Boys fishing in Assam
New Delhi: In view of “significant improvement” in the security situation in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, the Union Home Ministry today announced a partial lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in these states from tomorrow, April 1, 2022.
“In comparison to 2014, there has been a reduction of 74 per cent in militancy incidents in the North Eastern States in 2021. Similarly, deaths of security personnel and civilians have also come down by 60 per cent and 84 per cent respectively during this period,” the Ministry stated, adding that the improvement in the security situation in the Northeast has resulted in the step by the Government of India to reduce the disturbed areas under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur after decades.
At present, the Disturbed Area Notification is in force in the whole of Assam since 1990. However, now due to the significant improvement in the situation, AFSPA will be removed with effect from April 1, 2022, completely from 23 districts and partially from 1 district of the state. Similarly, the Disturbed Area Declaration, which is in force in the entire Manipur (except the Imphal Municipality area) since 2004, will be withdrawn from 15 police station areas of the 6 districts of Manipur from tomorrow. Moreover, it will be withdrawn from Nagaland, where it is in force since 1995, in a phased manner based on the recommendation of a committee constituted in this context. The Disturbed Area Notification would be withdrawn from 15 police stations in 7 districts in Nagaland with effect from April 1, 2022.
The Ministry noted that most of the extremist groups of the North East had laid down their arms expressing their faith in the Constitution of India and the policies of the Union government. “Today all these persons have become a part of the democratic process and are participating in the development of the North East. About 7,000 militants have surrendered in the last few years,” it stated.
It also referred to the Government of India signing several agreements to end insurgencies in the North East in the last three years. Some such agreements were, it pointed out, the Bodo Accord of January 2020 to resolve the five decades-long Bodo problems of Assam and the Karbi-Anglong Agreement of September 4, 2021, to resolve the long-standing dispute over the Karbi region of Assam. Similarly, the NLFT (SD) agreement was signed in August 2019 to bring militants into the mainstream of society in Tripura. On January 16, 2020, the Centre signed an agreement to resolve the 23-year-old Bru-Reang refugee crisis, under which 37,000 internally displaced persons are being resettled in Tripura. On March 29, 2022, another agreement was signed regarding the boundaries of Assam and Meghalaya.
Also read: Assam and Meghalaya sign ‘historic’ agreement to settle border dispute
Due to the improvement in the security situation, the Disturbed Area Notification under AFSPA was completely removed from Tripura in 2015 and Meghalaya in 2018.
In 2015, AFSPA was in force in 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, 20 km. belt of Arunachal Pradesh along the Assam border and in 16 police station areas in 9 other districts of the State. This has been gradually reduced and the Disturbed Areas Notification is currently applicable in only 3 districts and in 2 police station areas in 1 other district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “unwavering commitment and attention” to the North East region, which had been neglected for decades, the region is now witnessing a new era of peace, prosperity and unprecedented development.
– global bihari bureau
