NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party on Monday distanced itself from the views of its senior leader Prashant Bhushan that a referendum should be carried out in Kashmir to decide on deployment of the Army to deal with security threats in the valley. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said decisions on internal security are taken based on the law and order situation and there cannot have referendum on deployment of the Army in Kashmir.
Deployment of the Army within the country should be decided on the basis of internal security threat. There is no question of a referendum on this. But we believe the sentiments of locals should be respected. Otherwise democracy will be under threat,” he said reporters when asked about Bhushan’s comments on the issue yesterday.
Bhushan had said a referendum should be carried out in Kashmir to decide on deployment of the army to deal with internal security threats in the valley. He had also batted for lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in J&K, saying it gave the army immunity in cases of human rights violation while causing alienation among the people.
It is very important for us to win the hearts and minds of the people and prevent alienation. For that, the first thing which needs to be done is to remove AFSPA, which gives the army immunity in (cases of) human rights violations,” Bhushan had said a TV channel.
Bureau Report
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