Thiruvananthapuram: Opposing the withdrawal
of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Jammu and
Kashmir, BJP leader L K Advani on Saturday said nothing should be
done that weakens the armed forces' position.
He, however, said there is a case for withdrawal of the
Act in Manipur which could be examined.
"I don't think there is a need to withdraw AFSPA in so
far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned. Nothing should be done
that weakens the armed forces' position," he told reporters
here.
Attacking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Advani took
strong objection to the position that coalition dharma often
came in the way of acting strongly against corruption.
"Coalition dharma matters only in matters of policy and
not in matters of integrity," he said.
Recalling how the BJP conducted the NDA alliance when it
was in power, Advani said they had formed new states without
any problems, but had deferred a decision on Telangana as it
required a policy consensus among all the partners.
"My party was in favour of Telengana in NDA, when in
power. But our allies were not in favour," he said.
Advani also lamented that farmer suicides in the last
eight years have been remarkably high.
The BJP leader also lashed out at the Government for its
failure to check inflation which has made even basic existence
difficult.
He said suicide by farmers anywhere is unfortunate and
urged the polity to rise to the occasion to ensure that they
are not driven to take this extreme step.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, October 29, 2011, 11:49