peepl-small

AFSPA extended for another 6 months in Nagaland

PUBLISHED:

Guwahati:  The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been extended for another six months in Nagaland.

This comes in the heels of the Oting incident of December 4 for which the army is conducting a court of inquiry.

The Centre argued for the extension of AFSPA by describing the situation in Nagaland as “disturbed.”

The Nagaland assembly on December 20 unanimously resolved to demand the repeal of AFSPA from the state.

Following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi last week, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said that a committee will be formed to look into the withdrawal of the controversial law.

For several years, AFSPA has been extended every six months in the state, despite the fact that it has long been a “disturbed area.”

The first requirement to impose AFSPA, a law that has roots in dates back to the colonial era is to declare a place a “disturbed area.”

Rights groups of Nagaland, as well as the state government, have been pleading with the central government to repeal AFSPA.

The anti-AFSPA calls recently turned intense after an ambush by the army’s Para Special Forces went horribly wrong in Nagaland on December 4, when they killed 14 civilians at Oting village in Mon district.

RELATED ARTICLES