The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday said that six police stations in Manipur, which are Imphal West, Thoubal, Ukhrul, Chandel, Bishnupur, and Churachandpur, would again be brought under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958.
These places, earlier left out from AFSPA, are now branded as ‘disturbed’ on assessments made on the current security situation in the area. They are back in search of the wretched of the earth after they had left a few years ago following widespread protests against the anti-people AFSPA and subsequent unruly activities carried out by security forces, which its repeal triggered and fresh attacks on civilians as well as between militants and security forces.
A day before this decision, the MHA deployed an additional 20 paramilitary companies, totaling 2450 personnel, to Manipur as the violence escalated; ethnic conflict in Manipur has killed more than 230 people since it began some 18 months ago. Security challenges still persist in this region, especially in terms of ethnic violence in different districts of Manipur.
Six police stations that were earlier out of the purview of AFSPA will come under it because of the continued insurgency, according to a notification issued by Piyush Goyal, the additional secretary at the MHA. Some of these police stations are located in Imphal West, including Sekmai and Lamshang; in Imphal East, include Lamlai; in Jiribam District, include Jiribam; in Kangpokpi District, include Leimakhong; and in Bishnupur District include Moirang.
This notification brought the acknowledgment that violence is still in the border areas of Bishnupur-Churachandpur, Imphal East-Kangpokpi-Imphal West, and Jiribam. There has been a lot of violent action by the insurgent groups, and thus, it required the distribution of AFSPA to restore law and order. The re-imposition will stay in force until March 31, 2025, because the security forces need sufficient power to deal with the given situation and to bring order to the region.
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