AFSPA: It’s time J&K was shown some dignity

 Good news, even if a bit belated, can bring smiles and ignite hopes, especially if it comes from Jammu & Kashmir. State Congress chief Saifuddin Soz’s statement that it was time the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was revoked from parts of the state is one such news. He was addressing an All India Mahila Congress workers meeting in Srinagar. Soz’s statement gains importance as it is the first time the Congress has openly stated willingness to consider revoking the AFSPA. The National Conference, with which the Congress has allied to form the government in the state, has been calling for a rollback of the Act since 2011. J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah has the option of calling the Unified Command Headquarters to take the Army and other intelligence groups into confidence for facilitating such a move. He has assured to take up the matter with the prime minister and home minister at the June 5 internal security meeting in New Delhi. Though security is still a concern in many parts of the state, especially with incursions and disturbances at the border yet to calm, the state government feels that there are many areas in which the draconian law — as it is often referred to because of the unbridled powers it gives the Indian armed forces — can be revoked. This is a sentiment that has found resonance with the people of the state and many human rights organisations.
The Act was invoked in Jammu & Kashmir in 1990 at a time when militancy was at its peak. But with successful elections and greater power given to local bodies, things have changed over the years. With general elections a year away the chorus for revoking the AFSPA from J&K has gained ground and is expected to be an issue that political parties will take up during their election campaign. Omar Abdullah has been a prominent leader who has openly expressed displeasure with the Act not being revoked by the Centre. However, irrespective of whether political parties try to gain mileage from the issue or not, there is a strong case for the Centre, and the Army, to look into the request.
However, New Delhi cannot, and should not, take a call on the revoking of the Act depending on the political situation in Pakistan. The government, both at the Centre and the state level, in consultation with the Army, should take measured steps that will both win the confidence of the people and also ensure that peace and stability is maintained and further strengthened. The partial revoking of the AFSPA from certain areas in J&K will be a step in the right direction. In addition to this, the government should bring development to the state and involve an otherwise disenfranchised youth of J&K to be part of India’s growth story.

Intelligence and a lack of it

What should have been a feather in the cap of the police force has now become a crown of thorns. On the face of it the Delhi police seemed to have nabbed a terrorist and with this averted a possible attack. But the jubilation of preventing a fidayeen attack on the Capital with the arrest of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Liaquat Shah alias Kaka Khan in Gorakhpur, near the India-Nepal border, by the Delhi police was short-lived when it was reported that the Jammu and Kashmir police were informed about Shah's arrival and were waiting for him. Shah, according to the J&K police, was on his way to surrender before the Kupwara district police under J&K's 2010 surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy. The policy is a major effort by the state to woo Kashmiris who crossed over to Pakistan but now want to return and lead a normal life.
While it is positive news that the Centre has, following a request from J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah to Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the matter, the claims and counter-claims by the Delhi police and the J&K police raise a lot of questions, none of which reflect well on our 'preparedness' to counter a terrorist attack. The 26/11 attacks exposed the pitiable state of our intelligence-sharing mechanisms. Since then, a lot has been said about coordination and sharing of information among various intelligence and investigative agencies. The Shah arrest reveals that while the J&K police and the ministry of home affairs were informed about his return, and thus on the same page, the Delhi police, which was acting on information from its 'sources', was not in the loop. 'Let not the right hand know what the left is doing' is an ideal which may work in some fields but it is fatal as a dictum for intelligence and security agencies entrusted with the protection of the nation from threats, both from inside and out.
However, all is not lost. The Centre is considering reviewing its existing policy towards militants who surrender, to work on a 'larger policy framework' and to fill in the gaps. Shah's arrest and the publicity it has gathered are definitely not what scores of such militants, who return to Kashmir after abandoning their past ways, want. After being a militant for years the crossing-over is not easy: it's a daunting task to gain the confidence of the government. The greater threat comes from their earlier masters who generally do not take kindly to such changes of mind. Given that our government has a less than foolproof record of protecting ex-militants, the most prominent being the killing of Mohammad Yosuf, better known as Kuka Parrey, who was heading the counter-insurgency movement in Kashmir, it can hardly afford any more goof-ups like the one it seems to have made with Shah.
(This appeared as an edit in the Hindustan Times)