Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said PCC chief Saifuddin Soz’s change of stand on AFSPA would help him in convincing the Centre to revoke the controversial act from some areas of the state.
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“I feel there has been some change in that thought.
Obviously, his (Soz) support in Delhi will go a long way for us to convince authorities on the need to take this step (partial revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA),” Mr Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here, 25 km from Srinagar.
Mr Abudullah expressed satisfaction on the new approach taken by Soz on AFSPA.
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“If anything, I am glad that Soz is seeing things the way he is seeing it, because earlier he had publicly expressed reservations on removal of AFSPA selectively,” he said.
Mr Soz, during a function at Congress headquarters in Srinagar had said, time had come for partial revocation of AFSPA from the state. He, however, said the issue should not be politicised.
Mr. Abudullah said there was no question of politicising the revocation of AFSPA on his part.
“Please make no mistake ... at least from my side, this has not been politicised, nor will it be politicised in future,” he added.