Banglar Bir
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India’s Assam under AFSPA for 26 years, Delhi declares move to continue
SAM Report, May 6, 2017
Indian army personnel patrol on trucks in Assam state’s Kokrajhar district (Photo: Internet)
The Indian government has declared the entire Assam as a “disturbed” area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for three more months, citing various violent activities by insurgent groups.
The Union Home Ministry in a gazette notification said the entire Assam, besides bordering areas of Meghalaya, have been declared “disturbed” under the AFSPA for three months with effect from May 3.
The ministry said there were 75 incidents of violence in the state in 2016 in which 33 people, including four security personnel, were killed. Four people, including two security personnel were killed in nine violent incidents that took place in 2017.
The ministry blamed the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom), NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland), NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland), and others insurgent groups for the violence.
The AFSPA has been effective in the three Arunachal Pradesh districts bordering Assam since January 2016.
Assam under AFSPA for 26 years
Declaring the entire Assam as a “disturbed area”, the Centre had imposed the Act on November 27, 1990, at the height of militancy spearheaded by ULFA. The Act enables the armed forces to exercise special powers while combating militancy.
After 26 years of the imposition of the tough act, now the Assamese government is reportedly reviewing whether the controversial AFSPA could be withdrawn from at least some areas. A proposal in this regard could be presented at a meeting of the strategic group of the Unified Command structure in the state headed by the Army next week, the Times of India said.
The Act, which was also imposed in Punjab during its troubled days, was withdrawn fully in 1997. It was also imposed in Tripura in 1997 and was withdrawn in 2015.
However, many in the center fear that if the AFSPA is withdrawn from Assam it may have repercussions in J&K and Manipur where the Act has been a major subject of dispute between the state governments and the Centre.
The Act is in force in Nagaland, Manipur (except the Imphal municipal area), Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal, a 20-km belt in Meghalaya bordering Assam and J&K.
The AFSPA grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces in “disturbed areas”. The act was first passed in 1958 and initially applicable to the Naga Hills, then part of Assam. In the following decades it spread, one by one, to the other Seven Sister States in India’s northeast. It 1983 it was applicable to Punjab and Chandigarh. An act passed in 1990 was applied to Jammu and Kashmir and has been in force since.
The Acts have received criticism from several sections for alleged concerns about human rights violations in the regions of its enforcement.
SAM Report, May 6, 2017
Indian army personnel patrol on trucks in Assam state’s Kokrajhar district (Photo: Internet)
The Indian government has declared the entire Assam as a “disturbed” area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for three more months, citing various violent activities by insurgent groups.
The Union Home Ministry in a gazette notification said the entire Assam, besides bordering areas of Meghalaya, have been declared “disturbed” under the AFSPA for three months with effect from May 3.
The ministry said there were 75 incidents of violence in the state in 2016 in which 33 people, including four security personnel, were killed. Four people, including two security personnel were killed in nine violent incidents that took place in 2017.
The ministry blamed the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom), NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland), NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland), and others insurgent groups for the violence.
The AFSPA has been effective in the three Arunachal Pradesh districts bordering Assam since January 2016.
Assam under AFSPA for 26 years
Declaring the entire Assam as a “disturbed area”, the Centre had imposed the Act on November 27, 1990, at the height of militancy spearheaded by ULFA. The Act enables the armed forces to exercise special powers while combating militancy.
After 26 years of the imposition of the tough act, now the Assamese government is reportedly reviewing whether the controversial AFSPA could be withdrawn from at least some areas. A proposal in this regard could be presented at a meeting of the strategic group of the Unified Command structure in the state headed by the Army next week, the Times of India said.
The Act, which was also imposed in Punjab during its troubled days, was withdrawn fully in 1997. It was also imposed in Tripura in 1997 and was withdrawn in 2015.
However, many in the center fear that if the AFSPA is withdrawn from Assam it may have repercussions in J&K and Manipur where the Act has been a major subject of dispute between the state governments and the Centre.
The Act is in force in Nagaland, Manipur (except the Imphal municipal area), Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal, a 20-km belt in Meghalaya bordering Assam and J&K.
The AFSPA grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces in “disturbed areas”. The act was first passed in 1958 and initially applicable to the Naga Hills, then part of Assam. In the following decades it spread, one by one, to the other Seven Sister States in India’s northeast. It 1983 it was applicable to Punjab and Chandigarh. An act passed in 1990 was applied to Jammu and Kashmir and has been in force since.
The Acts have received criticism from several sections for alleged concerns about human rights violations in the regions of its enforcement.
