Siam argues that a 2040 ban could destabilise ongoing and future investments and threaten millions of jobs in the automotive value chain.
The time is 'not right' for the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Jammu and Kashmir, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh said on Friday, emphasising that any decision on this 'should not be politicised'.
A court in Imphal has ordered the release of social activist Irom Sharmila Chanu, who has been on a fast for more than 12 years to demand the repeal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Manipur.First Class Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East, on Tuesday ordered the release of Irom Sharmila, who was arrested on charges of attempt to commit suicide.
In an exclusive interview, Maj-Gen Sudhir Vombatkere (retd), who was additional director general for discipline and vigilance at the Army headquarters with the human rights cell, tells Bula Devi that the AFSPA should be used only for brief and limited periods and only to facilitate specific missions.
In an exclusive interview, Maj-Gen Sudhir Vombatkere (retd), who was additional director general for discipline and vigilance at the Army headquarters with the human rights cell, tells Bula Devi that the AFSPA should be used only for brief and limited periods and only to facilitate specific missions.
Barely eleven days to go, lacklustre campaigning for the coming January 28 Manipur assembly polls is at a very low ebb with candidates confining to hoisting flags at their houses and their supporters.
Warning that partial revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Jammu and Kashmir will create "terrorist sanctuaries", Army chief General V K Singh has said dilution of the controversial Act will be 'detrimental' to national interest. the Army chief said, "Just one summer of peace does not mean normalcy. Diluting of AFSPA in any form will be detrimental to national interest."
Even as the two-day conclave of the director of generals of police of northeastern states held in Guwahati has raised the alarm over the attempts by Maoist elements to strike roots in the region, especially in Assam and Manipur, the government of India has once again extended the enforcement of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in Assam by another one year notwithstanding the marked improvement of security scenario in the state of late.
Sticking to his demand for revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from those areas where normalcy has returned, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the move will ensure that benefits of peace in the state percolate to all sections of the society.
According to the Australian media, the latest report has been based on over 400 interviews with soldiers and officers from the SAS, a special forces unit, and Commandos, Afghan villagers, special forces interpreters and support staff.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the efforts of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are to denotify the Disturbed Areas from some places in the state, a move which will pave way for removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
The 'Iron Lady of Manipur' Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike since 2000 demanding repeal of Armed Forces Special Power Act, will be completing 12 years of fast on Monday.
Backing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor M M Ansari on Tuesday said the Centre must give "full support" to the plan for partial revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the border state at the earliest to reduce any "trust deficit".
The meeting with the Prime Minister comes a day after Omar had discussions with Defence Minister A K Antony and Army Chief V K Singh to press for early removal of the Act from certain parts of the state.
The crucial unified headquarters meeting that had been convened in J&K winter capital Jammu on Wednesday evening to discuss partial removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) ended without any consensus.
Hundreds of supporters of 'Iron Lady' Irom Sharmila, whose indefinite hunger-strike for repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act entered 11 years on Saturday, fasted in Imphal and across the country.
'Today's terrorist/insurgent/militant/Naxalite does not allow you the luxury of a magistrate's presence -- you are shot dead or blown-up in a jiffy, unless you are quicker and forestall him.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday opposed withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying such a step could help extremists who are "caught in crossfire" in Pakistan.
Kashmiri Pandits have impressed upon the central government that there should be no dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and nothing should be done to weaken the state's integration with the country. A group of Kashmiri Pandits met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi on Sunday night and apprised him of their views on the current volatile situation in the state.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from certain areas of the state was in no way an effort to undermine the role of the Army.
With the government of India inclining towards Union Defence Minister A K Antony's adamant stand that the controversial and contentious Armed Forces Special Powers Act should neither be diluted nor withdrawn, the issue was not raised by either Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram, or even Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during Wednesday's all-party meeting on the Kashmir crisis.
The Centre has convened an all-party meeting on Kashmir on Wednesday. This was decided after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Monday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday met Home Minister P Chidambaram, ahead of a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security which will deliberate on the issue of partial withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had a threadbare discussion with Cabinet colleagues and senior party leaders in the Congress Core Group on Friday on the issue.
The chief minister said that the present situation was not ripe enough for withdrawal and any hasty step in this direction could be exploited by the militants that can result in loss of gains made over the years and can also lead to loss of lives.
Irom Sharmila with Magsaysay Award winner Sandeep Pandey.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has been urged to support the demand for repeal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 by Manipuri social activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on an indefinite fast on the issue for nearly 11 years now.
Jammu and Kashmir, chief minister, Omar Abdullah assured the state assembly on Thursday that he will repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Disturbed Areas Act 'if the situation continued to improve' in Kashmir.
Illegal weapons proliferation through the porous India-Myanmar border in the north-east has been a boon for the Maoists operating in the rest of the country. It has been disclosed by the Bharatiya Janata Party's national security cell convenor P Chandrasekhar following his situation review meeting with convenors of state BJP security cells in the north-east.
Altogether 155 candidates are in fray for the polls in 29 Assembly constituencies spread over three valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupur, official sources said.
Sharmila filed her nomination on behalf of People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance.
Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said that two army divisions, comprising around 30,000 troops, have been moved out of Jammu and Kashmir due to improvement in the situation there.
Hundreds of protestors demanding full withdrawal of the act from the state pelted stones and destroyed a bus at Singjamei area, near Imphal.
Trump couldn't care less anymore about the Israeli demand for Iran's 'de-nuclearisation' and 'de-militarisation.' Trump pins hopes on a grand bargain with Iran as a partner in America First, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China appears determined to upgrade Pakistan's military capabilities, sufficient to ensure local parity with India, alerts former foreign secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran.
Without pointing to any political party or organisation, he alleged that some vested elements were hell-bent upon creating an atmosphere of mistrust against Army and advocating revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act and recalling army back to barracks.
The Iron Lady of Manipur, who has been on hunger strike for 11 years against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, is an ordinary woman fighting an extraordinary struggle, finds Sumit Bhattacharya.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has sought sanction from the Centre for the prosecution of armymen under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in 41 cases of human rights violation in the state. "The Jammu and Kashmir home department has sought sanction from the central government for the prosecution of army personnel under AFSPA in 41 cases since 1990," a senior army officer of Northern Command told PTI. A total of 41 cases have been received by the central government.
The AFSPA was being "unnecessarily demonised" although it had "nothing to do with the present unrest (in Kashmir)", General Singh said while firmly sticking to his opposition to any withdrawal or even dilution of the Act which gives the Army vast powers to deal with insurgents.
Supporting Omar Abdullah's demand for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the chief minister is "the boss" in the state and the Centre should take his views on the controversial Act.
In the first part of this interview with Bula Singh, former home secretary G K Pillai had talked about why AFSPA need not be repealed immediately but the Disturbed Areas Act should be lifted in Kashmir. In the second and concluding part of the interview, he explains that no one wants to take a risk or bite the proverbial bullet in Kashmir, fearing that the situation might implode again.
