Mufti to press for special panel on troop-cut

PDP supremo Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is likely to press for “conspicuous concessions” at his meeting with PM Manmohan Singh tomorrow in order to climb down from the threat to withdraw support to the Congress-led government in Jammu and Kashmir.

PDP supremo Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is likely to press for “conspicuous concessions” at his meeting with PM Manmohan Singh tomorrow in order to climb down from the threat to withdraw support to the Congress-led government in Jammu and Kashmir.

With Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad ruling out troop reduction in the state — the demand on which the Congress-PDP alliance is threatening to come apart — Mufti will seek at the least formation of a “special panel” at the Centre to look into demilitarisation as well as the “unauthorised occupation” of civilian and government land by the Army in the state.

According to party sources, a special panel to oversee “phased reduction of troops in Kashmir”, preferably within a specific timeframe, will be the minimum the PDP will seek to ward off the prevailing political crisis. It will also provide the party a face-saver, considering it has pushed the coalition to the brink over the issue. Sources reveal that the UPA leadership, especially the Congress high command, has conveyed to the PDP that any decision taken on demilitarisation at this point will benefit the BJP in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh elections.

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Another issue on which the PDP will seek some “credible and immediate action” tomorrow is “unauthorised” occupation of land by the Army in the state. The party has even prepared a list of school buildings, government offices and other civilian infrastructure which have been “taken over”.

As per the J-K government’s own records, the Army occupies 6,81,839 kanals of land in J-K, of which 3,10,184 kanals is unauthorised. Nearly 4,000 kanals of apple orchards alone have been taken over since 1990.

Talking to The Indian Express, Defence spokesman Col A K Mathur, however, denied that the Army had unauthorisedly occupied any land or property. “Whenever we acquire land or take over any building, it is done with the consent of the local administration and the state government,” he told The Indian Express. “The issue is unnecessarily raised by some vested interests.”

As for its other demand that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be withdrawn in the state, the PDP realises it might be too much to ask for under the circumstances. Unlike Azad’s tough talk after his meeting with Manmohan Singh yesterday, the PDP called off a Wednesday rally over demilitarisation in south Kashmir, a Mufti stronghold. It is being seen as a goodwill gesture in the run-up to the talks with PM. The official reason given by the party was the prevailing flood situation in the Valley.