In Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the improved security situation had led to the withdrawal of AFSPA in some parts of the Northeast. Will he be the one who finally lifts the shadow of the law from the region?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the ‘Peace, Unity and Development Rally’ in Diphu, Karbi Along, Assam. Image Courtesy: @narendramodi/Twitter
“As peace is coming, we are changing rules. Now AFSPA (The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act too is removed from certain places because there is peace. In other places, too, we are trying if things are alright, then AFSPA will be removed from there too,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he addressed a ‘unity, peace and development’ rally at Loringthepi located in Karbi Anglong in Assam.
The prime minister is in the northeastern state today to lay foundations and inaugurate some development projects worth several hundred crores.
Interestingly, his AFSPA remark comes after the home ministry reduced the “disturbed areas” under AFSPA in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland on 31 March. The order dictated that AFSPA was being removed completely from 23 districts and one district would be covered partially under it in Assam.
We take a look back at why AFSPA was introduced in the Northeast, and the significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rollback of the law in the area.
AFSPA in the Northeast
The genesis of AFSPA, which has often been called draconian by human rights activists, is rooted in the 1950s.
A paper published by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses states that AFSPA finds its traces to the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance of 1942, promulgated by the British on 15 August 1942 to suppress the ‘Quit India’ movement.
The context of introducing this law came when India witnessed violence in 1954 as the Nagas, who inhabited the Naga Hills of Assam and Manipur, had opposed the merger of their area with that of India on the grounds that they were racially and socio-politically different from the Indians.
To counter the insurgency by the Nagas, the Jawaharlal Nehru government passed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1958) in the Indian Parliament.
Very few lawmakers spoke in opposition to the law.
“We want a free India. But, we do not want a free India with barbed wires and concentration camps, where havaldars (sergeants) can shoot at sight any man,” Surendra Mohanty, a dissident member of the Parliament from Odisha had told the house.
AFSPA, which was envisaged to be enforced for only a year, was soon implemented in other parts of the Northeast.
When the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) in 1964 demanded the separation of Manipur from the Indian Union and two years later in 1966, the Mizo National Front (MNF) revolted against India, AFSPA was imposed in the area.
Similarly, in 1970 when violent incidents occurred in Tripura against Bengali migrants from Bangladesh, the law was enforced there too.
In the 1980s, the armed activities seen in Naga and Mizo areas and in Manipur began spreading to Assam. However, in November 1990 the United Liberation Front of Assam Ulfa militancy saw its peak
and it was then that Assam was declared a ‘disturbed’ area under AFSPA.
Since then, the Central government has been exercising the powers given under AFSPA.
Also read: Why AFSPA should be lifted but it done judiciously and in phases
AFSPA reduced in Northeast
In 1958, Parliament was told that AFSPA would last no longer than a year. In 2022, the wait for that year to end continues.
Every six months, the Centre reviews the security situation in the areas and decides on the extension of the law.
In August of 2018, the issued a notification declaring the entire state as “a disturbed area” and extending AFSPA for six more months as a precautionary measure to maintain order during the ongoing National Register of Citizens (NRC) update process.
In March 2022, things have seemed to change with the reduction of AFSPA across Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.
Home Minister Amit Shah had tweeted the change, saying it was a ‘significant step.’
The Ministry of Home Affairs then announced that AFSPA would be removed from 15 police station areas in seven districts of Nagaland; 15 police station areas in six districts of Manipur; and 23 districts entirely and one district partially in Assam, effectively from 1 April.
Reacting to the news, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said 31,724.94 sq km of the 78,438 sq km geographical area of the state is under the “Disturbed Area” status. He said the Act wouldremain in force across the Upper Assam and hill districts.
Why now?
Experts believe that the reduction of AFSPA in the Northeast will help in removing the feeling of alienation that the Northeast feels from the rest of the country. The move is expected to help demilitarise the region; it will lift restrictions of movements through check points and frisking of residents.
Narendra Modi’s speech in Assam gains more significance as the law has been enforced for the past 60 years.
The removal of AFSPA also is an indication that militancy in the region has reduced. Data shows that in 2021, militancy incidents across the Northeast had reduced by 74 per cent compared to 2014 and security personnel and civilians deaths had also come down by 60 per cent and 84 per cent, respectively, during this period.
Additionally, the home ministry under Amit Shah has been able to broker border disputes between the states. In March, Assam and Meghalaya chief ministers signed an agreement to resolve the five-decade-old border dispute.
Whether the shadow of this law will ever lift from Assam is unknown, but for people in the area, it’s a continued hope.
With inputs from agencies
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