Unified headquarters meet on AFSPA ends without consensus

The crucial unified headquarters meeting that had been convened in J&K winter capital Jammu on Wednesday evening to discuss partial removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) ended without any consensus.

State Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had earlier stated that AFSPA could be removed from certain areas in the state where the army had not operated for the past many years.

Sources said the army, which is an important constituent of the security grid in the state, has strongly opposed any move to remove the law. Sources also said the state police and intelligence favoured partial removal of AFSPA from Srinagar city, central Kashmir's Budgam town and Jammu city, and Samba towns in Jammu region.

It is also reliably learnt that senior army officers who attended the meeting said that even partial removal of AFSPA from certain areas where army had not operated for past many years must be discussed between the home ministry and ministry of defence.

An official statement issued on Wednesday evening said, "The unified headquarters meeting chaired by chief minister Omar Abdullah reviewed the overall security scenario of the state and discussed measures to be taken in the next few months to maintain the ongoing normal situation in the state."

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand.

Meanwhile, the state government offices re-opened in winter capital Jammu on Wednesday morning after the annual darbar move. The offices had closed in summer capital Srinagar on October 28.