PDP legislature party leader and Agriculture Minister Abdul Aziz Zargar told Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that the party ministers were finding it difficult to attend the cabinet meeting, as "our issues are not in the agenda".

The cabinet meet was specially called to discuss the creation of eight new districts in Jammu and Kashmir. The cabinet later discussed the issue and resolved to have the new districts.

The chief minister ruled out a discussion of the issues raised by the PDP during the cabinet meeting, saying it had already been discussed in both the houses of the state legislature where he had stated that the situation in the state was still far from being normal and peaceful to warrant troop withdrawal.

"We need troops and the special powers act for the safety of our people," he had told the state legislative council on Feb 14.

On Feb 17, Zargar had written to Azad saying that the situation had improved in the state and the time had come to phase out troops and withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives special powers of the security forces.

Troops were deployed and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was put in place in 1990, the time when militancy had erupted in the state, particularly in the Kashmir Valley. Jammu and Kashmir was under governor's rule and directly ruled by the centre, when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, now PDP leader, was union home minister.

Now Mufti and his PDP are in the frontline of the campaign calling for de-militarisation of Jammu and Kashmir and doing away with special powers act.

The party has given a new push to the campaign after the "fake encounters" in which innocent people were allegedly killed by security forces and falsely branded as militants.