Disturbed Areas Act Extended In J-K

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly here yesterday passed the extension of the Disturbed Areas Act which would otherwise have lapsed yesterday.

The bill provides for better provision for the suppression of disorder and for restoration and maintenance of public order in disturbed areas in the state. Yesterdays carriage of the bill and extension of its provisions for another year have set the stage for the Armed Forces Special Powers Act whose extension by another year is a certainty now.

Replying to the debate on the Disturbed Areas Act, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah also contradicted news reports carried by some news agencies that the State government had decided to withdraw the Army from five towns of the valley.

We will start an experiment to shift the security responsibility on to the local police in two districts of the valley. In such moves the local police shall continue to be assisted by the CRPF which would act as a combined force to counter militancy, Abdullah informed. The opposition MLAs agreed with the government that the control of militancy would become difficult without extension of the Disturbed Areas Act, but they demanded that there should be no misuse of the Act..

However, the chief minister assured the assembly that the laws aimed at controlling militancy can even be withdrawn after six months if the situation improves to that extent.