Focus needed on AFSPA

Perhaps it would have been befitting to put the issue of Armed Forces(Special Powers)Act in public domain for it has been hanging like Damocles’ sword over people of Nagaland since the latter part of 1958 and making it the state with the longest currency of the Act. The Act was subsequently imposed throughout the north east but later revoked in some states. Presently AFSPA extends throughout Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland including districts of Changlang, Longding and Tirap in Aurnachal Pradesh while it has been withdrawn from Meghalaya, Imphal Municipal Council area and Tripura. The point is if the AFSPA could be lifted from Meghalaya, Tripura, parts of Arunachal except the three above-named districts and Manipur, why is it that the same has not been done for Mizoram, where insurgency ended more than two decades ago? Also why are Assam and Nagaland still placed under the Act? For Nagaland, the issue is also pertinent because as of today all armed groups are under negotiation with the government of India. The then UPA government had constituted the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee to submit report on the AFSTA. The Committee recommended doing away with the draconian Act and in favour or a more humane Act in 2010. However, the UPA government, as expected, took no action. In 2015, the NDA government decided to reject the recommendations outright. The army has been resisting any attempt to dilute the Act as they maintain that no armed force would like to carry out any operation in the insurgent affected areas without proper legal protection for its personnel. AFSPA serves as a grim reminder that people living in the region that they continue to be neglected except as to be “administered/ruled” through such draconian measures. On the other hand, whenever security forces continued to respond to the situations, there have been allegations, some very serious in nature, which have gone unaddressed since AFSPA shields the uniformed personnel from any court action. The Supreme Court had in 2018 dismissed three petitions filed by over 750 army personnel challenging its decision in July 2016 to dilute the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) on the grounds that it must not give officers the right to use “excessive or retaliatory” force. In July 2016, the top court asked for a thorough probe into the alleged killings in Manipur and held that “excessive or retaliatory” force by the armed forces was not permissible under Afspa. It also noted that democracy would be in grave danger if citizens were killed merely on suspicions. The AFSPA has become synonymous with the north east as much as insurgency. If AFSPA is so necessary to tackle armed rebels/insurgents etc, then it defies logic because the government of India has not found fit to impose this Act in Naxal/Maoist-infested states where hundreds of armed personnel were killed during the recent decades. If the government of India does not need AFSPA to tackle the brutal and hardened Maoists/ Naxals, then should it persist with the Act in the north east, which even by the Army’s own admission, the situation is largely peaceful. The law at best is useful in the short run to handle an intense disturbance. Beyond a point, it is likely to turn counter-productive. The sagacity of a government lies in identifying that point.