The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament by
piri on Jul 26, 2016 08:05 PM | Hide replies | Hide message
in 1958 to put down insurgency by Naga rebels, was later extended to each of the 7 north eastern states. In 1958, when the act was promulgated in the Naga hills, the plan was to keep it in place for 1 year - adequate time as assessed by the then govt to stamp out the insurgency.
Nearly 60 years on, not only is the AFSPA still in force in Nagaland but has also been in force there without a break!
Added to that, the AFSPA has also been extended to cover all the 7 north eastern states!
This, by itself, announces the abject failure of the act in addressing the core objective for which it was enacted, viz, to quell and stamp out insurgencies and to pave the way for smooth civilian administration.
Apart from the North East, the AFSPA was imposed in the Kashmir valley in 1990 and has been continuously in force there ever since.
What has led insurgencies to grow in these regions despite the AFSPA being in force for so long?
The AFSPA is draconian in nature, being a straight copy of the measure the British drew up and imposed to put down the Quit India movement of 1942.
It empowers soldiers to shoot to kill, to raid houses, to confiscate or destroy the assets of civilians they regard as susceptible to become accomplices of insurgents and it frees the soldiers completely from any kind of an accountability for such acts of theirs.
And soldiers have grossly misused this provision no end. They have killed, and killed wantonly. They have raided and looted private properties of
Re: The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament
by piri on Jul 26, 2016 08:08 PM | Hide message
many.
They have indulged in extortion - much like the underworld extorts money from businesses.
And they have raxped.......and raxped a large number of women!
And all this because they know they cannot be pulled to court for any of these acts !
Now, what would the AFSPA apologist say about such records of many soldiers ?
Well, he would dutifully say that some civilians who had no sympathy for the insurgents too might have been killed in the cross fire and that this should be regarded as a mistake and not anything else !
But what would the apologist say about those other acts of many soldiers - extortion and raxpe ?
Why would the soldier need to extort from or raxpe anyone in his line of duty ?
Why should the soldier enjoy complete immunity for extorting and raxping ?
The primary argument of the army in retaining the AFSPA and not dispensing with the immunity clause in the AFSPA is that it is needed to protect the soldier from having to spend all his time running to courts for the trials of every incident of shooting in such trouble torn areas. But the army or its apologists have not said anything so far about the silent rage of those who were robbed or raxped by soldiers !
Political commentator Siddharth Varadarajan writes that instead of criminal proceedings against soldiers requiring official permission, blocking of prosecution could be made possible only on official action. He suggests that Section 6 of AFSPA could be amended to read: “No prosecution...sh
Re: Re: The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament
by piri on Jul 26, 2016 08:24 PM | Hide message
shall be instituted against any soldier in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act where the Central government provides reasons in writing and the competent court upholds the legal validity of these reasons.”
“Such a provision” he argues, “would prevent good officers from being prosecuted for killings which result from acts of good faith while allowing the bad apples to be prosecuted for their crimes. The government would still have the right to intervene on behalf of a soldier who has committed an illegal act. But this would require a Minister to take personal responsibility for a decision, and such a decision cannot be too easy for a politician to make too often since he is always under the scrutiny of the media.
Who would argue for giving untrammeled and indiscriminate immunity for armymen regardless of whatever their purpose for deployment in civilian sectors is, especially when the record of the army in failing to prevent so many of its soldiers from misusing such immunity to violate civilians through crimes such as extortion and raxpe ?
Re: The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament
by Shivamogga on Jul 27, 2016 02:42 PM
AFSPA is absolutely justified and in many areas, it even need to be made even more stringent ..... listening to piris is like committing harakiri....anti India elements like you always wail ....Indian need to monitor the nefarious activities vigilantly and nip the bud Bharat Mata ki Jai !
Re: The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament
by Shivamogga on Jul 27, 2016 02:43 PM
AFSPA is absolutely justified and in many areas, it even need to be made even more stringent ..... listening to piris is like committing harakiri....anti India elements like you always wail ....Indian need to monitor the nefarious activities vigilantly and nip the bud Bharat Mata ki Jai !
