Soldiers are not meant to die unprotected: Civil society

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 4

“The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is needed in Jammu and Kashmir to protect soldiers because they are fighting Pak-sponsored terrorism. They are not meant to die unprotected, says civil society in the state.

“AFSPA had been imposed by virtue of the Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) in the state. In the Agenda for Alliance, the PDP and BJP have hinted at the possibility of doing away with the DAA to pave way for revocation of AFSPA. If it happens then there will be serious repercussions in the border state,” said Mahesh Kaul, an eminent scholar.

J&K is not only a border state, but also a frontline state where Pakistan and China keep engineering anti-India activities from terrorism to intrusions and border firing, said Kaul in a bid to drive home the point that any tampering with AFSPA will open floodgates of troubles in J&K.

He said AFSPA was an enabling Act. “It is needed to protect soldiers as they are fighting battle-hardened insurgents trained and armed with sophisticated weapons by Pakistan. Our soldiers are not meant to die unprotected,” he added.

The president of the J&K High Court Bar Association of Jammu, Abhinav Sharma, said the situation was not conducive for withdrawal of AFSPA from J&K.

“The history of J&K says it all. It never remained at peace because of hostile countries. AFSPA is a must for our troops to combat terrorism. They can never fight militancy with ordinary law by their side. If India really wants to fight insurgency then soldiers are to be protected under special laws,” said Sharma.

Another prominent lawyer Sheikh Shakeel said, “They (militants) throw grenades on security convoys, open fire and carry out sneak attacks and then a demand of revoking AFSPA is raised.”

“Pak flags are openly waved and pro-Pak slogans are openly raised. In such a scenario how could anyone think of revoking or diluting the AFSPA,” he added.

“I personally feel that our forces need total protection because we are fighting a proxy war perpetrated from across the borders, but at the same time there should be strict adherence to the SOP (standard operating procedure) by the men in uniform on the ground to check even stray incidents of excesses,” he added.