ANIL ANAND
New Delhi, Nov 17: Revocation of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act
(AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur will be among the main issues which the political parties, barring UPA and BJP and some of its supporting groups, will raise during the Winter Session of Parliament.
Gathering under the umbrella of Centre for Policy Analysis (CPA), the political parties including the Left grouping, Lok Jan Shakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal have demanded immediate withdrawal of AFSPA and other draconian laws such as Public Safety Act which they alleged was being misused and even minors were being arrested under this law.
Unveiling their plan ahead of the winter session of Parliament, the leaders of these parties also demanded setting up of a Commission of Inquiry to probe various incidents of human rights violations and “excesses” committed by the security forces against members of public in J&K. The state government should also take measures to address people’s grievances on these counts and rehabilitate the victims.
CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said he was surprised on the army continuing to argue on continuation of AFSPA. “It is the Government’s job to deal with the issue. Only a political review of the situation will resolve the AFSPA debate,” he said.
He announced that a parliamentarians’ forum will be soon constituted to take up the Kashmir issue during the Winter Session.
“It is important to draw the attention of the country to what is happening in J&K. Though militancy has come down in the Valley, the oppressive military regime continues there. The army should be there to protect the borders and to check infiltration only,” Karat said.
On Public Safety Act, Karat said “there is a daily harassment of people. I see a vested interest for continuing PSA under which children of 12-13 years are detained in jails. The Constitution does not apply, the law does not apply (in J&K) and there is impunity to whatever they (armed forces) do.”
Referring to the need for pursuing political process in the Valley to resolve the issue, he said that it would not be possible without eliminating repressive environment and checking harassment being meted out to people in JK.
LJSP chief Ramvilas Paswan said the Centre should take immediate steps including withdrawing oppressive laws like AFSPA and PSA to prevent worsening of situation in future. “Kashmir is sitting on a power-keg. Government must take tangible steps to bring people of Kashmir into the national mainstream,” he said and added: “We will use the Parliamentary forum and tour various parts of the country to create awareness about the problems being faced by the people of Kashmir,” he added.
He demanded that J&K government should set up fast-track courts to decide pending cases related to these laws. “All these cases should be decided in a time bound manner within one year,” he said.
CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan also demanded immediate withdrawal of AFSPA, PSA and also the Disturbed Areas Act (DAA). He said dilution in the status of Article 370 has created confusion about the real status of Kashmir which should be rectified through appropriate measures.
RLD leader Shahid Siddique and Forward Block’s Debvrat Biswas also spoke on the occasion.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST