In what is described as a "significant step", the Union government on Thursday announced reducing the localities marked as disturbed areas under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur "after decades" following "improved security situation and fast-tracked development" in the north-east.
The announcement was made by Home Minister Amit Shah in a series of tweets, saying the region was witnessing a new era of "peace, prosperity and unprecedented development".
However, a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spokesperson clarified that the decision does not imply that the AFSPA has been completely withdrawn from the three insurgency-hit states but will continue to be in force in some areas.
Referring to the improved situation in the region, senior officials said, there has been a reduction of 74% in militancy incidents in 2021. Similarly, deaths of security personnel and civilians have also come down by 60% and 84% respectively during this period.
Shah noted that the reduction in areas under the AFSPA was a "result of the improved security situation and fast-tracked development due to the consistent efforts and several agreements to end insurgency and bring lasting peace" in the northeast by the Modi government.
"Thanks to the Prime Minister's unwavering commitment, our North-Eastern region, which was neglected for decades, is now witnessing a new era of peace, prosperity and unprecedented development. I congratulate the people of North East on this momentous occasion," he added.
In Nagaland where AFSPA was invoked for the whole state, the Disturbed Area Notification will be withdrawn from 15 police stations in seven districts in Nagaland with effect from April 1.
The decision came as the Modi government accepted the recommendation of a committee constituted to examine the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA in a phased manner. The committee was formed after a group of labourers were killed in an ambush with the Army later claiming that they mistaken the group for terrorists.
Disturbed Area Notification is in force in the whole of Assam since 1990 and AFSPA is now being completely withdrawn from 23 districts and partially from 1 district of Assam from Friday.
The entire Manipal, except for Imphal Municipality, was under AFSPA since 2004 and now 15 police station areas of six districts of Manipur will be excluded from the Disturbed Area Notification with effect from April 1. In Manipur, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said, AFSPA will be in force only on the 391 km Manipur-Myanmar border.
In Arunachal Pradesh, AFSPA was in force in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, a 20 km belt of Arunachal Pradesh along the Assam border and in 16 police station areas in 9 other districts of the state in 2015. This has been gradually reduced and the Disturbed Areas Notification is currently applicable in only three districts and in two police station areas in one other district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Due to the improvement in the security situation, the Disturbed Area Notification under AFSPA was completely removed from Tripura in 2015 and Meghalaya in 2018.
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