Prashant Bhushan, leader of India’s emerging political force Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), wants referendum on the Indian Army presence in the Indian-held Kashmir (IHK), Indian media reported on Monday.
In an interview with a news channel, Bhushan called for a referendum in occupied valley to decide whether or not the Indian Army should be deployed in the IHK.
“People should be asked whether they want the army to handle the internal security of Kashmir. Any decision which does not have the backing of the people is undemocratic. If people feel that the army is violating human rights and they say they don’t want the army to be deployed for their security then the army should be withdrawn from the hinterland,” he said.
Bhushan nuanced his views, adding, “The government can decide if the army needs to be deployed to deal with external threats along the border. The government can also decide if the army needs to be kept to help protect the minorities in the valley. But there should be a referendum on whether people want AFSPA to continue in the valley or not.”
When pressed on what would happen if the referendum suggested that the people of Kashmir wanted to break away from India, Bhushan said, “Secession from India is unconstitutional. We have to find solutions within the purview of the constitution. We have to win the hearts of people in the valley who have moved away from the mainstream since they feel that they army has been deployed in Kashmir against their wishes and is violating their human rights.”
Bhushan had stirred a hornet’s nest in September 2011 when he had called for a plebiscite in Kashmir at a press conference in Varanasi and had said that Kashmir should be allowed to break away from India if Kashmiris did not want to stay as part of India. Bhushan no longer supports severing Kashmir from India but still backs the idea of a referendum on the army deployment.
His controversial comments come on a day the Aam Aadmi Party announced ambitious plans to contest the general elections of 2014 and the party’s views on national issues are now being put under intense scrutiny.
Opponents of the Aam Aadmi Party pounced on Bhushan’s views on Kashmir.
BJP spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh said, “Prashant Bhushan should remember he no longer runs an NGO. Demilitarisation of Jammu and Kashmir is a language that is being spoken by separatists in Pakistan and Bhushan as a senior AAP leader is playing into the hands of the separatists by making such comments. Till the terror infrastructure in Pakistan is dismantled, any reduction in Army presence would be disastrous for the country and unacceptable to the people of India.”
