By IANS,
On Board Air India One: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday indicated that the government has not taken any decision on lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from parts of Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the review process was still on.
“The change in the security situation and the political process will have to be objectively reviewed,” the prime minister said, to queries if the contentious legislation will be withdrawn from parts of Jammu and Kashmir as demanded by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
“I don’t think the process has been completed,” said Manmohan Singh, indicating the government is yet to make up its mind.
The prime minister was speaking to journalists on board his special aircraft while returning home from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Maldives.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Friday that the final call on revoking the law from parts of Jammu and Kashmir rests with the Unified Command, headed by Abdullah, whose call for partial withdrawal of the act has led to a raging debate.
“The CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) last year decided to leave it to the Unified Command to take a decision on partial withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir,” Antony told reporters in New Delhie on the sidelines of an event.
He was responding to a question on Abdullah’s remarks that his government had the authority to withdraw the AFSPA, which empowers security forces with authority to use force on or arrest suspects, from parts of the state.