Mehbooba warns against politicking over troop cut

Srinagar, May 27: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has warned against disruptive politicking over her party's demand for troop reduction, saying the skewed and offhand statements from various quarters have the potential danger of not only sabotaging the peace process but undermining Jammu and Kashmir's political authority as well.

Reacting sharply to recent statements opposing any withdrawal of troops from Jammu and Kashmir, she said such hasty proclamations not only go against the assertion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but also have the potential of completely jeopardising the peace process and undermining political and democratic institutions in the state.

Ms Mufti said the Prime Minister had asserted that ''there could be no military solution to the Kashmir issue''.

The premeditated hawkish statements regarding the prevailing security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir were not only contrary to the actual ground situation, but could spell doom for the regenerating normalcy and economic activity in the state, she added.

''Such a narrow analysis of the situation at the highest level in the state government could not only have disastrous psychological impact on the positive public mood, but would scare away the tourists and the investors as well, setting a blow to Jammu and Kashmir's regenerating economic activity,'' the PDP president said.

She said the decision of withdrawing troops from the state could not be left alone to the security agencies and it has to be necessarily complemented with ingenious and genuine political input.

Ms Mufti made it clear that troop reduction and revocation of the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA) were unavoidably the most crucial measures to be taken in the present situation when the people's desire to live in peace with dignity was much greater.

''The people of Jammu and Kashmir want to live a life that is devoid of frequent stop and search operations and gives them absolute freedom of movement,'' she added.

The PDP chief said any move to deny them the same could only intensify the resurgent wave of alienation by fueling the public unrest. ''If the normalcy process is on the path of reversal as has been claimed by the Chief Minister, then the right thinking people in the state and the country must ponder over where are we headed for -- more death and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir?'' She said at a time when a rare consensus of views on the urgency for troop withdrawal was emerging across the board at the national political scene, the narrow-minded statements opposing the move would only reverse the gains.

Referring to a recent report of the Parliamentary Committee of the Union Home Ministry, which has senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj as its members, Ms Mufti said it has unequivocally stated that ''winning hearts and minds of the people in Jammu and Kashmir was far more important than combatised action.'' Contrary to such candid assertions, the intrusive statements dished out by various quarters advocating continued deployment of troops were not only the negation of the ground situation but also a patent rebuff to the public mood, she added.

Asking the Centre to come out with a clear-cut policy on the issue of troop reduction and revocation of AFSPA, the PDP president said the contradictory statements and proclamations from different quarters in this regard were only complicating the matters by adding to the confusion.

''While the Prime Minister has already constituted high-power committees to look into the issue of troop reduction and review of AFSPA, I wonder what compels certain quarters to speak exclusively out of turn,'' she added.

Ms Mufti said such pronouncements reflect the paranoiac and glacial mindset of the elements who have developed a vested interest in the turmoil and want to keep the pot boiling at whatever cost.

Rubbishing the argument that troops could not be thinned given the impending threat of infiltration, Ms Mufti said the intruders do not float-up in plains but sneak through the Line of Control (LoC).

''Let the troops increase and intensify their vigil along the LoC so that the infiltrators are not able to make it to the plains.'' She said while the Army would guard the borders, police could be handed-over the entire responsibility of dealing with the internal security situation in the plains. ''Such a move would not only minimise the burden of internal security duties on the troops, but also empower the civilian and democratic institutions to take on the challenge,'' the PDP chief said.

For the PDP, Ms Mufti said the public interest has always remained supreme to power and the party would continue its struggle for the peaceful and amicable settlement of the Kashmir issue so that the just concerns of the people across the state were addressed and their right to dignified life was restored.

UNI