Armed Forces should not be used for law and order: Antony

The Armed Forces should not be used for dealing with law and order problems, says Defence Minister.

The Armed Forces should not be used for dealing with law and order problems, Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said as he came out strongly against such practice.

“We do not encourage that the armed forces should be used as an extension of para-military forces to deal with law and order problems,” Antony said on the sidelines of a function for the release of the new Defence Procurement Procedure here.

As a policy, armed forces should be kept away from policing duties as these forces have to play a vital role in safeguarding the country’s long borders, the minister stressed.

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He said “we feel states are best equipped to deal with ordinary law and order problems. And if they are not, they always have the option of calling in the para-military forces.”

“Calling in of Armed Forces should be in extraordinary situations,” he said.

This is the second time within a span of one month that Antony has cautioned against the use of armed forces for tackling law and order problems. Earlier, he had openly opposed using Army to tackle the growing naxal problem in central India.