Following the Cabinet approval on Tuesday for the extension of the Disturbed Areas Act in Manipur, a recommendation is being sent to the Centre for enforcing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1950, for another period of six months.
Minister T. Radheshyam, the government spokesperson who made the announcement on Tuesday, dodged questions regarding the government move. All these months Chief Minister N. Biren has been claiming that the law and order situation had considerably improved since the installation of the BJP-led coalition government. Opposition and activists asked why the AFSPA should be reimposed if what Mr. Biren said was based on facts.
Official sources said that there were 233 insurgent-related incidents in Manipur during 2016, 167 incidents in 2017 and 127 in 2018. There have been demands for doing away with the AFSPA since the situation is said to be comfortable.
As the foreign-trained insurgents got the upperhand, the State government was forced to declare Manipur “disturbed” and the AFSPA imposed on September 8, 1980. There had been contentious fake encounter killing of 1,528 persons which is being looked into by the Supreme Court.
Then Congress Chief Minister Okram Ibobi had lifted the AFSPA on August 12, 2004 from 7 Assembly segments in the Imphal municipal areas. He promised lifting it from other segments if the law and order improved. However, insurgents struck, killing 6 persons, including a minor, and injuring many others by hurling Chinese hand grenades in the ISKCON temple on August 14, 2004.
