Review AFSPA in entire NE: Forum
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, January 10 2022: While welcoming the move of the central government to constitute a committee comprising Dr Vivek Joshi of RG & CCI as chairman along with five other members from Nagaland Government, Nagaland Police, Assam Rifles and MHA to review the imposition of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Nagaland, Naga Political Leaders' Forum Manipur said that that reviewing the Act for Nagaland alone will not serve any purpose as the said process should cover the whole of North Eastern states.

In a release, the Forum denounced the massacre of 14 Konyak civilians at Oting village in Mon district on December 4 and 5 by a combined team of 21 Para Commandos of Indian Army and Assam Rifles.

"The Forum is of the opinion that such inhuman massacre of civilians was possible due to the imposition of the draconian Act, Armed Forces Special Power Act 1958 (AFSPA)," it said.

While urging the central and state governments to repeal the draconian law from the whole North Eastern states, with special emphasis on Manipur and Nagaland, the release said that continued and prolonged imposition of AFSPA in the region is meaningless and the civilians face several hardships due to such draconian law.

Regarding revision of the Act, the Forum is of the opinion that a holistic approach by all the 25 MPs and chief ministers of the NE States is the need of the hour, it stressed and called for constituting a review committee of all the MPs and CMs of the NE States in line with the review committee of Nagaland to examine and find a solution to repeal AFSPA from the North East region.

Exhorting the governments of India and Manipur to solve the 25 years long Indo-Naga peace talk, the Forum also urged to initiate steps to bring all the remaining insurgent groups to the negotiation table by signing peace accords with them so that peace can be restored and usher in an era of development in the whole NE states.

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