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Withdraw armed forces Act: PDP

Shujaat Bukhari

Cites human rights violations

“Another fake encounter shattered public faith”
It is time for major political initiatives: PDP

Srinagar: On a day when Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil arrived here, the People’s Democratic Party, which is part of the coalition Government headed by the Congress in the State, toughened its stand on the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and reduction in troops.

A PDP spokesman said in a statement on Saturday that the “sudden and alarming spurt” in human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir necessitated the urgency of initiating the troop reduction and withdrawal of the AFSPA. It was necessary to restore people’s shattered faith.

“Grim reminder”

He said the expose of another alleged fake encounter at Kupwara completely shattered the public faith. “The expose is the grim and chilling reminder of the nefarious designs of the saboteurs of the normalisation process.” The revelation followed a spate of similar incidents at Bandipora, Rajouri and Ganderbal.

“Probing these incidents on a case-to-case basis is now proving inadequate in curbing this deep-rooted malaise.” Public confidence could be restored only through some major political initiatives offering substantial relief to the people. “Withdrawal of troops from the civilian areas and revocation of the AFSPA are the only measures that could help resuscitate the waning reconciliatory process.”

The spokesman said repeated pledges regarding “zero tolerance for human rights abuses” were not followed up with real action and a practical policy on the ground. The “failure” of the State in curbing the mounting menace of rights violations had given a blow to the people’s psyche forcing them to take to the streets to register their outrage. “These warning signals need to be taken seriously to save the situation from deteriorating any further.”

“The positive transformation of the ground situation that has started consolidating in the State due to various pro-people measures after the 2002 election is once again being replaced by alienation and indignation, threatening the fragile normalisation process,” the spokesman said.

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