New Delhi:
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday held a series of meetings with Central leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who assured him all help and support to overcome the present crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.
The chief minister began his day with a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram with whom he had a detailed discussion about the prevailing situation in the state and the steps being taken to improve it.
Omar, who heads the National Conference-Congress coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, also met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and discussed with her the functioning of his government.
Sources said Gandhi expressed her satisfaction over the handling of the situation by the state government and assured full support of her party to it.
Later, the Chief Minister met the Prime Minister and briefed him about the law and order situation in the state and the steps being taken to bring back normalcy in the Valley.
The Prime Minister also assured all help and support to the state government, sources said.
Earlier, Omar said his government was contemplating to put in place a more concrete mechanism to check inflow of foreign funds to protestors in the state.
He also said that during his meeting with the Home Minister he discussed how to give better equipment to Paramilitary forces and J and K Police so that they can control the crowd in better ways so that no incident takes place and no one dies.
Kashmir Valley has witnessed protests since June 11 when a teenage boy died allegedly in teargas shelling by police in downtown Srinagar.
Omar refuted the opposition's allegations that he was losing control over the government, saying, "Had I lost control over, the situation would have been worst......"
Asked about the deployment of the Army, he said the Army was deployed after the state government and various agencies assessed the situation and the report given to them.
"The state government and various agencies assessed the situation and on the basis of that, a decision was taken Tuesday last. Looking at the situation on the ground on Tuesday last and most importantly to put an end to the large protests and to the cycle of violence - people were protesting and dying - we took a decision," he said.
On the withdrawal of the Army, the chief minister said, "As far as I am concerned, a decision has to be taken in the light of the result that it (deployment of Army) delivered and the result wanted".
Omar said, "By the grace of god and the efforts that the state government has to take, there has been no casualty since Tuesday last".
"There has been no casualty since Tuesday last and that is what we are trying. People are still coming to various places and protesting but fortunately not with the intensity what we have seen in the past," he said.
Omar said Army is part of the counter-insurgency grid and also part of necessary deployment on the LoC and along the border and beyond that there is no role of the Army.