SRINAGAR: Former Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Moosa Raza, who hails from Tamil Nadu, served as an Indian Administrative Service officer in Gujarat before being posted to J&K, and a Padma Bhushan awardee in 2010 said that AFSPA is a great issue for the Kashmiri, not Art. 370.
In an interview with The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Moosa Raza said that Article 370 was never specifically invoked by anybody, neither the Government of India nor the State government.
He added, “Nobody talked of Article 370 when I was Chief Secretary there. I went as a Chief Secretary from outside the State. Normally they always have somebody from within the State. I went under special circumstances at that time when the then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, was not able to handle the administration because of cleavages taking place and battles between two groups there—the locals and the outsiders”.
He added that [Special] Protection is there [elsewhere too]. Gujarat and Maharashtra have got special laws applicable. Your whole gamut of Article 371—A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J—are all the sections that give different kinds of protections to different States; special protection to the culture, to the local laws.
He further added that Articles 371A, 371B, say that Government of India and Parliament will not apply any laws that adversely affect the tribal laws and the traditional laws of the Nagas, Mizos and so on. They enjoy that. When they can enjoy that, why can Kashmiris not enjoy Article 35-A? There is a question there. ‘Why can’t I have protection for my territory, my area?’, that’s what the Kashmiri says. ‘So, treat me as you are treating all those 10 or 12 States where you are giving special protection to those States. I am asking the same thing.’
He further added that Remove AFSPA from some of the areas of Kashmir, reduce the visibility of the armed guards, police, army and so on, don’t indiscriminately use the Public Safety Act (PSA) putting all those who are dissenting behind bars. People throwing stones, you are putting them behind bars. You are creating militants yourself. Don’t create new militants. You have enough of that. This is my point. If I were the administrator there, I would follow this. (PTK)
