Withdrawal of AFSPA not on our agenda: Army

Puncturing Omar Abdullah’s balloon of withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from peaceful areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the army has said this issue has not even come up for discussions in the unified command or core group meetings of the security forces.

“The deliberations on this subject are still going on. We will have our uniform command and core group meetings. This issue (AFSPA withdrawal) has not even come up for once in discussions. I think we can only make apt and informant commands once we discuss it in house”, Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain, general officer commanding (GOC) 15 corps, told reporters at Awantipora in south Kashmir district of Pulwama.

The army commander’s remarks comes just a week after chief minister Omar Abdullah held a meeting with union home minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi and discussed matters relating to the revocation of AFSPA in certain areas of the state. 
Earlier on March 5, Omar told Legislative assembly that he was in favor of removing those areas from the ambit of Disturbed Areas Act (DAA), where the situation has improved and there is no requirement of AFSPA.

Legal experts say if DAA is withdrawn the AFSPA becomes redundant since the army can operate in civil areas only when they are declared disturbed.

Under the controversial AFSPA, unbridled powers are vested in a constable to shoot anybody on mere suspicion and destroy property on mere suspicion of being the ultras hideouts. In normal circumstances it is the competent magistrate who has to give orders to open fire.

Army, however, argues AFSPA in J&K was necessary until the terrorist infrastructure was dismantled across the Line of Control (LoC).

The army’s veto notwithstanding, civil society has already kicked-off the campaign against the AFSPA.