Himanta says, Assam considers repealing contentious AFSPA law by end of year

On Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that his government will take the required steps to remove AFSPA from the entire state by the end of this year.

According to him, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) is presently limited to only eight districts in the northeastern state.

Sarma, who was hoisting the national flag on the occasion of the country’s 77th Independence Day, also stated that approximately 8,000 ‘revolutionaries’ have returned to the mainstream in the last three years.

‘I want to assure the people of Assam that by the end of this year, we will take fruitful steps to withdraw the AFSPA from every district of Assam. That will be an ‘amritmoy’ time for Assam’s history and we are eagerly waiting for that day,’ he said.

The expansion of the AFSPA has been suggested 62 times since its inception in the state more than three decades ago, according to Sarma.

‘The northeast region is now free from terrorism. In the last three years, four peace accords have been signed with revolutionaries of Assam and around 8,000 revolutionaries have returned to the mainstream,’ he said.

With effect from April 1, the Assam government extended the AFSPA’s ‘disturbed area’ notification for another six months in eight districts.

Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao now have the ‘disturbed area’ classification.

The AFSPA was originally implemented in Assam in November 1990 and has subsequently been renewed every six months after a review by the state government.

It gives security personnel the authority to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without a warrant.

The AFSPA also provides security forces with some immunity in the event of a failed mission.

Civil society organisations and human rights campaigners have called for the withdrawal of the ‘draconian law’ from the entire North East, stating that the armed forces had violated human rights.

The call to repeal the Act gathered traction after 14 civilians were killed by security personnel in a botched anti-insurgency operation and retaliatory bloodshed in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4, 2021.