news details |
|
|
| With no consensus on withdrawal of AFSPA CCS will meet on Monday to take a final decision | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 11: Since consensus eluded members of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) its meeting has been deferred till Monday. Earlier there were indications that the CCS will concede the demand of the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, favouring withdrawal of AFSPA from atleast six to eight districts in Jammu and Kashmir and a formal announcement would be made either on Friday evening or Saturday morning which could be considered as an Eid gift to the people the state.
However, the plan had to be deferred so that members of the CCS discussed the issue afresh and Sonia Gandhi, UPA chairperson, and other top functionaries of the AICC were able to reach some consensus. Reports said that two main members of the CCS, the Union Home Minister, P.C. Chidambaram, and the defence Minister, A.K. Antony had adopted divergent views on the issue of partial withdrawal of the AFSPA. While Chidambaram supported partial withdrawal of the AFSPA on the plea that some political package was called for to put an end to the three-month long spell of violence in Kashmir which had left over 70 people dead in the firing by the security forces. He had also pleaded that since the areas, from where Omar Abdullah wanted the AFSPA to be withdrawn, had no Army deployment there should be no problem in keeping these areas out of the ambit of the AFSPA.
Antony had conveyed the strong reservation top Army authorities had about the plan on partial withdrawal of the AFSPA. The move had been opposed by the former Army Chief, Deepak Kapoor, and continues to be opposed by the present Army Chief, V.K. Singh. The two besides the Corps commanders in Jammu and Kashmir have conveyed to the top functionaries of the central Government that in the absence of any legal shield it was not possible for the troops and the security forces to carry out search operations and initiate counter insurgency measures. The Army authorities also conveyed to the central Government their apprehensions on the role the separatists would adopt once AFSPA was partially withdrawn.
And those who have been opposed to the AFSPA withdrawal have referred to today's incident in which groups of people, after offering Eid prayers in the historic Hazratbal Shrine, torched the police post and one police vehicles inside the shrine forcing the security forces to open fire to quell violence. Luckily nobody was killed in the police firing. At other places people, after offering prayers, held series of protest rallies threatening peace in the valley.
Official sources said that it was unfortunate that while the centre was contemplating withdrawing AFSPS from some areas in the state and had plans of announcing other packages for the people the protesters saw to it that peace continued to elude the valley. What does it indicate? People, rather those supporting the separatists, want nothing short of Azadi and it is in this context one is doubtful whether some concessions and package could put an end to the long spell of violence. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
