Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 20:
Though the people of Manipur have been demanding the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Manipur at the soonest possible time, the hints received by the Opposition from the Prime Minister during a meeting at Raj Bhawan this evening, suggest that the act may not be repealed in the immediate future.
Talking to The Sangai Express a prominent member of the Opposition said that though they impressed upon the Prime Minister to announce the revocation of the said Act by December this year, the reaction of the Prime Minister was not encouraging.
An Opposition MLA informed The Sangai Express that the Prime Minister does not seem to know that the AFSPA is an Act applied only in the North East.
The MLA said, "When I pointed out that there is no need to take such a long time to review the Act, the Prime Minister replied that the time is needed as AFSPA is an all India Act".
Maybe the PMO failed to brief the Prime Minister about the Act properly, said the MLA.
The Prime Minister did not give any positive response to the demand of the Opposition to lift the said Act by December, said the source adding that he merely said that the Government will act according to the report of the Review Committee which was set up recently.