J&K POLITICIANS’ AFSPA HYPOCRACY!

 

National Conference MLC Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri today brought a resolution in Legislative Council seeking revocation of "Disturbed Area Act" in J&K. It was disallowed with the reply that the DAA has expired in 1998 and it does no more exist. It is a fact that Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act 1992 [Act No: 4 0f 1992], which was originally titled and enforced as Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act 1990 [Governor's Act No: 12 of 1990], and which gave special powers to Police and other forces not covered under J&K AFSPA 1990, has lapsed on 7-10-1998. Successive governments of Dr Farooq Abdullah, Mufti Sayeed, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Governor Vohra and Omar Abdullah have not extended this law after 1998.

However, it appears, the MLC actually wanted the notifications, under which J&K areas have been declared as "Disturbed" and brought under purview of J&K AFSPA 1990, to be repealed. For that purpose, the MLC should have specifically called for revocation of Governor's Notification No: SW: 4 Dated 6th July 1990 (which declared all 6 districts of Kashmir valley as also 20 Km strip along LoC in Poonch and Rajouri as "Disturbed Areas" under Section:3 of Jammu and Kashmir Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990) and also revocation of Governor's Notification SRO: 351 Dated 10th August 2001 (which declared all six districts of Jammu division as "Disturbed Areas" under Section 3 of J&K AFSPA 1990). If such a resolution is brought and passed by Assembly, it will force the State Government to send the Notification of Revocation to Governor [under section 3 of J&K AFSPA 1990] who is then bound to revoke the said notifications. Once that is done, no armed forces in J&K can have any special powers.

Let it also be clear that AFSPA 1958, which is in force in some North Eastern States of India, has never been and will never be applicable/ in force in J&K State. That is a completely irrelevant law with regard to J&K.

However, the most significant point of AFSPA 1990, passed by Parliament and enforced by Union Home Ministry when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was Union Home Minister, is that the Governor has wrongfully given the State's sovereign power in the hands of the Central Government. J&K AFSPA 1990 gives the power of declaring an area as "Disturbed" to Governor (who any way has to function under the advice of State Cabinet) as well as to GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. This encroachment of the State's sovereign jurisdiction, which has been shifted to New Delhi under the direction of then Home Minister Mufti Sayeed, needs to be amended. It needs simple majority in J&K Legislature. Since Mufti Sahab is now CM, he should himself initiate it alongwith revocation of the two Governor's notifications (under section 3 of J&K AFSPA) in which Central government has no power to resist____Ahmed Ali Fayyaz