Repeal AFSPA where not needed

The Tripura government’s decision to revoke the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 18 years after it was imposed in the state, sends out a heartening message to the rest of the country: emergency regulations put in place in areas of unrest need not be permanent fixtures and can be lifted once normalcy is restored. The AFSPA was imposed in the Naga Hills in 1958 to tackle the incipient insurgency there. In subsequent years, it was extended to other parts of the Northeast, including Assam, Manipur, Tripura and more recently Arunachal Pradesh. The AFSPA vests enormous powers in the hands of the armed forces; they can shoot at sight, search and arrest without a warrant. Besides, it provides soldiers with legal immunity for all their actions in the course of an operation. The armed forces insist that soldiers need such legal protection to operate in an insurgency-wracked region. Indeed, AFSPA has played a role in tackling militancy.

However, civilians in conflict zones and human rights activists have drawn attention to the gross misuse of the law, which, they argue, triggered fresh cycles of violence and kept the insurgency alive. Although the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission recommended AFSPA’s repeal in 2005 and many in the political establishment and civilian bureaucracy have supported the panel’s suggestion, opposition from the armed forces has stood in the way of AFSPA’s dilution, let alone its repeal. This has contributed to a perception that it is impossible to get rid of AFSPA.

Tripura’s decision to revoke AFSPA dispels this misconception. The AFSPA can be lifted if the security situation no longer requires this law. This is the case with Tripura, where militancy was on the wane over the past 4-5 years, prompting the perception that AFSPA was not needed any longer. Its Left Front government did a splendid job in discrediting militant groups by winning over public support for democratic processes and institutions. It then initiated consultations involving the Central government and the security forces. This culminated in the historic decision to revoke AFSPA. The Left Front refrained from making AFSPA an issue for point scoring over its rivals. Instead, it included them in the decision-making process. Tripura’s decision is likely to spur the demand for AFSPA’s repeal in other areas. There are areas where this law is not needed. The Union government must set in motion a process to determine where and whether AFSPA is needed. In places where normalcy has returned, AFSPA must be revoked.