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“Armed Forces Act will stay for now”

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Ruling out the total repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) “at the moment and in the present circumstances,” Defence Minister A. K. Antony said the Army and the Ministry of Defence were not against amendments in the law to make it more humane.

“Actually, the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence and I are very much concerned about the human rights issue. Whenever we get any serious complaint, we take strong action and at times extreme action. We will not tolerate human rights violations,” the Minister told newspersons when asked to react to the Administrative Reforms Commission report recommending the repeal of the AFSPA and incorporating some of its clauses in another law.

Setting out the circumstances in which the army is forced to shoulder counter-insurgency responsibilities, Mr. Antony made it clear that the armed forces did not want to be involved in the first place. But having been compelled to take up such duties due to the collapse of the State machinery, a law was required to protect their rights.

“First of all, the armed forces are not interested in being involved in such activity as this area is the concern of the police forces and paramilitary forces. Various circumstances compel us to involve the armed forces to control anti-national forces, terrorists and other infiltrators. So to control the situation, the army needs special permission to act effectively. I don’t think the time has come to repeal the Act.” At the same time, the Minister acknowledged that there was scope for improvement in the legislation.

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