At a time when states in the north east expressed outrage against the Armed Forces (Special Powers)Act 1958 in the light of the December 4 Oting massacre by a unit of the 21 Paras; chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) Justice Arun Mishra’s remarks only reflected an ambivalence on the Act. Justice Mishra had said that it would be wrong to generalise that human rights get violated due to imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the Northeast. Justice Mishra had said this to media in Guwahati on December 17 after a two-day public hearing on the complaints related to human rights violations in the five northeastern states. It is known that AFSPA has become synonymous with violation of human rights even resulting in deaths either under custody or fake encounters because the uniformed personnel have been given unbridled powers with no accountability while acting on behalf of the Centre. The Act has been described in many terms- draconian act, anti-human law etc but despite all that including stricture by the courts, The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 is still in force. The AFSPA is presently in force in the States of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur {excluding Imphal Municipal Council Area}, Changlang, Longding and Tirap districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and areas falling within the jurisdiction of the eight police stations of districts in Arunachal Pradesh bordering the State of Assam. It was revoked from Tripura when the state decided that the situation had improved. Meghalaya also revoked the act in 2018 although some outfits are still actively engaged in extortion. Draconian laws have been in force in erstwhile Naga Hills even as early as 1953 through the Assam Maintenance of Public Order(Autonomous district) and subsequently, a more harsher law titled the Assam Disturbed Areas Act of 1955.Nagas were already facing the brunt of brutalities under a free India under these two laws and later, the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers)Act 1958. The Oting incident on December 4 when 14 civilians were massacred is clearly nothing but a display of the direct role of AFSPA on the minds of the uniformed personnel. The 21 Paras were sent to Oting on a special mission or surgical strike and not to direct traffic or stop vehicles to frisk passengers. The 21 Paras is a special unit trained and armed to kill and operates beyond the jurisdictions of army corps in the northeast. It was based at Jorhat (Assam) a zone under 4 Corps and operated in Oting(Nagaland) under 3 Corps. Successive governments in Nagaland have not recommended extension of the Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) to facilitate AFSPA 1958. Since the state government or cabinet had not recommended extension of the DAA, it would only be the governor. The special powers of the governor with respect to law and order is an overriding factor in Nagaland that contravenes the constitutional powers of the cabinet. It is time that the state government challenge the extra constitutional powers of the state governor and ensure that the latter acts as per the constitution in letter and spirit- on the advice of the council of ministers. Perhaps this should be discussed at the one-day session on December 20.
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