The Centre has decided to reduce the areas under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said. The areas have been reduced after decades of disturbance.
The act empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any warrant. The act also gives a certain level of immunity to the security forces in case of an operation going wrong.
The Assam government on March 1 had extended AFSPA in the entire state for six more months. The AFSPA has been extended every six months since 1990 after a review by the state government.
Announcing the decision, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the reduction in areas under AFSPA is a result of the "improved security situation and fast-tracked development due to the consistent efforts and several agreements to end insurgency and bring lasting peace in Northeast by PM Narendra Modi".
He said, "Our Northeastern region, which was neglected for decades, is now witnessing a new era of peace, prosperity and unprecedented development."
Initially, the AFSPA was imposed in insurgency-affected areas of the hills of undivided Assam that were identified as “disturbed areas”. The Naga Hills were among those areas. Later on, all seven states in the Northeast were brought under the AFSPA.
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