No plans to withdraw or amend AFSPA: Govt tells Parliament

The government has no plans to withdraw or amend "the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990", which gives the security forces immunity and special rights in carrying out operations in disturbed areas, Union minister Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said today.

Ahir, however, said in the Lok Sabha that a proposal is under consideration to make the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 more operationally effective and humane. "There is no proposal to amend the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990. There is no proposal under consideration of Government of India to withdraw the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 from Jammu and Kashmir," he said replying a written question.

There has been a long-standing demand from various quarters in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast to withdraw the Act.