Flag of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Flag of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AGARTALA | MAR 27, 2014

The CPI(M) today said it would not demand repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the North-East, but favoured it be given a human face.

“We do not demand complete repeal of the act, but demand deletion of some portion which makes it draconian. We want that a human face be given to the act so that people in the region are not unnecessarily harassed by security forces,” CPI(M) central committee member and state unit secretary Bijan Dhar said here.

Though insurgency was on the wane in Tripura, the party wanted AFSPA to remain in force in some parts of the state as the Bangladesh border was not fully fenced and the possibility of entry of terrorists and fundamentalists from the neighbouring country could not be ruled out, Dhar said at a press conference at the Agartala Press Club.

He said his party would also support introduction of 10 per cent reservation for poverty stricken upper-class in the private sector.

“This demand was basically raised by Karpoori Thakur of the Congress party earlier and we support it,” he said.

Dhar claimed that the Left Front government in the state had presented an alternative model of governance, though corruption could not be fully wiped out.

He said Chief Minister Manik Sarkar would address election rallies in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu after polling in the state on April 12.

If the elections were free and fair in West Bengal, the Left parties would secure more seats than the last elections, he said.

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