New Delhi:
With the stalemate continuing over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has now taken the battle for the revocation of the law to the Prime Minister's doorstep, quite literally. Mr Abdullah is likely to meet PM Manmohan Singh tomorrow to discuss the vexed issue which has seen him at loggerheads with the Army.
While the Chief Minister favours a partial revocation of the military law from selected areas in the state, the Army is opposed to the move as it feels that the time is not ripe for it. The confrontation seems to have reached a crescendo after an adamant and defiant Mr Abdullah on Friday told the Army that "no is not an option" vis-a-vis the lifting of AFSPA as also the fact that he had the authority to revoke the contentious law.
(Read: 'No is not an option' , says Omar to Army)With no signs emerging of a convergence on the AFSPA issue between him and the Army, Mr Abdullah is also likely to meet Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow.
Earlier in the day, he also met Defence Ministry A K Antony to discuss the sensitive topic. This comes a day after the Defence Ministry made it clear that the decision on removing AFSPA would be taken by the Unified Command and not by the Chief Minister. This has been echoed by the Army which has said that the Unified Command is a consultative body where all security matters are discussed but without consensus or at least a general agreement between all stakeholders, no decision can be implemented.
The urgency of the situation can also be gauged by the fact that Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today met Army chief General V K Singh to discuss the matter. The meeting assumes significance after Mr Abdullah had said that the authority to revoke AFSPA lied with the Governor "who would act on the basis of the state government's recommendations."
This, in a way, was Mr Abdullah's message to the Army as well as the Centre that dilly-dallying over a decision AFSPA could well force him to take unilateral action.
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 terrorists 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.