New Delhi/Jammu, February 01 (Scoop News) – – Underlining political discussions as an inescapable phenomenon to deal with problem of militancy and addressing all issues for lasting peace, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minster, Omar Abdullah laid thrust on political solutions of problems besetting Jammu and Kashmir.
“A pragmatic approach in this regard is need of the hour”, he said and appreciated the Centre for recognizing the importance of dialogue process with all the stakeholders and appointing Interlocutors by the purpose.
Addressing Chief Ministers’ Conference on internal security here on Tuesday, the Chief Minister highlighted the peculiar security challenges confronting the State and emphasized on creation of basic infrastructure, skill upgradation and proper equipment for J&K Police Force.
The Chief Minister sought additional financial assistance from the Centre in this regard to meet the expenditure for maintaining law and order and combating the security challenges, emanating more often than not from across the borders and having implications of much beyond the territorial boundaries of the State.
“The police force to population ratio in Jammu and Kashmir is probably the highest in the country for much greater responsibilities relating to maintenance of law and order”, he said adding that State police has handled the law and order problem with high a degree of professionalism in close coordination with central security forces. “Our Intelligence gathering capacities are being improved and police force fully equipped to effectively respond to the terror situations”, he said.
The Chief Minister said that internal security problems are mostly rooted in politics. “As a matter of fact even armed insurgencies are essentially straggles for political space. It has been realized over a period of time that issues involving contrary positions can never be resolved through violent agitation and confrontation. This being the case, the most obvious approach would be to seek appropriate political solutions for political problems. A timely political solution to a problem would ensure that it does not balloon into a full fledged law and order or internal security situation”, he said suggesting for focusing on the strategic aspects relating to internal security. “This would enable both the Centre and the States to deal more effectively with internal security matters”.
Referring to the pro-longed unrest in Kashmir Valley in 2010 summer, the Chief Minister said that while the intensity of the insurgency has declined in the State, the incidents of law and order problems particularly street violence has increased. He said the events of last summer had been most painful and sadding as these resulted in the loss of innocent lives, enormous human and economic losses and irreparable disruption of the entire education system. He said that dealing with law and order situations in general and with the stone throwing at police in particular, requires a completely different approach on the part of police.
“While the State Police has achieved an enviable level of expertise in handling militancy and terrorist related incidents, it is still in the process of transition to the handling of law and order situations of the kind now being seen in Jammu and Kashmir”, he said adding that five battalions of J&K Police are being specially trained for the purpose. He sought necessary assistance from the Central Government for upgrading skills of the State Police so that it is able to handle law and order situation more effectively.
“There is also an urgent requirement for the provisions of suitable protective gear and other equipment to the police. The Standard Operating Procedure and the traditional methods employed for crowd control are required to be modify in the light of our experience in Jammu and Kashmir”, Omar emphasized and said that he would urge the Government of India to provide the State with the necessary assistance for evolving new Standard Operating Procedures to devise new and improved non-lethal crowd management systems suitable to Jammu and Kashmir conditions.
The Chief Minister said that two Committees have been constituted to examine and recommend the areas for which the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) could be withdrawn. He said the Committees have been directed to submit their recommendations at the earliest.
On a policy to enable the return of those who had crossed over to PoK when the turmoil began and now wish to return, the Chief Minster said that the State Government has announced a policy under which those giving up path of violence and destruction and contributing towards peace and prosperity in the State will be enabled to live normal life. “The response to this policy has been encouraging and is expected to gain further momentum in the coming days", he said.
The Chief Minister complemented the Union Home Ministry for organizing these conferences on regular basis to provide the most appropriate platform for interaction and an informed analysis of the challenges afflicting the security environment of the Country. “The discussions and the decisions taken at these conferences can be extremely useful in not only identifying the issues of critical importance to the internal security of the Nation, but to help in forging a National consensus on the roadmap to tackle these”, he elaborated.
Omar also thanked Union Home Ministry for generous assistance to the State to make substantial progress in the modernization of State Police. He emphasized the need for continuation of Modernization Scheme for State Police for at least five more years.
Stating that Jammu and Kashmir has taken action on almost all the decisions relating to the Jammu and Kashmir made in the previous conferences, the Chief Minister expressed the hope that deliberations of the conference will be useful resulting in strategic policy decisions of an immediate impact on the handling of internal security.