CCS meeting on Kashmir postponed to Monday

NEW DELHI - The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting to discuss a peace package for the violence-hit Kashmir Valley has been postponed to Monday, government officials said Saturday.

After the Congress core committee meeting on Kashmir here Friday, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said that the “CCS may meet Saturday”.

“Saturday has been a holiday. Several members of the CCS, like Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, are out of town. That may be the reason for the postponement,” the official told IANS.

However, several media reports said the government was taking time to “arrive at a consensus on the package”. The reports said the Congress core committee meeting had not reached a consensus.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is in New Delhi, told reporters he was staying on in view of the consultations on the Kashmir package. He also said the CCS was likely to meet Monday.

Abdullah met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday here and requested for the lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), at least from a few districts of the state. The act gives legal immunity to security forces against damage, including loss of life, caused during operations in the state.

Abdullah met Mukherjee and Antony Thursday and discussed the situation in the violence-hit state.

According to official sources, the peace package is likely to include:

- Lifting of AFSPA from the districts of Srinagar and Badgam in Kashmir and Jammu and Ramban districts in Jammu region. At present, the act is applicable in all districts of the state.

- Special compensation for the families of the 69 civilians killed in firing by security forces during the past three months.

- Jobs and rehabilitation of surrendered militants.

- An employment package for the educated unemployed.

- Release of arrested youths and withdrawal of several cases related to stone-pelting.

The central government will repeat its intention to begin a dialogue with “all shades of opinion in Jammu and Kashmir,” the sources said.

Sending an all-party parliamentary delegation to the violence-hit state will be another proposal to come up at the CCS meeting.

At least 69 civilians, mostly teenagers and young men, have been killed in firing by security forces on stone-pelting street protesters since June 11 in Kashmir.

The cycle of violence has led to frequent shutdowns and curfew in the valley for the past three months.