New Delhi, Nov 1: The BSF, which is entrusted with security-related duties in Jammu and Kashmir, Tuesday said the issue of withdrawal of the AFSPA from the state is a “very complex” question and will not yield a “very simplistic” solution.
Talking to reporters after taking over as the new Director General of BSF, senior IPS officer U K Bansal said an appropriate decision on the issue will be taken by the government in the larger interest of the country.
“The issue of removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from J&K is “a very complex question and it will obviously not yield a very simplistic solution,” he said.
“All I can say is that an appropriate decision would be taken by the government in the larger interest of the country and the region which is being discussed and BSF will implement it,” Bansal, who was Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs prior to assuming charge as BSF chief, said.
Asked whether the force has sufficient immunity and if it works without AFSPA, he said, “AFSPA is to give cover to armed forces of the union under some special circumstances. Since BSF is also an armed force of the Union, hence it also got a cover under it”.
“BSF does not make policy. But BSF is in forefront of implementing (government) policies as regards to border guarding and border management,” Bansal, a 1974 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, said.
To a question about infiltration activities in Jammu and Kashmir, he said that our figures reveal attempts to infiltrate during the current year are down from the previous years.
“However, successful infiltration is roughly at the same level as the last year,” the DG said.
Though the BSF chief admitted cross border movement along the Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Nepal frontiers, he said, “crossing the border illegally on an otherwise peaceful border is usually with a different intention and, therefore, has to be dealt with differently”.
“On the Bangladesh border and Nepal border, illegal cross border movement happens. It has a different objective by the persons doing it. Some times it is convenience, sometimes it for marginal or major illegal activities. A person may be moving around with Fake Indian Currency or he may be doing some gun running or drug running.
“A bulk of the transgressions along the Bangladesh border are not something which can be described as hard core anti- Indian activities unlike the situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir,” Bansal said.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 1 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 1 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 2 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST