Army backtracks on statement questioning Kashmir government

JAMMU - The Indian Army Thursday backtracked on its statement that a shootout in Srinagar earlier this week had occurred because of the state government’s insistence on thinning out troops in the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital.

The army’s Northern Command chief, Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal has clarified to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that the statement had been unauthorisedly issued by the command public relations officer on Tuesday, a day after the Srinagar shootout in which three men said to be terrorists were killed, an official source said.

Jaswal also told Abdullah that the Northern Command had nothing to do with the statement.

The matter has been resolved, an official source told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The army statement had said that Abdullah had given in to the clamour of demilitarisation and dismantling of bunkers in Srinagar, which had delighted the separatists.

This had irked Abdullah, who, while speaking at a public meeting in South Kashmir’s Anantnag town, had said he would persist with his demand for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and dismantling of bunkers in the places where militancy has declined and peace has returned”.

“Terrorists have once again shown their presence for the second time in a month as if to remind the world that militancy was still alive and kicking in Kashmir,” the army statement had added.

“The clamour to remove bunkers and thin out the police/paramilitary presence from the urban areas had compelled the Omar Abdullah government to give in.”