Army for AFSPA removal from J&K: Rajnath in Guwahati

Guwahati: Defence minister 

Rajnath Singh

 here on Saturday said the 

Army

, which has ‘minimal role in internal security’, wants removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Jammu&Kashmir and for that the situation must return to normal soon.

“The 

AFSPA

 is in force because of the situation and not the Army and people should understand this,” Singh said, while felicitating the 1971 Indo-Pak War veterans and their family members of 

Assam

 at a function here.

He added, “It is the perception of some people that the Army wants the AFSPA to remain imposed. I want to make this clear from this forum that that the Army has a minimum role in the matter of internal security.

The Army only wants the situation in Jammu and 

Kashmir

 should be completely normal soon and AFSPA can be removed from there too.”

“The job of internal security is of police, state government and central paramilitary forces. Our defence force wants to be relieved from internal security responsibility soon so that they can get back to the border,” he said.

This Act of 1958 grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas” while dealing with militancy and was first used against Naga insurgency in then Assam and Manipur.

Source: TOI