Northeast India to be largely free of AFSPA by next year, says Amit Shah

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NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the entire northeast region, barring one or two states, may be out of purview of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act by next year. Speaking at the signing of a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) among the Centre, Govt of Assam and Govt of Nagaland for oil and mineral exploration along Assam-Nagaland border, Shah lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to establish lasting peace and push development in the north-east, saying that a dozen peace pacts have been signed since 2019, with violent incidents down 80% and the total area under AFSPA too shrinking by 80%.

He said the agreement on exploration of oil and mineral in the disputed area belt (DAB) on Assam-Nagaland border, which was stalled for over three decades due to jurisdictional issues, would take northeast towards further progress and also help make the country self-reliant in meeting its energy requirements, especially when when India and the entire world are facing an energy crisis due to the ongoing tensions in West Asia.

“With just one MoU, the extraction capacity of 1,000-1,500 barrels per day can be increased by 10 times,” Shah said and added that the possibilities of recovery could exceed Rs 15,000 crore in one field alone.

Shah appreciated the role of petroleum minister Hardeep Singh as well as the nation-first and accommodating spirit displayed by the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio in making the “historic” MoU possible.

“This is the best example of cooperative federalism,” Shah said with Puri, Sarma and Rio seated next to him.

While indicating the rollback of AFSPA from all but one or two north-eastern states by next year, Shah did not name the states where AFSPA may remain in force. However, they are most likely Manipur and Nagaland. Currently, AFSPA is applicable in parts of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, though the area declared as “disturbed” under the Act across all the four states has shrunk. AFSPA, which gives Army personnel powers to search and arrest without warrant and use deadly force in ‘disturbed’ areas, was completely withdrawn from Nagaland with effect from May 27, 2015 and from Meghalaya starting April 1, 2018.