NEW DELHI, May 25 : RSS supports continuing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to flush out terrorists from J&K, Nagaland, Manipur and other disturbed areas of the northeast, indicating that the Sangh and the ruling BJP are on the same page on this issue of strategic importance.
The NDA government has overlooked demands for the removal of AFSPA made by various organisations and political parties, including its own ally PDP in Jammu & Kashmir.
Endorsing the Government stand, RSS-aligned weekly `Organiser’ says in a recent editorial that the Government should continue with AFPSA until the police are trained to contain insurgency . “The Government should train and prepare the State police… The Centre should plan for phase-wise extensive training of State police. Till then, Army may be deployed and they should remain armed with AFSPA,” writes the weekly.
“Terrorists in league with pseudo-human rightists try to implicate Army jawans on fake grounds, even sometimes misusing girls for allurement. They try to drag jawans into Court. The jawan is suspended and his life becomes miserable. The family suffers agony. The jawan is dragged to military Court, and civil Court as well. At this point, AFSPA comes to the rescue of the jawan,” says the RSS mouthpiece.
It has also taken on JNU student activist Kanhaiya Kumar for his alleged support to left-wing extremism. “There are many Kanhaiyas who support anti-National activities in the name of free speech,” says the weekly, also alleging that certain Parliamentarians are on “the payroll of terrorists to raise questions in favour of anti-National elements”.
