Chidambaram blames Centre’s '56 chaati' approach for J&K turmoil

Kolkata: Former Home Minister P Chidambaram alleged that the Centre’s “muscular, macho 56 chaati” (56-inch chest) approach was responsible for the degrading law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Graph of violence in Jammu and Kashmir came down from 2010 to 2014, in the first year of their (NDA) government also. Only when they started adopting the macho, muscular '56 chaati' approach, things turned worse,” he said at an interactive session on India's fiscal reforms at Bharat Chamber of Commerce.

The senior Congress Party leader further opined that in order to resolve the ongoing crisis, it was necessary to entrust law and order to the state police, reduce the presence of paramilitary forces and talk to people.

“When I was Home Minister and Omar Abdullah was chief minister, we reduced the presence of paramilitary troops by 10,000. Currently, after every 10 feet in Kashmir, there are security forces. That's not the way to solve the Kashmir problem. We have to look for an alternative approach,” he added.

Tension along the borders has witnessed an unprecedented spike in the recent past, with a significant increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC).

Unprovoked attacks along the border on military outposts and civilian population have claimed numerous lives and have forced the army to temporarily resettle thousands of people in a safer place.