Nagaland: The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 or AFSPA legislation, which has garnered huge political mileage, has been extended in Nagaland for another six months.
The extension comes amid calls from the Northeastern state to withdraw it after the alleged botched security operation near Oting Village in Nagaland’s Mon district that left 14 civilians and one jawan dead on 4 December.Protests from Nagaland’s rights groups and the state government have poured in demanding withdrawal of the act.
On December 20, the Nagaland assembly unanimously resolved to demand a repeal of AFSPA from the northeast, especially the state. A five-member committee has been formed under top bureaucrat Vivek Joshi to examine the possibility of withdrawal of AFSPA from Nagaland.
The Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act, or AFSPA, empowers the military to operate freely anywhere that has been declared a “disturbed area” according to which no military personnel in an area where AFSPA is in force can be prosecuted without the centre’s sanction.