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| Air Chief Backs Army on AFSPA, says soldiers deserve protection | | | early times report
New Delhi, Sept 14: In a clear indication on where the Indian Air Force stands on the issue of withdrawing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from parts of J&K, Chief of Air Staff PV Naik on Tuesday said that 'a soldier doing his duty deserves all possible legal protection'.
"I believe that a soldier while involved in performing his duty deserves all the legal protection that he can get," Naik said.
Expressing confidence in the government's resolve to sort the issue, he added, "I am sure the government will look into it.'
Clearly, the Air Chief seems to be backing his counterpart from the Army, VK Singh, who had earlier expressed reservations about the withdrawal of AFSPA.
Pointing out that soldiers operating in "hostile environment" need legal protection to perform their tasks efficiently, Singh said, "Any dilution or withdrawal of AFSPA will lead to constraining our operations."
The issue of amending the AFSPA has been regularly raised by J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, especially after the latest round of violence in the valley that has left more than 87 people dead.
Infact, the Cabinet Committee on Security met yesterday to discuss the same but failed to arrive at a consensus. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has now convened an all-party meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue.
Defence Minister A K Antony said today that a decision on Kashmir will be taken by the Centre after the all-party meeting.
AFSPA is in force in Jammu and Kashmir and some militancy- affected states in the Northeast. |
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