Monday, August 27, 2018

AFSPA -- a brewing controversy

In sum and substance, what the Army officers are seeking is total immunity from any legal action and freedom to shoot and kill at will civilians in “disturb­ed areas” by just branding them insurgents, terrorists or anti-national elements!

As we have seen, the Army has a primary role—defending India by war or deterrence, and a secondary/tertiary role in counter-insurgency and aid to civil power. In its primary role, where enemies are involved, Armed Forces personnel certainly enjoy immunity without question. They don’t even need AFSPA [Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act] for this. But giving them such immunity in their secondary/tertiary role where citizens are involved will be turning the Cons­ti­tution on its head, abandoning democracy and rejecting the rule of law.

Hence, giving AFSPA a free run as demanded by this bunch of Army officers would be suicidal for the democratic republic of India. This cannot be countenanced!

From this post by MG Devasahayam on India Legal.
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