Panel discussion and Press conference on AFSPA
22 May 2008 at New Delhi

Intercultural Resources, INSAF and Reachout
Invite you to
A panel discussion and press conference
on


Sustaining violence and impunity
50 Years of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958

** Updated on May 21st, 2008 by Kshetrimayum Onil

On 22nd May 1958, the Government of India promulgated an ordinance called the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance to meet the challenges arising out of the assertions of the Naga tribes in the then Naga Hills of Assam and parts of the then North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA).

This ordinance was almost identical to a similar ordinance promulgated by the colonial British on 15 August 1942 to suppress the uprising of Quit India Movement. It gave extraordinary powers to members of the armed forces, such as arrest without warrant and shoot to kill on the basis of suspicion. The Parliament subsequently converted this ordinance, (which was brought in as a temporary measure), into an Act on 18 August 1958, and the President gave his assent on 11 September 1958.

Thus, the unleashing of state's violent power or what some have called "State terrorism", that began on 22nd May 1958 was consolidated on that fateful 9/11 as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and began its journey as a permanent instrument to militaristically treat the people of North East. While the people of Punjab had a brief taste of the Act in the 1980s, the people of Kashmir have been subjected to the same Act since 1990. But it is the people of the North East who have been its sustained victims for the last 50 years.

While two MPs from Manipur opposed the Act in the Parliament in 1958 itself, and protests have regularly occurred, since the 1980s, various organizations and individuals have also challenged the legal and constitutional validity of the Act. After 15 long years, the Supreme Court took up litigation by NPMHR, and while accepting that the disturbed condition where the Act has been enforced is not due to armed rebellion and that it does not constitute a threat to national security, it upheld the constitutional validity of the Act in 1997.

The numerous acts of human rights abuses under the Act came to the fore again in the gruesome murder of Manorama by the security forces operating under the Act in 2004. The people of Manipur rose up not only against the murder but also against the Act, which was joined by various civil liberties organizations and concerned citizens from across the country and world. Ultimately, the PMO was compelled to constitute the Reddy Committee to look into the matter and explore the possibility of substituting the AFSPA with a "more humane" Act.

The Committee submitted its report on 6 June 2005 and recommended that the Act be repealed. Similarly the Administrative Reforms Committee headed by Veerappan Moily also recommended on 26 June 2007 that the Act to be repealed. Earlier, in February 2007, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had also recommended that the Indian Government immediate repeal the AFSPA. There has been no response from the Government. Even the Jeevan Committee report has not been made public, though The Hindu has leaked the report.

Just as the people continue to suffer under the Act, the struggle, including that of Sharmila who has been on fast for years, against the Act also continues.

On the 50th anniversary of the Act, to initiate further debate and to affirm the urgent need to repeal the Act, we are organizing a panel discussion and a Press Conference. We will also circulate a dossier at the Conference.

Date: 22 May 2008
Place: Indian Press Club
Time: 3:00 pm

Chair: Mr Smitu Kothari, Intercultural Resources and Lokayan
Panelists: Mr Sanjoy Hazarika, Member of Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee
Dr Bimol Akoijam, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
Mr. Ravi Himadri, The Othermedia
Ms.Shabnam Hashmi, ANHAD
Ms. Indira Jaising, Constitutional Expert (tbc)

Supported by: The National Alliance of Peoples Movements, Asha Parivar , North East Dialogue Forum, Open Space (Bangalore), People's Watch, Drik India, MASUM, Jagori, Secular Alliance for Harmony among Youths of Grassroot (SAHYOG), Shwe Gas Campaign Committee

Contacts: onilrights(at)gmail(dot)com(Reachout), ihfindia(at)gmail(dot)com(Intercultural Resources), insaf(at)vsnl(dot)com(INSAF)

** Updated on May 21st, 2008 by Kshetrimayum Onil

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* This announcement is supplied by Radha Kapuria . She can be reached at radhakapuria(at)gmail(dot)com . This announcement was webcasted on May 20th, 2008

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