Draconian Kashmir law may be repealed
An Indian policeman hits back with a slingshot at stone-throwing protesters in Srinagar on Monday. (Reuters)
Published: Sep 6, 2010 23:51 Updated: Sep 7, 2010 00:30
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government is engaged in talks with the central government over the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Monday.
“We are engaged in talks with the center on two issues — softening the harsh nature of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and its repeal from some of the districts of the valley and Jammu region where the role of the army has become minimal and where such powers are not needed at all,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Balwal, near Jammu.
“The state government is in the process of identifying these areas,” the chief minister said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet here later this week for a “threadbare” discussion on the situation in Kashmir, but cautioned that he can’t pull off a miracle to resolve the crisis.
“A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security is being called shortly to discuss the situation in the Kashmir Valley,” Singh said in an interaction with journalists at his residence.
“I cannot promise you that I will produce a rabbit out of my hat...the country must learn to be patient,” he added.
Alluding to seething unrest in the valley since June 11, the prime minister underlined the need for a different attitude to riot control.
No lethal weapons but more humane methods should be used to deal with the crowds, he said.
“We are still groping for a solution,” a candid prime minister said while pointing out that the Kashmir problem has existed for 63 years and that Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had all attempted to tackle it when they were the prime minister.
Meanwhile, security forces fired on protesters hurling stones at them in Indian Kashmir on Monday, killing four people and wounding at least 17 other demonstrators, police said.
For the last three months, Kashmir has been roiled by demonstrations and clashes between protesters opposed and government forces. The deaths bring to 68 the number of people killed in the civil unrest.
Four people, including a 17-year-old boy, were killed when government forces fired live ammunition to disperse protesters in Palhalan, a village north of Srinagar.
Local residents said there was no clash with the troops, but soldiers fired when the protesters refused to disperse. The state government has ordered a probe into the shooting incident.
“A clash had occurred near a highway in the morning and much after that we were peacefully protesting in the village,” said resident Meraj-ud-Din.
Later, as news of the shooting spread, thousands of people from Palhalan and neighboring villages chanting “Go India, go back” and “We want freedom” marched to a nearby highway and blocked it.
Police and paramilitary soldiers fired warning shots and tear gas to quell those protests, said the officer. There were no reports of injuries.
Police launched a probe into Monday’s shooting. “Senior police officers have taken a serious view of the firing. Ammunition of the policemen is being checked to fix the responsibility,” an official statement said.
Meanwhile, an Indian Army spokesman said Monday that three suspected rebels were killed in an exchange of gunfire in a remote forest in northern Handwara district of Kashmir.
No casualties were reported among the Indian soldiers, Lt.
Col. J.S. Brar said in Srinagar.
There was no independent confirmation of the army’s claim.
— With input from agencies

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