New Delhi, Nov 27: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s plan to include certain provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) by amending the Ranbir Penal Code seems to have created more confusion than addressing the basic issue of revoking controversial AFSPA.  There are no takers in the Centre for his new idea including the Army who have already conveyed their opposition to the proposal.
 Well placed sources in the UPA dispensation said that Omar had discussed this idea with Army Chief General V K Singh, during his recent visit here. The Army Chief was said to have categorically rejected the bait offered by the Chief Minister in lieu of revocation of AFSPA from selected areas of the state. Prior to that he had got a similar response from the GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt General K T Parnaik, the sources added.
 The Army top brass was reported to have clearly stated that they were not prepared to work under any local law, in this case RPC, as it would create an operational dichotomy in the national context.
 Despite a negative response from these quarters, Omar had been persisting with his efforts to convince them.
 The proposal to amend the RPC to include some provisions of the CrPC in it, also did not find any favor from the Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth who had led a powerful team of Secretaries of various Ministries to Kashmir in the last week of October for an on-the-spot assessment of various Centrally sponsored schemes. 
 In fact, Omar had upped the ante by announcing his decision to revoke AFSPA from four districts of the state two days before the Central team’s visit.
 Interestingly, the debate on providing an alternative to AFSPA by adding some enabling provisions in the local law was triggered after the CRPF chief K Vijay Kumar had recently said that his force was not opposed to revocation of the law as it enjoys protection under Section 45 of the CrPC. 
 Ostensibly, Omar, after that, decided to convince the Centre and the Army to accept his new proposal in the light of Kumar’s observations.
 Even on the political front the going is unlikely to be smooth for Omar if he decides to go ahead with his proposal to amend RPC. Firstly, his alliance partner the Congress is not prepared to accept his idea as it could have serious ramifications both at the national and the state levels. With the UPA dispensation already driven to the wall by an aggressive Opposition in Parliament, it would provide more ammunition to the BJP-led Opposition if the Centre gives a go ahead to Omar as it would result bringing the Army under a state law.
 Going by the prevailing mood in the AICC circles here, it will be difficult for Omar to enlist support for his alliance partner in J&K Assembly to amend RPC given the fact that the Congress has a base only in Jammu region of the state. “Omar has not taken the Congress into confidence before coming out with the new proposal. It has created more confusion but he has certainly achieved his goal to divert attention from the Government’s poor track record,” a senior party leader said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST