Jitendra Singh attacked by ally PDP over AFSPA

 PDP on Wednesday hit out at Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who is leader of its alliance partner BJP, for disfavouring withdrawal of controversial AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir and termed his statement as "obnoxious and having unacceptable and unpardonable undertones"

Srinagar: PDP on Wednesday hit out at Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who is leader of its alliance partner BJP, for disfavouring withdrawal of controversial AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir and termed his statement as "obnoxious and having unacceptable and unpardonable undertones"

The ruling party also took exception to Singh's comment that security forces should have the last word on deciding on revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

"In a democracy, it has to be the elected representatives who have to take the final call on this and despite the commendable service that the Armed Forces do towards the nation, one has to be very clear that taking decisions on such issues do not fall within their domain," PDP chief spokesperson Mehboob Beg said here.

"It would, of course, be incumbent to take the security agencies on board when taking such decisions, but to say that the decision is to be taken by the security agencies is going against the fundamental principles on which Democracy is built," he said.

On Singh disfavouring partial revocation of AFSPA in the state, Beg termed it as "obnoxious and having unacceptable and unpardonable undertones".

Yesterday, Jitendra Singh, who is a Lok Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur constituency, disfavoured partial withdrawal of controversial AFSPA in the state but underlined that the last word on this would come only from the security agencies and not from political functionaries.

Beg said Singh must realize that he cannot just speak as an individual on such sensitive issues when he holds the position of the MoS in the Prime Minister's Office.

"It is appalling to see Singh delve into each and every question and then top it up by saying 'I am not qualified enough' to answer these questions," Beg said.

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