Army chief General Bikram Singh.
Army Chief General Bikram Singh has said that the circumstances prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir demanded that the armed forces stay on in the valley till the time "the situation improves."
"We should wait for conditions to improve in the valley before making changes in the national strategy on army deployment," Gen Singh told reporters in response to queries about Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Prashant Bhushan's assertion that the presence of army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir should be dependent on the wishes of the local population.
The lawyer-turned-politician had triggered a controversy when he said on NDTV's, We the People, earlier this month that he favoured a referendum on the use of Army for maintaining peace in the valley. "If it is supposed to be used for internal security of the people, then should you not have the consent of the people?" he sought to know.
The AAP leader's comment invited angry reactions from the BJP and Congress, forcing him to retract his statement a day later.
Gen Singh, in his interaction, also justified the presence of Army personnel in the state on the grounds that there were reports warning of "a spillover from Afghanistan in J&K in 2014 after the withdrawal of US troops. There were inputs alluding to this."
Gen Singh, who was addressing a press conference today ahead of the Army Day celebrations on January 15, also favoured status-quo on the demand for modifying the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which grants immunity to armed forces personnel in disturbed areas.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has been waging a campaign for stopping the law's implementation from districts where there is no disturbance. "The military viewpoint on the law is that we have to wait for some time to monitor the situation. A decision will be taken only after that," he said.