Jammu, Nov 24: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday told his cabinet colleagues that the Centre was fully backing the state government’s move for partial revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Well informed sources told Greater Kashmir that the Chief Minister - who chaired the first cabinet meeting after controversy erupted over the decision of the state government to revoke AFSPA from some parts of the state – briefed his cabinet colleagues about the talks he held with the central leadership in New Delhi on the issue.
“Though the issue was not on cabinet agenda the chief minister started the meeting with the briefing over AFSPA”, a cabinet minister, preferring not to be named said. He added that the chief minister told the council of ministers that he had strong backing of union government over the decision but at the same time the “reservations shown by the army have to be addressed”.
He further added that the facts and figures were also supporting the government’s move as militancy related incidents were on decline in all the areas where the state intends to revoke the Act. “My meetings with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister AK Antony, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Army Chief Gen VK Singh were productive and I got very positive response over the move”, Omar, according to the sources, told the meeting.
The chief minister gave a point by point detail about what he told the central leaders in New Delhi - his plea on AFSPA revocation, the reasons of drastic decline in militancy, peace status and the ever-increasing rush of tourists and pilgrims to the Kashmir Valley this year - as well the response of the central leaders.
He further informed the ministers that a four member team will soon visit New Delhi for holding deliberations with the central leadership and army officials have also been kept on board.
The Chief Minister, sources said, however urged his cabinet colleagues to desist from making public statements over the issue. “We have to understand that it (AFSPA revocation) should not be made an issue of public debate”, he said.
It was the first cabinet meeting after move offices opened in the winter capital. The last meeting was held in Srinagar on October 28 when the Congress ministers wanted to know why they were not taken into confidence by Omar before he made an announcement about AFSPA revocation.
On microblogging site Twitter, Abdullah described the cabinet meeting as a “routine” and said he “briefed his colleagues over the discussions in Delhi on AFSPA”.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST