Home Minister P Chidambaram today reiterated that the Army was being used as a ‘deterrent’ and have not been ‘deployed’ in Jammu and Kashmir. He said both the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Army were present as stand-by to assist state forces and hoped the situation in the valley would return to normal soon and the forces would come back.
Chidambaram’s statement evoked sharp reaction from the BJP. The party said it saw in the current agitation in the valley, shades of the Hazratbal controversy in 1963-64 when the military played a role because of “competitive communalism”.
Both the People’s Democratic party (PDP) and National Conference were resorting to this kind of politics once again, resulting in empowerment of separatists and those who had made a profession out of stone-throwing. The BJP charged that most youths engaged in creating trouble were those who had got jobs from the rehabilitation packages announced by the government.
The BJP charged that while the government booked CRPF personnel for the death of a protesting youth on murder charge, it did not appear to have taken action against the “youths who are seen in the pictures beating a CRPF Jawan mercilessly”.