Will lift Afspa from J&K if peace prevails, says Rajnath Singh
The Centre can remove the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Jammu & Kashmir, just like it did in some parts of the northeastern states, if peace and tranquility prevails in the Union territory, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday.
“In the last three-four years, the northeastern states have created atmosphere of peace and stability which helped the home ministry to remove AFSPA from various parts. If similar situation is created in Jammu & Kashmir, AFSPA can be removed from there as well,” Singh said.
The Union minister was attending a ceremony organised by the Assam government in Guwahati to honour the sacrifices of the army veterans from the state in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War when he made the remark.
Under AFSPA, a geographical area is declared as disturbed to facilitate operations of the armed forces. The Union government had imposed AFSPA in the Kashmir Valley in July 1990 and in the Jammu region in August 2000. It was recently removed partially from three northeastern states — Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Maintaining that there was a “public misconception” that the army always wanted AFSPA to remain in force, Singh said, “It is the situation that is responsible for imposition of AFSPA, not the army.”
The Union minister also asserted that India would not hesitate to act against terrorists who target the country from across the border. “India has been successful in giving out the message that terrorism will be strongly dealt with. We will not hesitate to cross borders if the country is targeted from outside.”
He also praised the army veterans of both India and Bangladesh for their efforts in making the latter an independent country in 1971. Northeastern states have benefited the most due to liberation of Bangladesh, he said.
“Winning 1971 War gave India a strategic benefit and northeast has benefited the most from that. The problems we have at the western front are no longer in the northeast because we have a friendly relationship with Bangladesh,” Singh said. “After the formation of Bangladesh, there were issues like infiltration, but that have also finished now.”
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also praised the people of state’s Barak Valley for providing shelter to victims of 1971 war.
“The role of Assam in the Indo-Pak war was not confined to the battlefield alone. Many police officials of the state had trained the Mukti Bahini (liberation army of Bangladesh) members, besides serving through various other means.”