AFSPA counterproductive, should be repealed: Meghalaya CM

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958 has been counterproductive to address law and order issues in the North East region and should be repealed as he joined the growing chorus for its withdrawal, following the killing of civilians in Nagaland.

Civil society groups, rights activists and political leaders of the region have been demanding the withdrawal of the ''draconian'' law for years, alleging excesses by security forces with impunity under the cover of the Act.

The AFSPA confers special powers on the armed forces in areas deemed as disturbed.

“The AFSPA has always been counterproductive and there have been more unrest and people have to go through a lot of pain,” Sangma, who is also the national president of the NPP, said in a statement.

He also said his National People's Party, an ally of the BJP, is against the AFSPA and will continue to urge the Centre to repeal the ''draconian'' Act. Sangma, however, acknowledged that the region has law and order problems and said there are other ways to address the issues.

“We agree that the issues must be addressed. There are other ways to address them and the AFSPA is not the way to address the issues in the NE region,'' he said.

Earlier in the day, he tweeted, ''AFSPA should be repealed.'' The state Congress also supported the chief minister, urging him to convene a meeting for consultation over the issue.

''We must go all out to demand immediate repeal of this draconian oppression on our people. Kindly convene a consultation at the earliest,'' Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh tweeted in reply to Sangma.

The AFSPA is in force in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (excluding Imphal Municipal Council area), Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang, Longding, Tirap districts and areas falling within the eight police stations at the Assam border.

The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) also demanded that the AFSPA be withdrawn for building a peaceful North East.

''We call upon the Government of India to rein in its armed forces if they really wish peace to prevail in the region as incidents like the killing of civilians will only bring instability, which is not a good sign for the NE as a whole,'' HYC general secretary Roykupar Synrem said.

''Steps should be taken towards building a peaceful North-East and the correct and necessary steps towards achieving full peace is to withdraw or repeal the AFSPA from the region completely as well as deployment or stationing armed forces to the bare minimum,'' he said.

Voicing concern, the Khasi Students Union (KSU) said the government should formulate laws to safeguard the rights of the indigenous people.

''The Government of India should immediately revoke the monstrous AFSPA and instead formulate laws to safeguard and protect the rights and existence of the indigenous inhabitants of NE India,'' it said in a statement.

KSU president Lambok Marngar said the government should take stringent and harsh action against the ''erring and bloodthirsty'' personnel involved in the civilian killings in Nagaland.

At least 14 civilians and a soldier were killed in a botched anti-insurgency operation and retaliatory violence over the weekend in Mon district of Nagaland, as per police.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)