Manipur Congress Promises Repeal Of AFSPA If Voted To Power

Manipur Congress has promised the repeal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the party manifesto released on Friday for the state Assembly elections.

The AFSPA has been in the center of discussion since the killing of civilians in Nagaland’’s Mon district during an alleged "botched up operation" by the Army Para Commandos to target terrorists. A large section of people have been demanding the complete repeal of the act from Nagaland and Manipur.

The Manipur government has extended the "disturbed area" status of the state for a period of one year with retrospective effect from December 1, 2021. However, Imphal Municipal Area is not part of it.

The party’s manifesto also include Municipal cultural diversity policy, free critical medical treatment for children, creation of Manipur regiment and creation of Manipur trade centre, compensation for wrongly detained media persons, three years' upper age limits relaxation to unemployed youths due to pandemic.

The Manipur Assembly elections will be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3.