New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) As unrest continues in Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security on Monday to discuss the situation and consider options like partial withdrawal of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). The meeting comes amid indications that the government could announce some initiatives to end the three-month-long cycle of violence in the valley. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been pressing the Centre to withdraw the AFSPA from some areas of the state and announce some political intitiatives. Faced with tough choices, the central government is treading a cautious path over the issue which has created divisions within it. The government is faced with strong resistance from the Defence Ministry as well as the Army to even partial withdrawal of the AFSPA or any other kind of dilution in the controversial act which gives sweeping powers to security forces. The BJP also is strongly opposed to any dilution to the AFSPA. The top Congress leadership, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, met here yesterday to deliberate on the volatile situation in the state where the party is sharing power with National Conference. The Congress Core Group discussed the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA from some areas in Jammu and Kashmir but was divided on the issue. Defence Minister A K Antony and Home Minister P Chidambaram aired divergent views on the demands on AFSPA withdrawal at the meeting which was also attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Congress President''s political secretary Ahmed Patel. Prithviraj Chavan, AICC in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir, and senior party leaders from the state Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saifuddin Soz, who are not part of the Core Group, also attended the meeting. Antony highlighted the security establishment''s fears and opposed any decision to even partially withdraw AFSPA while Chidambaram is understood to have emphasised the need for some political action to break the impasse in the Valley. A majority section in the government is of the view that AFSPA has no link to the spate of stone-pelting and there is no guarantee that such incidents would end if the controversial act was withdrawn from the state. Highly-placed sources underline that the Centre is of the view that troubles in Kashmir are mainly related to governance by the state administration. Significantly, as part of central initiatives, a move is believed to be afoot to transfer B A Kakroo, Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court who hails from Kashmir to Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
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