AFSPA extended in Nagaland for six more months
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 30
The government today decided to extend the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the entire Nagaland for another six months. The law becomes applicable when the Centre declares a state or part of it “disturbed area” and it gives powers to security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without warrant.
In a notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the Central government was of the opinion that the area comprising the whole state of Nagaland was in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power was necessary.
“Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, the Central government hereby declares whole of the said state to be a ‘disturbed area’ for six months with effect from December 30, 2019, for the purpose of that Act,” the order said.
A Home Ministry official said the decision to continue the declaration of Nagaland as “disturbed area” had been taken as killings, loot and extortion have been going on in various parts of the state which necessitated the action for the convenience of the security forces operating there.
There have been demands from various organisations in the Northeast as well as in Jammu and Kashmir for repealing the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which, they say, gives “sweeping powers” to security forces.
The AFSPA has been in force in Nagaland for decades. It has not been withdrawn even after a framework agreement was signed on August 3, 2015, by Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and government interlocutor RN Ravi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
