JKLF chief Yaseen Malik supports repeal of AFSPA

New Delhi, Oct 6 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yaseen Malik today said there were cases of human rights violations in Manipur and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take steps to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1958) from the troubled state.

''The Prime Minister should meet Sharmila and the Apunba Lup (a conglomerate of 32 civil society organisations fighting for the repeal of AFSPA) and take steps to repeal the AFSPA.

This will assuage the feelings of Manipuri people,'' Mr Malik said on the sidelines of a media interaction of Human Rights activist Irom Sharmila, who has been undergoing hunger strike for the past six years.

When asked whether he was supporting the ''cause'' in his personal capacity or as head of JKLF, Mr Malik said, ''When I say I am supporting the cause of Sharmila I am doing that as head of the organisation I am leading.'' But, Mr Malik refused to draw parallels between the reported cases of human rights violations in Manipur and those in Jammu and Kashmir.

''I am not here to say anything on that. I am simply supporting the cause of the people of Manipur,'' he said.

Prof S A R Geelani, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Parliament attcak case, also declined to say anything on the similarities of reported human rights violations in the two states.

UNI PDS RP PM1859