Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party not to “precipitate” the situation in the Kashmir Valley by going ahead with its ‘Ekta Yatra' to hoist the tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Republic Day.
The Chief Minister, who met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P. Chidambaram to apprise them of the situation, said that he would be in touch with the Home Ministry on how to deal with any situation arising out of the BJP programme.
“I am not going into get into any specifics as to what we are going to do. As I said time and again, we are hoping that nothing will be done to precipitate the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. As we come close to January 26, we will decide what we will do,'' he told journalists after meeting Mr. Chidambaram.
Asked about his government's stand on the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, he said, “It is not a mere political cry for my government. It is a reflection of the sentiments of people who want to get rid of the laws that were imposed two decades back when the situation was abnormal.”
“No right-thinking person can turn around and tell you that the AFSPA should be revoked in one shot. It is in those areas that we are contemplating withdrawing the Disturbed Areas Act which will then automatically mean that the AFSPA does not apply there,” he said.
Mr. Abdullah later met Ms. Gandhi and apprised her of the political situation and matters related to the coalition.
