Army opposes revocation of AFSPA in J-K

Pathankot, Feb 20: Army today opposed any move to revoke Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the gains achieved by security forces in bringing down levels of insurgency and infiltration can reverse rapidly if these are removed.

"We should continue with AFSPA and DAA. They should be continue to be applied (in J&K)," General Officer Commanding- in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Western Command, Lt Gen K J Singh, told reporters here after conclusion of an Investiture ceremony of Western Command.

He was replying to a question about the demand fore revocation of AFSPA by some political parties in Jammu and Kashmir. "In present scenario, we must understand there is something called the Disturbed Areas Act.

An area which is disturbed, it is promulgated and automatically AFSPA applies over there," he said. The Army Commander said his perception was "there is a kind of defining stage-- there is now reduced infiltration.

We have brought down the level of insurgency so we should continue this (AFSPA) to keep control of the area because there is a habit of rapidly going that to same old bad phase, so AFSPA should continue."

PTI