Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said that Indian army should be allowed to resort to firing to control activities like "transgression" and "incursion".
“I don't want to train the army to use lathis,” Parrikar said.
He said the issue has come to the forefront because of Supreme Court’s recent verdict about Northeast over the long deployment of the armed forces and the imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which seeks to grant army personnel legal immunity for their actions in Manipur.
Parrikar said, “We can't lose people. So, wherever the army is used, the powers will have to be there, otherwise don't use the army. In fact, I will be very happy if we don't use the army anywhere in the country, other than disaster management.”
Questioning on Kashmir’s situation by the reporters at inauguration of a new building for the office of the principal director of defence estates, Parrikar said that the defence ministry is not directly involved in law and order in the state. So the question about the Kashmir’s situation should be directed at the home minister, he said.
In terms of talking about the videos that went viral on social media showing that the army personnel are allegedly indulging in brutal activity, he said, “We don't kill for the sake of it. Kabhi kabhi galti hota hai. Indian army is capable of killing, but it is not a brutal army.”
Parrikar asserted that the Indian army is not a brutal force and the videos featuring negative image of Indian army were morphed.
