New Delhi: CPI(M) has condemned the killing of two persons in Army firing in Kashmir and demanded withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from all civilian areas in the Valley.
"The CPI(M) Polit Bureau strongly condemns the brutal killing in Chattargram, Kashmir of two innocent school boys, one of them a student of Class VII. Two others were seriously injured in the firing," the party said in a statement.
Demanding immediate arrest of the guilty, the party charged that "The army gets away with the killing of innocent civilians, including children, because of the impunity it enjoys under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
"CPI(M) has been demanding the repeal of this Act and its draconian clauses. At least in the interim the AFSPA should be withdrawn from all civilian areas in Kashmir and be functional only in the border areas," it said.
While regretting the deaths, the army has claimed that the youths, who were travelling in a car, did not stop at two vehicle checking points and even tried to break through the third barrier when asked to stop.
