External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was needed in Jammu and Kashmir to protect the lives of armed forces as they are the ones who defend the country. "You can argue that this (AFSPA) is not necessary and you can argue that we can now phase it out. You can argue that we can put more restrictions on it, but to say in black and white to take it off is not a reasonable or sensible thing to say," Khurshid told reporters in Srinagar.
"This case is not to be decided by me. It is to be taken by the Home Minister, Defence Minister and, of course, the Prime Minister, who will finally take a call," he said. Khurshid said there was a sense of loss and tragedy which was not only limited to the civilian population of places where AFSPA was in force. "You think it is limited to only one section. We have lost some very brave people also. They did not come here on their own will. They were given orders. The latest count is of eight Army people who lost their lives ," he said in an apparent reference to the Srinagar terror attack on June 24, a day before the Prime Minister's visit to the state.
The Union minister said, irrespective of grievances against any state agency, people working there are also human beings who need to be protected. "They also are good people there...If we count human lives, they are same whether in uniform or outside it. We have to protect them (armed forces) as well because they protect us," he said. AFSPA was not only in Jammu and Kashmir but in the Northeast also, Khurshid said.
"This kind of discourse and discussion goes on there also. No one imposes AFSPA for fun. The circumstance become such that it has to be imposed. What kind of supervision should be there and what kind of accountability should be there is discussed not only here but also in Delhi by people who are not under this Act," he added.
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