The killing of 13 civilians at Oting village in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4 was followed by two rare instances in Northeast’s long tryst with counter-insurgency operations. First: army was quick in admitting that the killings and its aftermath was “deeply regrettable.” Secondly, two chief ministers (Nagaland and Meghalaya), both heading government with the ruling party (BJP) as ally, bluntly hit at the `root of such killings’: the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA).
“We want the draconian AFSPA to go. A country like India should have no place for such a draconian law,” Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio told reporters as he joined the funeral of the victims. His Meghalaya counterpart, Conrad K Sangma, too put his weight behind Rio saying the AFSPA should be repealed to avoid similar killings. The two CMs made the demand amid the outrage and anger Oting killings triggered among all, from student bodies to insurgent groups and community organisations across Northeast and elsewhere. Rio was more blunt on December 9 when he said the killings at Oting village was “misuse and abuse” of the AFSPA and it was “violative of human rights.”
Killings, arrests, detention and house search by security forces by using the powers given under the AFSPA even at night in the name of counter-insurgency are not new in the region troubled by insurgency for long. But the cry for repeal of the AFSPA has, perhaps, become louder after the Oting incident with even Nagaland Cabinet writing to the Centre seeking its repeal.
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Twenty-six-year-old Vetilo Venuh, a post-graduate in peace and conflict studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati, grew up in the post-ceasefire (1997) years. Venuh, who now lives in the Nagaland capital Kohima heard about the “horrors of militarisation” from his elders. “But I don’t see much difference from what had occurred in the past. The gruesome incidents like the one in Oting reminds us that we are not far from what was back in the 1950s and the succeeding decades of conflict,” Venuh told DH.
According to him, life under the shadow of AFSPA in Nagaland continues to be difficult even after the ceasefire. “Even our people feel insecure in the presence of the armed forces,” he said. “I just hope the Act is repealed, so that there is no more bloodshed of innocent civilians.”
The killings at Oting, human rights activist Binalakshmi Nepram said, brought back trauma of many other “massacres” that happened since the AFSPA was imposed in 1958. She mentioned about Heirangoithong massacre in 1984 and Malom carnage in 2000 that led to public anger against the AFSPA. “Northeast India has become killing fields since the AFSPA was first imposed.” It was because of killing of 10 youths allegedly by Assam Rifles personnel at Malom, Irom Sharmila had started her hunger strike in 2000. Sharmila ended her fast in 2016.
AFSPA and peace talks
The AFSPA is in force now in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, the Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts (bordering Myanmar) of Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling under eight police stations of the state bordering Assam. The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990, is in force in J&K, another insurgency-hit region. Under the Act, security forces can use force or even open fire after giving a warning if they feel the person is in contravention of the law. They can also search a house or arrest a person without a warrant.
The AFSPA, 1958 is in force parallel to the ceasefire and dialogue going on with insurgent groups in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM), the biggest Naga insurgent group is in ceasefire since 1997 and their cadres are lodged in designated camps near Dimapur. The ceasefire was also signed with other breakaway factions and groups between 2001 and 2021. Yung Aung faction of NSCN (Khaplang), however, continues their “armed struggle.” The group along with the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa-Independent) in neighbouring Assam was held responsible for the killing of 18 personnel of Dogra Regiment of the army in Manipur in 2015. Another eight soldiers were similarly gunned down in Mon district in May 2015. Mon shares border with Myanmar and is considered a transit route for insurgents having hideouts in the neighbouring country. Talks are also underway with some insurgent groups in Manipur but two major groups, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and United National Liberation Front (UNLF) are yet to join the process. Most of these insurgent groups demand “sovereignty” for their communities. PLA and a Manipur-based Naga group claimed responsibility of killing a colonel of Assam Rifles, his wife, son and four jawans in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on November 13.
The NSCN-IM signed a “Framework Agreement” with Narendra Modi government in August 2015 and an “Agreed Position” was signed in 2017 with Naga National Political Group (NNPG), a forum of seven rival groups. The process to sign a final agreement, however, has gone into a limbo, mainly due to NSCN-IM’S insistence on its “core demand” for recognition to a separate flag and Constitution for the Nagas.
The NSCN (IM) on December 8 said killings at Oting has become a “threat” to Nagas’ longing for peace. “No political talks will be meaningful under the shadow of AFSPA. Blood and political talks cannot go together,” the outfit said in a statement emailed to DH.
Quest for justice
The fight for justice against “extra judicial killings” or “fake encounters” allegedly by security forces given special powers under the AFSPA in Northeast has been a long struggle. Pleas for justice related to over 1,500 such killings, committed between 1980 and 2011, has remained pending in Manipur alone.
“Family members of such victims cannot afford to fight such a long legal battle in courts,” said Jagadish Bhuyan, general secretary of Asom Jatiya Parishad, a new regional party in Assam. He knows it better. Bhuyan had successfully fought a 24-year-long legal battle against killing of five youths at Dangori in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district in 1994, when Ulfa insurgency was at its peak. Four of the victims were members of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and Bhuyan was its vice-president then. A summary general court martial was conducted against seven army officers including a major general and a colonel in 2018 and they were sentenced to life imprisonment and dismissal for service.
“The Section 6 of AFSPA, in fact, reinforces the special powers, prohibiting any action, including “prosecution, suit or any other legal action” against such officers, except with the previous sanction of the Central government, against anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by the Act,” Hong Kong-based rights body, Asian Human Rights Commission said. “Evidently, the “special powers” are just another name of impunity for the security forces deployed in ‘disturbed areas.’
Need for AFSPA
Army officials engaged in counter-insurgency operations, however, stress that they need some kind of special power to deal with insurgency, which is still serious, particularly in Manipur and Nagaland. “If the government wants army to maintain internal security, we must be given some special powers,” said an army officer posted in Nagaland, with a request for anonymity. He cited the annual report of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, that said insurgency situation in Manipur and Nagaland was still a cause of worry even as militancy-related incidents decreased significantly in the past 10 years (see graphics).
Nagaland CM Rio, however, countered such argument saying the law and order issues at present can be tackled by the laws other than the AFSPA. “The AFSPA was imposed in Nagaland when militancy was very serious. But major groups are in ceasefire and are engaged in peace talks for nearly 25 years now. But the AFSPA is still there,” he said. Conrad Sangma said, “AFSPA has not given any results, it’s been counter-productive in the last few years. There has been more unrest, we have lost many precious lives and people have gone through a lot of pain and suffering.”
So, can insurgency be handled without the AFSPA? “If the situation in Chhattisgarh (Maoist problem) can be dealt with without the AFSPA, why not in Manipur and Nagaland?” asked Suhas Chakma, Director of New Delhi-based Rights and Risk Analysis Group.
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