Omar hails Centre’s move for reduction of security forces

Omar was responding to questions on Home Secretary G K Pillai’s statement that the Government was considering reducing the strength of security forces deployed in J and K by 25 per cent as a confidence building measure.

He said the central and state governments had in the past also carried out troops reduction but last year the process had received a set back.

“But now that things are gradually normalizing,I think there is definitely scope for us to start moving in that direction…” Omar told television channels.

He said it was for the Unified Command to work out the modalities in consultations with the Centre. “Like any other decision,it (reduction of forces) is subject to review,” he said.

Without elaborating,the Chief Minister said,”certain other steps are there in the pipeline”.

Deriding BJP’s plan to hoist the tri-colour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day,Omar said why was the party silent from 1992 to 2011.

Such a step,he said,was an “insult” to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee,who had made an honest bid to restore normalcy in the state.

He viewed as a positive development recent admission by former Hurriyat Conference Chairman Abdul Ghani Bhatt that separatist leaders Mirwaiz Mohammed Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone were killed by “our own people” and not by security forces.

The Chief Minister hoped that the separatists will join the dialogue process adding “We are not giving up”.