Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar talking on use of army and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for containing internal turmoil and militancy in the country is the first straight talk given by any Defence Minister. Army has been assisting civil administration in Jammu and Kashmir and in Manipur to fight terrorism. His comment, “I do not want to train the army to use Lathis” is the straightest anyone in the government has said about the deployment of army for sensitive and disturbed areas. The issue has come to the fore because of a recent Supreme Court judgement about the north east. He was lashing out at the long deployment of AFSPA which seeks to grant army personnel immunity for their actions in Manipur. Army should have special powers to deal with special situation which is just not law and order problem. As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned he made the case clear shifting the onus to the Home Ministry to explain. In J and K there has been a long pending demand for removal of the Act and political parties have been raising the issue for the sake of few votes they may gain out of it . One thing is very clear country cannot afford to equate army with the local police force especially when it is fighting terrorism and cannot rule out collateral damage in terms of property and human lives. Parties raining hue and cry for few votes have hampered at times operations against militants who manage to get local support. The uncomfortable political situation along with Islamisation and increasing Pakistan’s appeal has further widened the trust deficit among the PDP-BJP coalition partners how so ever they claim there is nothing wrong on the surface but internally things are not that comfortable. And as far as removal of AFSPA is concerned the continuing protests make the case much weaker. At least these parties should keep their dirty politics away from such situations and allow army to do its duty for which it is well trained and equipped.
