J&K parties respond cautiously to Shah’s remarks on AFSPA

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s broad hints at the Centre’s readiness to revoke the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir evoked cautious and guarded reactions from regional parties in the Union Territory.

Mr. Shah, in an interview to news outlet Gulistan News, suggested that his government would consider revoking the AFSPA. “The government has already drawn a road map for the withdrawal of troops and that the process will be initiated after elections,” Mr. Shah said.

National Conference (NC) vicepresident Omar Abdullah termed Mr. Shah’s remarks “specious”.

“The way people of Ladakh have been cheated over the restoration of Statehood and Sixth Schedule, Mr. Shah is repeating it in J&K. If New Delhi thinks everything is normal in J&K, even militancy and separatism are over, then it’s high time to remove AFSPA and withdraw troops... There should be no need to wait further”.

Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said her party had been consistently demanding the revocation of the “draconian AFSPA” along with a gradual removal of troops.

“It also formulated an important part of our Agenda of Alliance wholeheartedly agreed upon by 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...,” Ms. Mufti said.

She said the Union government should walk the talk “by releasing journalists and thousands of young Kashmiri boys currently languishing in jails without any charges or prosecution”.

The AFSPA has been an emotional issue in Kashmir, against the backdrop of allegations by civilians that it was being “misused”.