Reviewing AFSPA
The Centre’s decision to set up a high-level committee to examine the possibility of lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland signals its intention to do course correction and defuse tension in the northeastern state. Nagaland has been in turmoil after the recent killing of 14 civilians, including six who lost their lives in a botched counter-insurgency operation. The voices seeking withdrawal of AFSPA have grown even louder. The contentious law, which empowers security forces to conduct operations and arrest anyone without a warrant — besides giving them immunity if they shoot anybody dead — has come under sharp scrutiny due to its indiscriminate use.
Though the committee’s mandate is restricted to assessing whether it’s time to revoke AFSPA in Nagaland, where it has been in operation for decades, there is an urgent need to review its viability in the entire Northeast. The Act is at present in force in Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (barring Imphal municipal council area) and certain districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It had been removed from Tripura in 2015 and Meghalaya in 2018. Both states have remained by and large peaceful in the past few years. The violence witnessed by Tripura in recent months is attributed to communal and political factors rather than insurgency. How these states have handled the situation on their own after the withdrawal of AFSPA can guide others to come up with a roadmap for long-term peace and stability.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has called for a wait-and-watch approach, while expressing doubts whether militant outfits would fall in line if the Act is lifted from the state. It is imperative to have the CMs concerned on board during deliberations on AFSPA. The Centre must go all out to address their fears and apprehensions. A periodic and pragmatic assessment of the law and order situation by the Union and state governments can pave the way for the withdrawal of the Act, which has largely proved counterproductive to the extent of widening the trust deficit between the local residents and the security forces.
