Wednesday. In fact, before the CCS met, the Prime Minister repeated his offer to have a dialogue with affected groups in Kashmir. "The unrest in the State of Jammu & Kashmir over the last few weeks is a matter of concern. The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed. We have to ensure better delivery of services and generate avenues for economic advancement for the people of that state. We are willing to talk to every person or group which abjures violence, within the framework of our Constitution," said Dr Manmohan Singh. (
Read: PM's full speech) | (
Read: PM renews offer for dialogue)
As far as AFSPA is concerned, what was debated at the PM's meeting were proposed amendments to the Act, often described as "draconian" and prone to misuse by the Army because it allows offices to operate without fear of arrest by civil authorities. Home Minister P Chidambaram is in favour of amending the Act to make it more "humane." Defence Minister AK Antony, however, has been stressing that the act provided necessary legal immunity in a state where it's dealing with a war-like situation.
Hours before that, Abdullah and Chidambaram discussed the new blueprint for AFSPA in Delhi. Abdullah then flew back to Srinagar for a cabinet meeting of his own. Abdullah has been campaigning for the withdrawal of the Act from four districts in his state where militancy has been waning. He's also been pushing the Centre for a new economic and political package for J&K.