Don’t speak out of turn, Kashmir governor told

By IANS


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Jammu : The ruling coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Saturday asked Jammu and Kashmir Governor S.K. Sinha to "keep quiet" on sensitive political issues and not to overstep his constitutional limits.

Taking strong exception to his remarks opposing the demilitarization of Jammu and Kashmir, PDP vice president Rangil Singh said: "It runs contrary to the mandate of the governor's office and his position as constitutional head of the state.

"The governor should keep quiet on such issues, which are out of his domain of discourse," Rangil Singh told a news conference here.

At a seminar in Srinagar Thursday, the governor stated that pulling out troops from Jammu and Kashmir was not possible in Jammu and Kashmir even if complete peace returned to the state.

"The governor has overstepped his constitutional limits," Singh said.

PDP is in the frontline of a campaign seeking a dramatic reduction in the number of Indian troops in the border state. On this, it has serious differences with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

PDP also wants revocation of the special powers given to security forces in the state.

The governor, a retired lieutenant general who fought the tribal invaders from Pakistan in Kashmir in 1947, has been making his views public since the issue ignited a fiery debate in the state.

He has been calling the demand for demilitarization "incomprehensible and obnoxious". This has infuriated PDP.

Rangil Singh, flanked by top party functionaries, said his party (PDP) expected the governor to "recognize and respect his constitutional confines".

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