Ensure peace on the ground, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at a 45-minute-long, one-on-one meeting, here on Wednesday, even as the latter sought amendments in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) or its partial withdrawal from the State.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet here on Friday to take a view on the AFSPA, the possibility of appointing a Special Interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, as well a special package for the State. Sources said this might be followed by an all-party meeting, the date for which is yet to be decided.
Simultaneously, it is also learnt that the Congress Core Group — which includes Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister, Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, A.K. Antony, and Ms. Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel — will also meet later this week to discuss Kashmir. The two special invitees are likely to be Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan and senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz.
Calculated risks
Mr. Abdullah, who later attended the iftar party at Dr. Singh's residence, told journalists that at his meeting with Dr. Singh, he had highlighted the need to amend the AFSPA to make it more humane. “Yes, I have requested the Prime Minister to take a decision on amending the AFSPA or at best withdrawing it from some areas where it was not required,” he said. “To begin with, we may choose four districts on an experimental basis…Some calculated risks have to be taken.”
The sources said Mr. Abdullah, while outlining a roadmap for the gradual withdrawal of the AFSPA, suggested that it go first from Srinagar and Ganderbal districts in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu and Sambha districts in the Jammu region.
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