National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the BJP’s promise of revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir has been made in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and he feared that the ”people in the UT will be cheated just like those in Ladakh were, on the promise of the Sixth Schedule.
Abdullah was reacting to media reports that quoted Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying that the BJP-led Centre will surely consider revoking the AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir in the future.
“BJP should withdraw AFSPA from J&K immediately and not ask us to wait for it,” he said.
“I have been waiting for this day since 2011. We made a lot of efforts to remove the AFSPA (when he was the chief minister) as well, but I fear that the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be misled and cheated like the people of Ladakh were, on the promise of the Sixth Schedule as elections are here,” Abdullah told reporters in Budgam district.
He said the AFSPA, which gives widespread powers and immunity against prosecution to security forces in disturbed areas, should be revoked right away in view of the statements made by central leaders about normalcy having returned in Jammu and Kashmir.
“As far as revoking the AFSPA is concerned, start from today. When they say the situation is normal and militancy has ended and there is no separatist thought left, then what are they waiting for?” he asked.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also reacted to the Home Minister’s statement and said; “PDP has consistently demanded the revocation of draconian AFSPA along with a gradual removal of troops. It also formulated an important part of our Agenda of Alliance wholeheartedly agreed upon by the BJP.”
“Der aayee durust aaye. Better late than never but only if it isn’t jumlebaazi like generating two crore jobs every year or empty promises of depositing 15 lakhs into bank accounts. One can only hope that they fulfil their commitment at least in this case since it would bring a huge amount of relief to the people of J&K”.
“To walk the talk, perhaps the Ministry of Home Affairs can start by releasing journalists and thousands of young Kashmiri boys currently languishing in jails without any charges or prosecution”, Mehbooba added.