The gunning down of 13 civilians by security forces in Nagaland on Sunday has led to a renewed demand for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958, from the Northeast.
Civil society groups and rights activists and political leaders of the region have been demanding the withdrawal of the "draconian" law for years, alleging excesses by security forces with impunity under the cover of the Act.
The AFSPA is in force in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (excluding Imphal Municipal Council Area), Changlang, Longding and Tirap districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and areas falling within the jurisdiction of eight police stations of districts in Arunachal Pradesh bordering Assam. The North East Students' Organisation (NESO), an umbrella body of students' unions of the region, said the Centre should repeal the law if it is concerned about the welfare and well-being of the people of the Northeast.
"...otherwise it will only further alienate the people of the region," NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa said. "The armed forces have been operating in the Northeast with impunity and are further emboldened with the imposition of the draconian AFSPA," he added.
The incident in Nagaland's Mon brings back horrific memories of the past where on numerous occasions the security forces "massacred, tortured the innocent villagers and raped women" in the name of fighting insurgency, he claimed. TIPRA chairman Pradyot Deb Barma said that those responsible should be held accountable and laws like AFSPA have to be repealed.
Rajya Sabha member from Assam and senior journalist Ajit Kumar Bhuyan said the killing of the villagers should be an eye-opener for all. "This is not the first incident, but I hope this is the last."
All Assam Students' Union (AASU) chief Advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjya, said, what happened on Sunday was "unpardonable and heinous".
Binalakshmi Nepram, the founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors' Network and Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, said AFSPA gives security forces a "licence to kill". National Award-winning filmmaker Utpal Borpujari said even as civilians were killed on the basis of "false intelligence" but AFSPA will give immunity to the perpetrators.
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