AFSPA must be repealed

The withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some districts across Nagaland, Assam and Manipur, which was announced by the Union Home Ministry last week, is welcome, though it is a case of being too little, too late. The government took the decision after removing these districts from the list of ‘disturbed areas’. The decision is too little because the Act continues to be in operation in much of Nagaland and Manipur, with only a few small areas having been exempted there. It is too late because the decision should have been taken much earlier. Much of Assam is now out of the purview of the law which has been in force there for decades. While it will not be in force in 24 districts in Assam, only areas under a few police stations have been removed from the ‘disturbed areas’ list in the other two states. It continues to be in operation in many areas in Arunachal Pradesh.

The government has claimed that it has taken the decision because of the improvement in the security situation in these areas. But its claims and reasons with respect to the AFSPA have never been convincing. Wherever the security situation improved, it did so largely because of the political agreements reached with the militant or insurgent groups in the disaffected areas. The 2020 Bodo accord and the 2021 Karbi Anglong agreement, for example, normalised the situation in these areas. AFSPA has actually only tended to aggravate situations because it is a draconian law implemented harshly by the security forces. The killing of 14 people by the security forces in Nagaland’s Mon district last year is fresh in memory. Killings, violence against women, and other repressive actions have taken place in all the states where the law has been in force. They have alienated people and that has only hurt the cause of peace and normalcy.

People in these states and civil society and rights groups have persistently demanded the total withdrawal of AFSPA from states where it is in force. The excessive and unaccounted powers that the law gives to the armed forces have often been misused. The rule of law gets practically suspended in these areas and it is the arbitrary writ of the armed forces that runs there. They tend to justify their actions, and those who commit atrocities are rarely punished. The Supreme Court has initiated proceedings on many of the cases that went up to it and passed strictures on their basis. The government’s latest decision does not indicate any change in its view of the law itself. It is a law that has no place in a democracy and must be repealed.