Srinagar:
These are the highlights of Omar Abdullah's interview to NDTV on the controversy over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Abdullah had said that the Act- described as draconian by its critics - will be withdrawn from some parts of the state. The Army has opposed this, arguing that the protection the Act offers is critical for it to ensure law and order in Jammu and Kashmir. Leaders in the state of the Congress which partners with Mr Abdullah's National Conference party in the state government have said they were not consulted by Mr Abdullah.
Omar Abdullah to NDTV:
- I announced an intention not a decision
- I stand by my intention; I stuck my neck out and I will not take that back
- Don't you think the people of the state deserve to be rewarded for a period of peace?
- How long are we going to wait for consensus? Was there consensus over the civil nuclear deal with the USA or over economic reforms?
- I cannot speak for whether the Congress will support the proposal
- Statements against the Army by my uncle Mustafa Kamal put me in a terrible position. I regret statements made against Army by Mustafa Kamal
- We should not over-react to recent grenade attacks; did AFSPA stop these incidents?
- If a partial withdrawal experiment fails, what's the problem with bringing it back?
- Same objections were raised when we removed security bunkers in Srinagar
- I will call a meeting of the Unified Command and state cabinet to formally discuss this
- The Home Minister in Delhi is my point person on security and he supports the proposal