Amit Shah’s AFSPA Statement Sounds Poll Bugle In Jammu And Kashmir

The latest war of words between political parties over the contentious issue of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has sparked a debate in Jammu and Kashmir. Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently commented about the possibility of revoking the AFSPA Act and pulling back some troops from J&K. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also accused the National Conference (NC) and the Congress of election rigging in 1987 which led to militancy in the peaceful region and the implementation of AFPSA. The NC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have reacted to the BJP’s comment.

NC leader Omar Abdullah called the Union Minister's assurance a poll gimmick and compared it with the unfulfilled Sixth Schedule pledge made to the people of Ladakh by the BJP government. While addressing people in Sopore, he said that the people of Ladakh were “betrayed and misled with false promises” regarding the implementation of the Sixth Schedule in the region after the abrogation of Article 370, and now, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are given false assurances, particularly concerning the removal of AFSPA. “It appears to be a tactic to deceive the people as the polling date approaches.”

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, on the other hand, said that her party has consistently demanded the revocation of the draconian AFSPA, along with a gradual removal of troops. “It also forms an important part of our Agenda of Alliance wholeheartedly agreed upon by the BJP,” she said. Mufti wrote on X: “To walk the talk perhaps the MHA could start by releasing journalists and thousands of young Kashmiri boys currently languishing in jails without any charges or prosecution.

In Jammu, Tarun Chugh, the BJP national general secretary and party in charge for J&K welcomed the announcement made by the MHA on AFSPA. He says that the Centre is prepared to revoke the AFSPA in a phased manner and accused the Abdullahs and the Muftis of “politicising it to build a fake narrative.” He said the NC and the PDP should at least acknowledge the Modi government's contribution in bringing peace to J&K.

“Since Union Home Minister Amit Shah has talked about AFSPA and the withdrawal of troops in Jammu and Kashmir, the regional political parties, especially the NC, seem to be in absolute frustration. Perhaps NC has forgotten its role in its implementation in J&K,” he says.

It seems, however, that he mixed up AFSPA with the Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law when he said that the NC brought AFSPA to J&K in 1978 “to crush their political opponents and to remain in power.”

“This party has done enough damage to J&K and its institutions with the help of such laws. Now, when the BJP is taking a stand to revisit the law, it has led NC and its entire leadership into absolute frustration,” he added.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act was implemented in Jammu and Kashmir on September 10, 1990, following a notification issued by the state government declaring the Kashmir Valley as a disturbed area under Section 3 of the law. Subsequently, on August 10, 2001, the erstwhile state government extended the provision of a disturbed area to the Jammu province. The AFSPA comes into effect once an area is declared disturbed under the act.

During his six-year tenure from 2009 to 2014, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah consistently advocated for the gradual withdrawal of AFSPA from “peaceful areas” of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2011, he expressed confidence that the day when AFSPA would be withdrawn from the state was not far off, asserting that it would happen during his government's tenure. However, the Army rejected any proposal to withdraw AFSPA. In 2015, the BJP conceded in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) with the PDP, described as the Agenda of Alliance, that the PDP-BJP government would assess the need for denotifying the “disturbed areas” in the state.

It is not the first time the Union Government has talked about the revocation of AFSPA. In June 2023, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said once peace returns to Jammu and Kashmir, AFSPA will be removed from the Union Territory.

In 2011, the Union Home Ministry was also in favour of removing the AFSPA. However, it was the Defence Minister at the time, A K Antony, who rejected the suggestion put forward by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. He had the backing of then Home Minister P Chidambaram to lift AFSPA in four districts. Antony believed that such a move would undermine the confidence of the armed forces that were already operating under challenging conditions in the region. Antony argued that the AFSPA should either be implemented across the entire state or completely repealed. He also believed that just as civilians had the right to self-defence, the armed forces were also entitled to defend themselves.

Cut to present, while NC MP Hasnian Masoodi has said that the Home Minister’s comments regarding the revocation of AFSPA and the withdrawal of troops can only be taken seriously if New Delhi at least initiates the process by releasing youths from jails, the BJP has come up with an election slogan to garner votes in Kashmir. Many analysts here say if the AFSPA goes, the Army will have to go back to the barracks.

While addressing the election rally in Sopore, once a bastion of separatism, Omar questioned the timing of the announcements by the BJP, wondering why such initiatives weren't pursued during the ten years of the BJP’s governance. He says he has been all along for the revocation of AFSPA, citing his initiation of efforts towards its repeal back in 2011.

Omar recounted facing opposition from then Army Chief General VK Singh, who currently serves as a minister in the same government, alleging that Singh vehemently thwarted his endeavours to remove AFSPA, accusing the government of attempting to mislead the public.

“If the government is sincere enough in the revocation of AFSPA, then why don't they make civilian movement easier on the highway? People are being stopped on the highway for hours altogether. Let them first start with this measure and give people travelling on the highway a sigh of relief; then we will accept that they are serious about AFSPA revocation,” Omar says.

“Hundreds of our youth are locked up in prisons outside J&K. First, do the work of bringing them home and releasing them. But for now, I appeal to them to hold an inquiry into the fake encounters instead of paying lip service to find out who did these fake encounters,” Omar says.

While the recent election speeches have raked up old issues marred with conflict, violence, protests, and militancy, the voices of people are absent from the virtual discourse. The government is keeping an eye on social media and in the latest order has asked government employees to refrain from any debate that criticises the government.