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NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the central government will consider revoking the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir.
In an interview with the JK Media Group, Shah also said the government has plans to pull back troops in the Union Territory (UT) and leave law and order to the Jammu and Kashmir Police alone.
“We have plans to pull back troops and leave law and order to the Jammu and Kashmir Police alone. Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir police was not trusted, but today they are leading the operations,” he said.
On the controversial AFSPA, the home minister said, “We will also think of revoking AFSPA.”
The AFSPA gives the armed force’s personnel, operating in disturbed areas, sweeping powers to search, arrest and to open fire if they deem it necessary for “the maintenance of public order”.
An area or district is notified as disturbed under the AFSPA to facilitate the operations of the armed forces.
Shah had earlier said the AFSPA has been removed in 70 per cent areas in the northeastern states even though it is in force in J-K.
There have been demands from various organisations and individuals in J-K and the northeastern states to revoke the AFSPA.
Shah said the assembly elections will be held in J-K before September.
“Enshrining democracy in Jammu and Kashmir is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise and it will be fulfilled. However, this democracy will not be confined to three families alone and will be a people’s democracy,” he said.
The Supreme Court had directed to conduct the assembly polls in the UT before September.
On the issues that have emerged around the reservation of SCs, STs and OBCs, Shah said for the first time, the OBCs of J-K have been given reservation by the Modi government and women have been given one-third reservation.
“OBC reservations have been made in the panchayat and the urban local bodies. We have made space for the SCs and the STs. Without reducing the share of the Gujjar and Bakarwals, the Pahadis have been given 10 per cent reservation. And special provisions have been made to accommodate the displaced people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he said.
The Centre is determined to ensure that these benefits percolate to the grassroots level, he said.
Shah claimed that National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti tried their best to create acrimony on these reservations but the people have understood their intentions now.
