Srinagar, June 8: Outgoing General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lt General S A Hasnain, Friday said that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) won’t go and there was no plan to reduce armed forces from the areas where militancy is at lowest ebb.
Addressing a press conference at Corps headquarters here, Hasnain said the situation in Kashmir was unpredictable and dynamic. “In summers the militant activities go high and in winters they are low. Infiltration is going on,” he said.
“I am hopeful the Army and political leadership will take a decision regarding the matter after assessing the situation and that must be in the interest of nation,” he said and added that around 300 militants were active in the valley. “Ground situation does not allow its (AFSPA) removal,” he said.
Replying to a question about the reduction of personnel from areas with lowest militancy, he said it was not possible till militancy in the valley is not fully controlled. “For example Ganderbal district has lowest militancy, but the area is the lifeline for strategically important Ladakh region. This is not possible,” he said.
Flanked by his successor, Lt General Om Prakash, Hasnain said that this year there has been some infiltration and since 2004 infiltration was on decline. “Though this year we have been successful in tracking down one group of militants, but some infiltration has taken place. It can’t be zero,” he said. “I hope our alert troopers won’t allow anybody to sneak in. Our troopers have sophisticated weapons and latest surveillance equipments.”
Gen Hasnain said there was a race to repair the damaged Line of Control (LoC) fence from one side and on the other side militants were trying to sneak in.
Terming his 19-month tenure as challenging, Hasnain said that he put every effort to bring a change. “The efforts were organizational and not personal. I am hopeful my successor too will do same efforts. I can not underestimate the role of media, government, people and other agencies while making my efforts successful,” he added.
He hailed the process of bunker removal from Srinagar as a welcome step. “Though Army is not controlling Srinagar, but removal of bunkers is a good effort,” he said.
Hasnain termed the statements of National Conference (NC) additional general secretary Dr Mustafa Kamal as ‘odd.’ “Those were odd statements and we never took them serious,” he said.
Kamal had blamed armed forces for several grenade explosions in the valley.

LT GEN OM PRAKASH TO TAKE OVER SATURDAY:
Lieutenant General Om Prakash will take over as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 15 Corps on Saturday.
An infantry officer belonging to the Kumaon regiment, Lt Gen Prakash has commanded the Siachen brigade in the Ladakh region and an army division in Rajouri area of Jammu region, a Defence spokesman said. WITH PTI INPUTS

Lastupdate on : Fri, 8 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 8 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 9 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST