Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday reiterated his aim of making Assam free from the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and said that the state government is working towards it.
“Our idea is that by the year-end we want to see that Assam is completely free from AFSPA,” the CM said in a press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday.
However, he added that lifting AFSPA from the state would depend on the state’s police force. “Whether I will be 100 per cent successful or only 90 per cent successful will depend on whether the police force strengthens itself…Basically, I am requesting the police to create a situation in Assam so that we don’t have to have AFSPA. But if the police are not 100 per cent successful then AFSPA will continue in five districts. If the police are successful, then we will withdraw it. That was a deliberation between the Home Minister and Police force.”
Sarma also expressed similar sentiments a day before, when he chaired the first-ever Police Battalions Commandants Conference in Dergaon. The conference is part of an effort to modernise the police force in Assam.
“AFSPA will be lifted from the entire state by November. This will facilitate the replacement of CAPFs by Assam Police Battalions. However, the presence of CAPFs as required by law shall be in place,” Sarma said in an address to the conference.
“We are aiming at withdrawing AFSPA completely from Assam by the end of 2023. We will also rope in ex-military personnel to train our police force,” CM Sarma tweeted.
While the Centre lifted the Disturbed Areas notification under AFSPA from the state last year, it was still in force in about nine districts and one sub-division of another district.
However, beginning 1 April this year, the notification was lifted from one more district in the state, bringing the number of Assamese districts in Assam to eight.
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in ‘disturbed areas,’ According to the Disturbed Areas Act, 1976 once declared ‘disturbed’, the area has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of three months.