AFSPA Revocation from J&K Will Be an Excellent Step: Ex-RAW Chief as Dulat

Former RAW Chief AS Dulat has welcomed Home Minister Amit Shah's statement about possibility of revoking AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir. Dulat, while speaking to ETV Bharat's Saurabh Sharma, said Home Minister talking about it indicates that the ground situation in the valley has improved.

New Delhi:Two days after Home Minister Amit Shah spoke of revoking Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu Kashmir, former RAW chief AS Dulat who has always had a curious take on Kashmir, said if it happens, it should be welcomed.

"The removal of AFSPA will be an excellent step and I hope that it happens soon," Dulat told ETV Bharat. The former spymaster known for his deep insights about J&K said Shah's statement indicates that the situation in the erstwhile state has improved.

"What Home Minister Amit Shah has said, it basically means that the situation in Jammu Kashmir has improved and that AFSPA could be revoked. The fact is the law and order has improved in the UT and what is required is the revival of the political and democratic process," Dulat said.

"Let people decide who they want to vote for," he said. Home Minister Amit Shah in an interview with news outlet Gulistan News also said there will be no talks with Hurriyat and "Pakistan agents" and added that discussions would be held with Kashmiri youth but not with organisations affiliated with Pakistan.

Asked to comment on Hurriyat and its future, Dulat said: "Hurriyat still exists and there are some people who are still with that thinking, but the fact of the matter is that as an organisation, Hurriyat is a defunct body."

He further said that "Hurriyat may be a defunct body now but Mirwaiz is not defunct, and he is still the leader of Kashmir. And he has a key role in the future. Mirwaiz like everybody can be a friend of Delhi and there's no harm in that. He has been sufficiently mainstreamed and he has a key role."

Back in 2011, when Omar Abdullah was the CM and P Chidambaram was the Home Minister, there were talks that AFSPA could soon be revoked but nothing happened.

To this, Dulat said, "There were talks and both Omar and Chidambaram were on board, but the fact is that this decision is to be taken by the Defence Minister. AK Antony was the defense minister then, and he was against it."

Since the abrogation of Article 370, the Union Government has left no stone unturned against the separatist organisations in the valley and has lodged several of the Hurriyat leaders in jail while declaring their outfits "illegal".

Recently, kin of two separatist leaders, late Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and banned Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chairman Shabir Shah, have issued public notices through a local daily in Kashmir “disassociating” themselves from the separatist outfits.

Shabir Shah’s daughter Sama Shabir, and Geelani’s granddaughter Ruwa Shah, stated that “they have no inclination towards separatist ideology” and owed allegiance to the Constitution of India. Similarly, the Union Government last year banned Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), a separatist party founded by Geelani and Ashraf Sehrai in 2004.

Apart from this, the government imposed a similar ban on the Masarat Alam faction of the 'Muslim League Jammu Kashmir' (MLJK-MA) for its "anti-national and secessionist activities" in Jammu and Kashmir.