M A I N   N E W S

SPECIAL REPORT
Acts won’t change operations
Central exchequer’s burden will increase
M. L. Kak
Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 9
Will the promulgation of the Disturbed Area Act and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act bring about a material change in the alarming security situation in Jammu and Kashmir?

This question has assumed significance following the failure of these two constitutional provisions, in the Kashmir valley for a period of over 10 years.

Several senior police officers, who have been engaged in anti-insurgency operations, argue that these two Acts were promulgated in the six districts of the Kashmir valley in July 1990, but insurgency was not contained.

Under these two Acts police, para-military forces and the Army get special powers. On orders of a subedar or above or sub-inspector or above, forces can carry out search, seizure and detention. The Army would get powers to do the same and detain a person or persons for interrogation for any period without producing him before the court. Under these Acts the powers of the District Magistrate have been reduced and his orders for searches and detention would not be mandatory.

Right from 1996, when the National Conference assumed power in the state, the ruling party has been opposing any extension to these Acts. In 1999 the state government was egged on to accept their extension. As pressure mounted on the National Conference leadership it kept silent when the promulgation time of the two Acts lapsed in October last.

In fact the promulgation of these two Acts has been the result of a recommendation made by the NC Government to the Centre. And during the high-level meeting in Delhi on Wednesday the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, was the first to plead for bringing all 12 districts in the Jammu region and the Kashmir valley under the two Acts.

Why this change? The National Conference leadership had no other alternative but to vote for the extension of the two Acts to the six districts of the Jammu region following massacres by militants in Doda district and at Jammu railway station. In four strikes about 40 persons were massacred in Kishtwar and Jammu during the past three weeks. As the demand for resignation of the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and that of the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, gained ground the two leaders favoured the promulgation of these two Acts as an escape route.

The Acts were in operation in the 20-km border radius of Poonch and Rajouri. Security forces, especially the troops, enjoyed powers to search, arrest or seize any material. Number of youths were arrested by the troops, without having the cover of the two Acts, and interrogated them for days together. The two Acts empower Army personnel to do, what is called, “policing” in the areas of their deployment. They have been doing it in Doda district and other areas of the Jammu region.

According to a senior state government official, the extension of these two Acts to the six districts of the Jammu region would give “legitimacy” to the “policing” of security forces.

He said that “it is a panic reaction” and both the state and the Central government have falled into a trap which could send wrong signals across the world. He explained that the promulgation of the two Acts in the Kashmir valley in 1990 had created an impression that only the valley was disturbed and the only bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Now, he added, the extension of the Acts to the Jammu region would mean that the Hindu-dominated region too “is a disputed and disturbed territory.”

He said that had the provisions of these two Acts any relevance the situation in the Kashmir valley and in parts of Poonch and Rajouri would have improved.

He feared that enforcement of these Acts could allow security forces to settle personal scores and result in custodial killings.

He and others have an alternative for defusing the volatile situation. First, the management of the LoC and the International Border (IB) should be improved so as to check infiltration. They said so long Pakistan-trained militants and foreign mercenaries keep on sneaking into Jammu and Kashmir the security scenario would remain grim. “You need to reduce man and machine power, without that the killings of innocent people and security forces would continue,” they said.

Secondly, more forces and funds need to be made available to the BSF for completing the fencing of the IB. Thirdly, security forces need to be deployed in strength in various grey areas, especially in the mountain belts of Doda, Poonch, Udhampur and Rajouri districts. Once these forces were deployed, massive anti-insurgency operations should be carried out.

These operations should be so designed that militants do not get a chance to escape from one area to the other, which has been going on for the past several years.

Experts opine that militants have struck in the urban and congested areas only during power-cut periods. The Central Government should make available uninterrupted power supply in the evening hours. Arrangements should be made for uninterrupted supply in and around the railway station, rail track between Jammu and Pathankot, major bus stand and crowded shopping centres.

Another police officer said “not Acts but action is called for to fight the proxy war.” Enactment of the Disturbed Area Act and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act would entail a major burden on the Central exchequer. He explained that security forces deployed in the field become entitled to special allowance ranging between Rs 1500 and Rs 3,000 per month and those working in the central government offices would be getting anything between Rs 800 and Rs 1500 per head per month. That can be the only added advantage for the Army, and men of the para-military forces besides those working in Central Government offices and banks.