Is Farooq lying about army withdrawal from Kashmir?

There's something powerfully rotten in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Day one sees Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah being quoted all over that the army and paramilitary forces are withdrawing from five towns in the valley. The Jammu and Kashmir police and the Central Reserve Police Force personnel, the quote continues, would take over to 're-establish the authority of the state administration more effectively.'

Come day two, and he changes his tune. No, no, the army is withdrawing from only two towns, not five -- and that too on an experimental basis.

"I have been misquoted," he claimed in the assembly, while debating the passage of the Disturbed Areas Bill, "I never said the army would withdraw from five towns. It would do so only from Anantnag and Baramullah."

But there is one slight anomaly in Dr Abdullah's statement. Namely, defence ministry officials say (no, confirm) the forces would indeed move out of five towns, not just two -- in fact, three towns, the 'listed' Anantnag and Baramullah and the 'unlisted' Srinagar, have already seen troops withdrawing!

"The phased withdrawal from the other two towns (Kupwara and Pulwama) will follow in due course," sources said, "This is an indicator of the returning normalcy to the valley."

That's fine, but does it not show that Dr Abdullah is -- to put it frankly -- lying? Or maybe, the defence officials have got their facts all mixed up?

"No, no," they reconfirm when Rediff On The NeT rings up again, "We have already withdrawn troops from Srinagar..."

The plan to withdraw the troops, they go on, was formulated at a meeting which Dr Abdullah had with his security advisor and police and paramilitary representatives at the Unified headquarters. The army, it had been decided, would be 'relocated in rural areas to effectively carry out anti-militancy operations.'

So coming back to the old question, is Dr Abdullah lying?

Well, if he is, then he is doing a confident job on it. Consider these statements, all made in the assembly Tuesday:

"On an experimental basis, the combined forces of JK police and the CRPF will take control of Baramullah and Anantnag. More towns can be managed in due course of time..."

"The forces would be at the beck and call of the state administration and would be deployed any time the situation so demands..."

"If the move (withdrawal from Baramullah and Anantnag) is successful and we receive encouraging results, we will do the same in other towns as we need the army to guard our borders..."

So coming back to the old question, is Dr Abdullah--

Oh, forget it, we know you know the answer!

Additional reportage: UNI

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