Army has been relocated to the border and the security in the valley is entrusted to the paramilitary since 2013. Its the J&K Police and the CRPF which are battling the militants in the valley.
Yes, leave the army to be their own in clearing the menace brought about by Pakistan! Lack of our political will is fully exploited by Pakistan by raking up Kashmir issue as a dispute in international fora; and now they are appeared to be heading for a full scale assault to annex Kashmir by shedding crocodile tears for Kashmiri muslims! Give full power to Army to do the rest; we will thereby have permanent solution to Pakistan's deceit.
When there are floods,or other such calamities,you want the army to help you out. And when the terrorists are killed by the army you want the army to go away,protesting for the terrorists,and supporting the enemy country. These double standards are not acceptable . Its better if the people of kashmir understand because it is for their own benefit,otherwise the state will remain backwards forever.
The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament by
piri on Jul 26, 2016 11:38 AM | Hide replies | Hide message
in 1958 to put down insurgency by Naga rebels, was later extended to each of the 7 north eastern states. In 1958, when the act was promulgated in the Naga hills, the plan was to keep it in place for 1 year - adequate time as assessed by the then govt to stamp out the insurgency.
Nearly 60 years on, not only is the AFSPA still in force in Nagaland but has also been in force there without a break !
Added to that, the AFSPA has also been extended to cover all the 7 north eastern states !
This, by itself, announces the abject failure of the act in addressing the core objective for which it was enacted, viz, to quell and stamp out insurgencies and to pave the way for civilian administration.
Apart from the North East, the AFSPA was imposed in the Kashmir valley in 1990 and has been continuously in force there ever since.
What has led insurgencies to grow in these regions despite the AFSPA being in force for so long ?
The AFSPA is draconian in nature, being a straight copy of the measure the British drew up and imposed to put down the Quit India movement of 1942.
It empowers soldiers to shoot to kill, to raid houses, to confiscate or destroy the assets of civilians they regard as susceptible to become accomplices of insurgents and it frees the soldiers completely from any kind of an accountability for such acts of theirs.
And soldiers have grossly misused this provision no end. They have killed, and killed wantonly. They have raided and looted private properties of many.
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Re: The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament
by piri on Jul 26, 2016 11:40 AM
They have indulged in extortion - much like the underworld extorts money from businesses.
And they have raxped.......and raxped a large number of women !
And all this because they know they cannot be pulled to court for any of these acts !
Now, what would the AFSPA apologist say about such records of many soldiers ?
Well, he would dutifully say that some civilians who had no sympathy for the insurgents too might have been killed in the cross fire and that this should be regarded as a mistake and not anything else !
But what would the apologist say about those other acts of many soldiers - extortion and raxpe ?
Why would the soldier need to extort from or raxpe anyone in his line of duty ?
Why should the soldier enjoy complete immunity for extorting and raxping ?
The primary argument of the army in retaining the AFSPA and not dispensing with the immunity clause in the AFSPA is that it is needed to protect the soldier from having to spend all his time running to courts for the trials of every incident of shooting in such trouble torn areas. But the army or its apologists have not said anything so far about the silent rage of those who were robbed or raxped by soldiers !
Political commentator Siddharth Varadarajan writes that instead of criminal proceedings against soldiers requiring official permission, blocking of prosecution could be made possible only on official action. He suggests that Section 6 of AFSPA could be amended to read: “No prosecution … sha
Re: Re: The AFSPA, instituted by Parliament
by piri on Jul 26, 2016 11:42 AM
shall be instituted against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act where the Central government provides reasons in writing and the competent court upholds the legal validity of these reasons.”
“Such a provision” he argues, “would prevent good officers from being prosecuted for killings which result from acts of good faith while allowing the bad apples to be prosecuted for their crimes. The government would still have the right to intervene on behalf of a soldier who has committed an illegal act. But this would require a Minister to take personal responsibility for a decision….
