Partial relief from AFSPA
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: April 02, 2022 -

WITH exception of some retired military officer-turned geopolitical commentators who have been keeping a close tabs on the insurgency situation afflicting the northeast region, there is remote chance of anybody questioning wisdom of the Union government in reducing the coverage area of the pro-military AFSPA 1958 in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam, as had been announced by Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday.

As promise for complete repeal of the Act, denounced as repressive by the northeast denizens, was the stand-out agenda mentioned in the election manifesto of various political parties for the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly election, with the same issue also figuring prominently in the past few polls, posers were raised when it didn't find a place in the ruling BJP's election menu.

As such, the Centre's announcement to curb highhandedness by security forces will help silence the detractors, the political opponents in particular, to a great extent.

It's known to all adults in the northeast that AFSPA gives unbridled powers to the personnel of armed forces to control and maintain public order in areas designated as disturbed.

For decades, instances of excessive acts committed by the state and central forces operating in the region are being attributed to Section 4 of AFSPA that gives special powers to armed forces, authorising its personnel to open fire, arrest people without warrants, enter and search without warrant while another section of the Act grants immunity to the security personnel from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings.

As shoot-outs between insurgent groups and security forces saw sharp decline in the last few years, only a handful of rights activists and organisations were left to carry forth the anti-AFSPA campaign with the various civil societies thinking it wise to lend their voices when counter-insurgency operations resulted in civilian casualties.

Manipur's own Irom Chanu Sharmila had been at the forefront of the movement to bring an end to the AFSPA but she too decided to abandon the campaign, mainly due to lukewarm response from the public, who seem to be convinced that the Act will be promulgated until a complete solution to the insurgency problem is brought out.

However, the December 2021 incident in Mon district of Nagaland during which 14 civilians got killed in a botched counter-insurgency operation had proven that Sharmila's campaign was for constitutional safeguard of the innocent citizens and to prevail upon the military think-tank that targeting or harassing the people under the garb of AFSPA 1958 wouldn't help solve the insurgency problem.

However, Amit Shah caught every northeast denizen by surprise on Thursday by announcing that the Central government has decided to reduce the disturbed areas under AFSPA in three the north-eastern states.

Shah announced the long-awaited decision in three separate tweets when most of the political parties and NGOs have been demanding to repeal the AFSPA.

Among others, chief ministers of the three states seem most relieved/satisfied with the Centre's stand as the region had been witnessing intensification of the demand for scrapping the Act after the Mon district incident.

Nevertheless, it could be safely stated that civil societies and rights bodies active in the hill districts of Manipur would cast aspersions on the state government's decision to scrap the Act only from areas in the valley pockets that fall under the jurisdiction of nine police stations contrary to the frequent claims that the BJP government has ushered in peace and development in the entire Manipur.

It is also likely that the rights organisations campaigning to deliver justice to those slain in alleged stage-managed encounters would be emboldened to demand expeditious proceedings of the fake encounter cases pending in the Supreme Court so as to see punishment of the trigger-happy security personnel.