According to a notice sent out on Saturday, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) will be in effect for six additional months in the districts of Tinsukia, Charaideo, and Sivasagar in Assam, commencing on October 1.
The extension comes after the Assam government suggested it. They said that while law and order has gotten a lot better because of ongoing counterinsurgency efforts, there are still problems with suspected ULFA(I) and NSCN(K-YA) cadres who are involved in extortion, recruiting young people, and other subversive activities.
The state asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to keep the “Disturbed Area” classification under AFSPA in these areas for additional six months, and they agreed.
AFSPA, which was first put into place in Assam in November 1990, gives security personnel the right to operate anywhere and arrest anybody without a warrant. It also protects them from legal action if something goes wrong during an operation.
Over the years, the law has slowly been taken away from a number of regions. It was lifted from the whole state on April 1, 2022, except for nine districts and a part of Cachar. It has been looked at every so often to see if it should be extended in areas that are still thought to be sensitive.
Civil society groups, human rights advocates, and several political parties have frequently asked for the full repeal of AFSPA in the Northeast, saying that security personnel working under the law have broken human rights.
AFSPA derives its powers from AFSPA Act 1958.