Nagaland Assembly passes resolution demanding repeal of AFSPA

The Nagaland Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the Centre to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the state, in the wake of the recent killings of 14 civilians by security personnel during a faulty ambush in the northeastern state.

While moving the resolution in the state Assembly on Monday, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said the government has been asking the Centre to remove AFSPA from the state and take Nagaland off the list of “disturbed areas” for the past 20 years. He said the demand became more pronounced in the recent past in view of the improved situation in Nagaland.

The declaration of a state or any area as “disturbed area” under Section 3 of the AFSPA is made by the Centre generally for a period of six months only at a time. “On the eve of expiry of the 6-month period, the government of India seeks views and comments from the state government. Every time, we have been taking the same stand, that there is no need or justification for extending the declaration of Nagaland as a disturbed area,” Rio said.

He, however, said the request of the state government has been ignored time and again and the declaration is renewed “again and again”.

Several northeastern states including Nagaland have been demanding the repeal of AFSPA which empowers security personnel to make arrests with a warrant and shoot to kill. The demand became pronounced after six civilians were gunned down by 21 Para Special Forces of the Indian Army in a botched-up operation in Oting village of Nagaland’s Mon district earlier this month. Eight more civilians were killed after security personnel opened fire following an outbreak of violence over the first killings.

Also read: AFSPA: How the clock turned 24 years back in Nagaland

Rio said the current declaration of Nagaland as Disturbed Area is going to expire by the end of this month and hoped the Centre will not extend it further.

Rio pointed out that AFSPA was in force only in a few northeastern states and in Jammu & Kashmir but not in Maoists affected states, where the Centre relies on state police forces and central police to deal with the situation.

AFSPA was enacted by Parliament in 1958 in order to give the Indian Security Forces special powers to deal with Naga armed insurgency.

The resolution also condemned the killing of the 14 civilians while demanding an apology from “appropriate authority” and an assurance that justice will be delivered by applying the laws of the land upon those who perpetrated the “inhuman massacre and upon those who are responsible for the incidents”.

It was for the third time in little over six years that the Nagaland Assembly passed a resolution for the repeal of the AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to detain and arrest people without a warrant in areas designated as “disturbed”. It had earlier adopted similar resolutions on March 3, 1971 and July 27, 2015.

(With inputs from agencies)