Amidst reports that the Centre was working out a package for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and mulling withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) to quell unrest, a high-level BJP delegation met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah had called for taking a relook at AFSPA on Sunday.
The visit by the delegation led by veteran LK Advani is being perceived as a move to prevent the UPA dispensation from granting any concession to the state that could “weaken” its relation with the rest of the country.
“Separate and special status [to J&K], even though transient and temporary, gave rise to a psyche which prevented [its] full psychological integration as a state of India,” the party said in a memorandum submitted to PM.
The BJP leaders suggested that the government assess its “flawed” Kashmir policy of the past six decades. “The Centre’s powers are today confined to security, defence, currency, foreign affairs and telecommunication. Are we in a position to abdicate any of these?” they said.
The delegation included Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, leaders of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and SS Ahluwalia, deputy leader in Rajya Sabha.
Apparently opposing any move to weaken AFSPA, BJP stressed the need to strengthen the “security scenario” in J&K to ensure economic development.
“Mainstream political process has to be resumed not by
weakening India’s sovereignty but by letting separatists know that azadi is not even a distant dream, it is an impossibility which can never be realised,” party leaders said.
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