Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the army cannot be withdrawn from the state overnight keeping in mind the current situation, however, its role can be decreased.
"Today, three jawans of army are dead. If in these circumstances you will say that there is no role of the army, then this will be huge injustice. The role of army can be decreased, but it cannot be withdrawn overnight," Omar told reporters here.
Omar was referring to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's assertion that the logistic requirement of the Army to deal with internal strife had considerably reduced in view of the perceptible change for the good in the overall situation on the ground.
Jawans were today killed in a fierce gunbattle with militants in a forest area in Kupwara in Kashmir Valley, while a militant was shot dead in a separate encounter in the district.
The National Conference's working President also said that Sayeed had not raised the issue during the time when he (Omar) was in power.
"I was the chief minister of the state for six years, why did not Mufti sahib raise this issue in those years. When I spoke about revocation of AFSPA, remember (PDP president) Mehbooba Mufti's statement that you cannot defame the army," he added.
The NC leader said it is important to raise the issue of the beef ban in the context of "conduct of the state government" viz-a-viz referring it to the Supreme Court.
"We want that this beef ban issue be handled by the legislature. If the speaker had allowed us to explain the reasoning behind our adjournment motion, the scenes you saw in the house would not have been created," he said.
He reiterated that the party's conduct in the house will depend on the conduct of the Speaker.
Omar said the government wanted to throttle the voice of the opposition by giving the excuse of the matters being subjudice.
"I had a question on (Article) 35-A, which is a crucial issue for the future of the state. My question was rejected because the office of the Speaker claimed that the matter is
subjudice. This is exactly what they want to do with the beef ban and they want to throttle us," he added.
The Supreme Court meanwhile today suspended for two months a controversial court order for enforcing a legal bar on the sale of beef in Jammu and Kashmir while asking the
Chief Justice of J-K High Court to set up a three-judge bench to decide on two conflicting orders on the issue.
