Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah welcome Congress poll promise to amend AFSPA

National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Muftis Tuesday hailed the Congress party's poll promise to amend the AFSPA if voted to power in the general elections. Omar Abdullah welcomed the Congress' promise saying it is "better later than never".

"If the Congress has mentioned this in their manifesto, I welcome it. It is better late than never. If they had done this before 2014 (polls), we would have worked to lift the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act from certain parts of the state," said Omar Abdullah.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said some ‘friends from the Congress’ conspired against him when he wanted to lift the AFSPA from some parts of the state.

"It is a very good thing. I wish they had done this when I was the chief minister of the state," he said.

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"That time when I demanded the removal of AFSPA, some Congress friends had conspired against it. I do not want to name them because it won't look good. There were some senior leaders from Kashmir who conspired against my efforts. I got support only from (former Union Minister P) Chidambaram, Omar said.

Peoples Democratic Party president Mufti too welcomed the Congress' promise, saying the party has shown "great courage".

"The Congress has shown great courage by endorsing issues the PDP incorporated in its agenda of alliance with the BJP," tweeted Mehbooba Mufti.

"The Revocation of AFSPA, not fiddling with the JK constitutional provisions & holding unconditional dialogue. The roadmap PDP envisages is the only solution for a peaceful J&K, Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.