India
Home minister P Chidambaram’s announcement is a snub to his cabinet colleague Ghulam Nadi Azad, who had called the proposal “unworkable” and dangerous.
Updated : Feb 11, 2010, 11:40 PM IST
In a major confidence building measure for Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre said on Thursday it will grant amnesty to Kashmiri militants in PoK training camps who want to surrender and return home.
Home minister P Chidambaram’s announcement is a snub to his cabinet colleague Ghulam Nadi Azad, who had called the proposal “unworkable” and dangerous. Azad was lambasted by Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who said such decisions were taken by the home ministry, not the health ministry headed by
Azad.
“This idea [amnesty] must now translate into reality. Now, we’ll have to discuss how to screen the boys, bring them home, debrief them, rehabilitate and reintegrate them into the mainstream,” Chidambaram said. The state government has created a set of guidelines for the rehabilitation.
The J&K government has sent the Centre a preliminary draft of guidelines. “We will consult all stakeholders and discuss the matter with the leader of the opposition and two main opposition parties in J&K — the PDP and the BJP,” Chidambaram said.
The guidelines framed by the state government are: