Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act will be revoked in Jammu and Kashmir when the situation is conducive.
“I want to say that the situation should be such, and I pray to Almighty, that AFSPA should not be needed anywhere in the country. We will need co-operation of one and all to achieve this goal,” Singh said in Srinagar.
Incidentally, Singh’s comments come a day after BJP’s alliance partner PDP slammed Union Minister Jitendra Singh for being against the withdrawal of the Act in J&K. Jitendra Singh is BJP’s Lok Sabha member from J&K’s Udhampur constituency.
Revocation of the Act is part of the common minimum programme of ‘Agenda of Alliance’, under which the PDP formed government with the BJP in J&K.
“While both parties have historically held a different view on the AFSPA and the need for it in the State at present, as part of the agenda for governance of this alliance, the coalition government will examine the need for de-notifying disturbed areas.”
“This, as a consequence, would enable the Union Government to take a final view on the continuation of AFSPA in these areas,” reads the agenda.