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Revoke of AFSPA
April 27 , 2018
2277 days
798
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- The Union Home Ministry has removed Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and reduced it to eight police stations from 16 police stations in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The Act has however been extended by another six months in three eastern districts of Arunachal Pradesh – Tirap, Longding and Changlang – which border Myanmar and specific areas under eight police stations of seven other districts bordering Assam.
- The three districts have been under the AFSPA since January 2016.The Act was withdrawn from Tripura in 2015.
- The Act was only in place in Meghalaya for a 20-km area along the Assam border) and not in operation in Mizoram.
- It is effective in the whole of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (excluding seven assembly constituencies of Imphal).
- The state governments of Assam and Manipur now have the powers to keep or revoke the Act.
AFSPA
- AFSPA, enacted in 1958, gives powers to the army and state and central police forces to shoot to kill, search houses and destroy any property that is “likely” to be used by insurgents in areas declared as “disturbed” by the home ministry.
What are ‘disturbed’ areas
- The state or central government considers those areas as ‘disturbed’ “by reason of differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.
How is a region declared ‘disturbed’?
- Section (3) of the AFSPA empowers the governor of the state or Union territory to issue an official notification in The Gazette of India, following which the Centre has the authority to send in armed forces for civilian aid. Once declared ‘disturbed’, the region has to maintain status quo for a minimum of three months, according to The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976.”
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