Omar is trying to denotify Disturbed Areas in J&K: Chidambaram

Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the efforts of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are to denotify the Disturbed Areas from some places in the state, a move which will pave way for removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Talking to reporters after presenting the monthly report of his ministry for November, Chidambaram also made it clear that the decision to denotify areas from Disturbed Areas Act would be taken by the state Governor on the advice of the state government.

"At the moment, what the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister wishes to be done is to denotify areas which had been originally notified as Disturbed Areas. That is his effort now. That, as I said earlier, is in accordance to the Cabinet Committee on Security decision which requested him to review the matter in the Unified HQs," he said.

To a separate question about the report submitted by the three interlocutors -- Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M M Ansari -- on Kashmir, the home minister said the report was a "practical roadmap" and suggests a way forward to find a solution to the political issues that have been in Jammu and Kashmir for many, many years.

"We are considering the report. I have already briefed the members of CCS once. They have asked for a fuller briefing. We are trying to schedule another meeting of CCS. Once the full briefing is done to CCS, CCS will decide to make the report public. The report will be made public," the home minister said.