Not proper to lift AFSPA in times of rising militant attacks, says J&K minister

ecuritymen during an encounter with the militants at a police station in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. (Source: PTI)

The Health and Medical Education Minister in the Mufti Sayeed-led PDP-BJP government, Choudhary Lal Singh, on Saturday said that it was not proper to start the process of lifting AFSPA in Jammu-Kashmir at a time when militant attacks are on the rise.

“How is it possible when situation has worsened even in the otherwise peaceful districts of Kathua and Samba,” he said, referring to the two terror attacks along the national highway in the last 24 hours. He said that time has come to give “them” a befitting reply.

Singh, who is one of the senior cabinet ministers in the coalition government, also called for a detailed inquiry into the antecedents of people living along the international border. “We have received complaints from some local people in this regard,” he said, adding that “it is not possible for terrorists to cross over to this side of the border and straightway proceed to the national highway for carrying out attack” on one or the other place.

“We need to find out from where and how they are managing to infiltrate and after infiltration, whether they have safe hideouts for brief stay before carrying out attacks,” he added. ” The inquiry is in progress in respect to the infiltration of terrorists who attack Rajbagh police station,” he added.

The Health Ministet, however, justified ongoing talks with Pakistan, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resumed dialogue with them not because we are weak, but we wanted to know from them as to why such incidents are taking place. ” It appears that the terror groups carrying out attacks on the Indian soil are so powerful that they are not under the control of Pakistan government, ” he added.

Source:: Indian Express