Army writes to Omar on Afspa

In an attempt to make Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah see sense and change his mind on the controversial issue of withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from parts of the Kashmir Valley, the army has written a note to the state government presenting the actual data related to terrorism hit areas,” reports a national TV news channel, Headlines Today.

The army note, accessed by Headlines Today, has been written amidst an atmosphere of severe acrimony between the state government and the armed forces. Omar had on Thursday said that there was no option of AFSPA remaining in certain areas of the Kashmir Valley.

However, the army put forward some precise points to persuade the chief minister against his stand on AFSPA.

“The army explicitly told the state government that the nexus between Pakistan army, its spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), separatists and terrorists wanted disempowerment of the armed forces to facilitate their agenda,” reports the TV channel The army's internal note also conveys that relative peace in some areas was because of security forces, which includes an "active intelligence grid", and should not be frittered away.
So far unofficial, the army note also puts down shocking figures on paper. It says that 2,500 militants  in PAK and Pakistan, 400  in J&K, 20,000 released militants who could be exploited and 42 active militant camps in Pakistan could again disrupt peace in the valley if AFSPA was withdrawn.

The army also told the state government that the idea of secession was still being propagated by groups with vested interest. Significantly, the army has insisted that the AFSPA was not draconian and its note lists out the several checks and balances in place to minimise human rights violations.

Perhaps the most crucial point that Omar government continues to ignore was that partial revocation of AFSPA was not conducive to army operations since the army headquarters, its logistic installations and strategic lines of communication (Leh-Ladakh) pass through such areas, the army has also been in a fix because by saying it was open to discussions the Omar government has put a lid on dialogue over the issue.