Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said the process of revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) can be started on experimental basis.
“We are not saying that AFSPA must be revoked immediately and in entirety, but the process can be started on an experimental basis. After revoking the AFSPA in few areas, we can assess the situation there. If successful we can revoke it in entirety. If the militancy doesn’t give permission for it then we can again impose it,” Mehbooba told ANI.
Pointing out the roadmap laid by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to make the border irrelevant, Mehbooba said former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh took this forward, but the political and the dialogue process that was started by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L.K. Advani wasn’t taken forward.
“The roads that were opened at that time got blocked. The exchange of doctors, civil society which was supposed to take place didn’t happen. So, I believe the one who is most responsible for this is us-the politicians. Only money and package won’t help. There are some issues and processes,” she added.
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She further said Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore as a goodwill gesture and met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, but unfortunately the dialogue process got stalled after the terror attack at the Pathankot airbase.
“If the two nations can’t keep good relations, neither can we progress nor can they. Pakistan is combating terrorism and that is why they had to launch the Lal Masjid operation. Pakistan is bringing drones from America and fighting its own terrorism,” she added. Further lashing out at Pakistan, Mehbooba urged the neighbouring nation to change its policy towards India. “Pakistan punishes children who take up guns in their country, but glorifies youth taking up guns in Kashmir. I think Pakistan should change this policy. The goodwill gesture that our Prime Minister had started by going to Lahore is the only way,” she added. She further stated that if the situation turns bad in Jammu and Kashmir then even Pakistan should understand that Islam is getting a bad name in the whole nation.
“If we have to save our nation, a peace process should start, discussion should begin and there should be confidence building measures. Recently, Chidambaram ji said there should be revoking of AFSPA. Even we won’t say to remove it suddenly because unfortunately there is infiltration from Pakistan,” she added. Asserting that there must be a beginning from somewhere to save the nation, Mehbooba said there is a need to take bold measures because the people of Jammu and Kashmir are India’s own.
“We are not doing it for China or Pakistan…we are doing it for ourselves. The Home Minister came and tried to reach out to the people of Kashmir. There is a pressure of the people. There are certain miscreants, who lead the mass to the camps as they know when we will attack the camps or enter the police station,” she added.