Will partial AFSPA be lifted in Nagaland soon
The Center will have to decide before December 31 when the notification of troubled areas to enable AFSPA in Nagaland will expire.
The Armed Forces may explore the possibility of partial removal of the Special Powers Act from Central Nagaland and some other states in the North East.
The move came after a meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Chief Ministers of Assam and Nagaland late on Thursday night. If AFSPA is partially removed from Nagaland, it will be the first time in the history of the state.
Confidential sources at the meeting said that Nagaland Chief Minister Nefiu Rio, Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton and former Chief Minister TR Zeliang had agreed to oppose the AFSPA. However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Bishwa Sharma is believed to have taken a different stance in favor of his state.
Shah Rio and others said that even if AFSPA was partially withdrawn, procedures would have to be created and the state police would have to take more responsibility for maintaining law and order.
Shah is expected to brief Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the talks before making a final decision.
The Center will have to decide before December 31 when the notification of troubled areas to enable AFSPA in Nagaland will expire.
A senior police official in Nagaland said that if AFSPA was withdrawn, the methods that could be considered would be to establish a unified command so that the army could play a role in maintaining law and order.
He said the government could only consider removing AFSPA in rural areas because the law is required in urban centers where insurgent groups are involved in large-scale extortion and kidnappings.
Currently, the Assam Rifles is primarily responsible for maintaining law and order in the northeast and guards the Indo-Myanmar border with the army. Assam Rifles is the only paramilitary force with dual control structure.
Although its administrative control is with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, its operational control is with the army.
Home Ministry officials told the paper that both the Assam Rifles and the CRPF, which has about 35 battalions in the northeast, including 18 in Assam and two in Nagaland, have told the government they are in favor of the status quo in AFSPA.
“All the central police forces have been asked to state their position in AFSPA and they have stated that they do not want any change in the deployment and want stability,” said a senior Home Ministry official.
As far as the central police force is concerned, they do not want any change in the deployment in the North-East. A senior Union Home Ministry official said they wanted stability.
Will partial AFSPA be lifted in Nagaland soon
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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