New Delhi:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has welcomed the Centre's decision on finding a solution to the Kashmir problem and has assured that the state government will "reopen the schools on Monday".
"I myself had a high-level meeting in the state today, working out the modalities of reopening schools and colleges from Monday onwards. The exam schedule of students is to be released and we hope that the parents, students and the society will cooperate with us so that schools can reopen and our children do not lose one year," Omar said.
Adding that the J&K government will take gradual steps to de-escalate the tension in the area, Omar said they will examine the disturbed areas.
"...I will hold a meeting of the unified command later this week in which we will discuss the modalities of reducing the footprints of security forces in cities, particularly the areas that have been designated as disturbed areas. This is what the state govt has to do and we will be operationalising in the next few days... the Unified Command will review areas under Disturbed Areas Act but don't expect results after first meet, it will take time. We need to discuss how to reduce security forces' footprint," Omar said.
Army cannot alone get to decide what can and cannot be done, Omar added.
When asked about the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Omar said, "I don't think we need to get into that. I think we've already worked out formulation. State government and the unified command will meet and examine areas marked disturbed... leave that to state and Central government to discuss."
He also appealed to Hurriyat to return normality to people.
"I myself had a high-level meeting in the state today, working out the modalities of reopening schools and colleges from Monday onwards. The exam schedule of students is to be released and we hope that the parents, students and the society will cooperate with us so that schools can reopen and our children do not lose one year," Omar said.
Adding that the J&K government will take gradual steps to de-escalate the tension in the area, Omar said they will examine the disturbed areas.
"...I will hold a meeting of the unified command later this week in which we will discuss the modalities of reducing the footprints of security forces in cities, particularly the areas that have been designated as disturbed areas. This is what the state govt has to do and we will be operationalising in the next few days... the Unified Command will review areas under Disturbed Areas Act but don't expect results after first meet, it will take time. We need to discuss how to reduce security forces' footprint," Omar said.
Army cannot alone get to decide what can and cannot be done, Omar added.
When asked about the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Omar said, "I don't think we need to get into that. I think we've already worked out formulation. State government and the unified command will meet and examine areas marked disturbed... leave that to state and Central government to discuss."
He also appealed to Hurriyat to return normality to people.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
