NEW DELHI, March 23: The Indian government is considering some steps towards reducing the army’s presence in Kashmir, after a fall in violence and as a gesture towards the region’s people and politicians, officials said on Friday.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been under pressure from the leader of a Kashmir coalition ally who threatened to bring down the state government if some of the roughly 500,000 troops were not withdrawn.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, leader of the People’s Democratic Party, which is part of the ruling coalition in Kashmir, met Singh on Thursday and said discussions would continue on his demands.
An official involved in the high-level talks said a package of measures was on the table and that an agreement was likely.
“I have a feeling that something tangible will come out,” he told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The official, who is among those mediating between Singh’s office and Syed, said the prime minister was likely to offer to pull troops out of areas which had been free of militant violence in the last five years and replace them with police.
Also under consideration was a review of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, a controversial law which gives the army sweeping powers to arrest suspects without charge and also gives soldiers substantial immunity from prosecution, the official said.
Human rights groups have accused Indian soldiers of widespread rights violations.
Singh might also order the army to vacate schools, colleges and other government buildings which they had been using as bases, the official said.
“Something concrete is expected in a day or two,” an official close to Syed, a former Kashmir chief minister, said.
The withdrawal of troops from the Himalayan region has long been a demand of Kashmiri politicians.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf has also proposed the demilitarisation of Kashmir as a step towards a final solution to the dispute over the region.
The Indian army, however, says it is too early to withdraw troops and that this will play into the hands of militants who, it says, are backed by Pakistan.—Reuters
