AFSPA Extended For Six Months In Parts Of Arunachal Pradesh And Nagaland

Under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland will still be considered “disturbed areas” for another six months. This was announced by the Union home ministry on Friday. On October 1, the order will go into effect.

The Armed Forces Self-Defense Act (AFSPA) gives Army members in troubled areas a lot of freedom to search, arrest, and shoot if they think it’s necessary for “the maintenance of public order.”

After Friday’s order, the AFSPA will stay in place for another six months in nine districts of Nagaland and areas covered by 16 police stations in four other districts, according to a notification from the home ministry, which was reported by PTI.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the rules will still apply to the three districts of Tirap, Changlang, and Longding, as well as the areas covered by the Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district.

Nagaland has a total of 16 districts, while Arunachal Pradesh has a total of 26.

In Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur, the number of areas that fall under the AFSPA was cut by the Union government in March. Since April 1, these places no longer fall under the AFSPA:

• Assam has twenty-three districts, and part of one district has been taken away. Assam is made up of 33 different districts.
• There are 15 police stations in six of Manipur’s 16 districts. Before, the whole state was considered a disturbed area, except for the city limits of the capital city, Imphal.
• There are 15 police stations in seven of Nagaland’s 15 districts. Since 1995, the whole state had been called a “troubled area.”