Imphal, Nov 2: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has said that the time has come to review the imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the state.
The Indian Army expressed a different view and averred it is needed to conduct operations.
While interacting with the national media, the chief minister said, “The time has come to review the AFSPA but since our state is bordering with foreign nations we must consider it in taking decision.”
The AFSPA provides special power to the Indian Armed Forces in which each act terms “disturbed areas”. Except seven assembly constituencies in Imphal, AFSPA is imposed in entire Manipur.
On being asked about possibility of insurgents groups gaining ground if AFSPA is lifted, the chief minister said, “We will not allow them to come up again as the people are with us.”
He has also not ruled out foreign hands fueling the insurgents.
The chief minister said, “In the past one-and-a- half years, we have done a lot of work. We need positive approach. People have realised it and they are not supporting the insurgents. They have started talking about start-ups, sustainable development and new ideas.”
Highlighting the armed forces version on AFSPA in Manipur, Leimakhong-based Indian Army’s 57 Mountain Division GOC Major General Vijay Mishra said, “Is this the necessity, do we need to take it away from society, is this a threat? I am sure… There are a number of activities that sustained over a period of time. There are operations, enquiry, and searches extending from vehicles to field and on some occasions at houses. If we do not have AFSPA, how do we do all these?”
“AFSPA is a prerequisite and logical too,” he added.
The Supreme Court had ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in 1,528 ‘killings in encounters’ by the security forces between 1979 and 2012 and also sought evidence from the organisation which filed the petition.
The organisation was only able to give proof in 70 cases. The investigation is on.
“Right from the training to everything, human rights is in-built in Indian Army. When a unit is trained for counter insurgency, all the factors, drills, procedures—everything is in-built in it. Weaponry which we carry itself shows that how sensitive they are to human rights. The discretion and the kind of deliberations is the subject to ourselves to carry out the operations that shows how sensitive we are trained in.’
The AFSPA was imposed in 1980 in Manipur. It was also implemented in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab in 2008 became the first state to withdraw the AFSPA.
In 2015, it was also withdrawn from Tripura and Mizoram .
