Editorial: Time for AFSPA to go

When a law becomes a symbol of State oppression instead of protecting the interests of the citizens, it’s time for it to go. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), based on a 1942 British ordinance intended to contain the Quit India movement, is a classic example of how unbridled powers to security forces would […]

When a law becomes a symbol of State oppression instead of protecting the interests of the citizens, it’s time for it to go. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), based on a 1942 British ordinance intended to contain the Quit India movement, is a classic example of how unbridled powers to security forces would prove counterproductive and defeat the very purpose of such special legislations. The recent killing of over a dozen innocent civilians in Nagaland in a botched security operation has rekindled the debate over the rationale behind continuing with such draconian laws. Now, the Centre’s decision to set up a high-level committee to examine the possibility of lifting in Nagaland offers hope of an honest introspection and review of the law. The time has come for the AFSPA to be scrapped because it is not in sync with democratic polity. The contentious law, which empowers security forces to conduct operations and arrest anyone without a warrant — besides giving them immunity if they shoot anybody dead — has come under sharp scrutiny due to its indiscriminate use and the miseries that it has caused to the people. Though the committee’s mandate is restricted to assessing whether it’s time to revoke AFSPA in Nagaland, where it has been in operation for decades, there is an urgent need to review its viability in the entire Northeast. At present, the Act is in force in Nagaland, Assam, Manipur and certain districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It was removed from Tripura in 2015 and Meghalaya in 2018.

Both the States have remained by and large peaceful in the past few years. How these States have handled the situation on their own after the withdrawal of AFSPA can guide others to come up with a roadmap for long-term peace and stability. The violence witnessed by Tripura in recent months is attributed to communal and political factors rather than insurgency. A periodic and pragmatic assessment of the law and order situation by the union and State governments can pave the way for the withdrawal of the Act, which has largely proved counterproductive to the extent of widening the trust deficit between the local residents and security forces. In 2016, the Supreme Court had ruled that the armed forces, under Section 6 of the AFSPA, cannot be immune to the use of force ‘even to the extent of causing death’. The lack of accountability on the part of the security agencies was the reason for the recent Nagaland tragedy. There has been a justifiable demand from civil rights groups and others for its withdrawal, particularly when there is improvement in the ground situation. Over the last decade, insurgency-related incidents have come down significantly while last year was totally incident-free. However, the Act, which provides immunity to security forces from prosecution, continues to be in operation.

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