Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec 30: The Union Home Ministry on Thursday, December 30, 2021, extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in the Nagaland for another six months.
The announcement was made through a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs in response to calls from the Northeastern state to withdraw it following an alleged botched security operation near Oting Village in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4 that killed 14 civilians and one jawan.
“whereas the Central Government is of the opinion that the area comprising the whole state of Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that use of armed forces in aid of civil power is necessary,” the notification said.
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 (AFSPA) extended in Nagaland for six more months with effect from today. pic.twitter.com/Vkw3fPGeJK
— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2021
Now, therefore, in exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (No.28 of 1958), ther Central Government hereby declares that the whole of the state of Nagaland to be ‘disturbed area’ for a period of six months with effect from December 30, 2021 for the purpose of the said Act, it further stated.
Interestingly, the move came just days after the Union government formed a high-level committee to investigate the possibility of withdrawing the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Nagaland. The AFSPA has been in effect in Nagaland for many years.
Notably, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) provides certain powers to a member of the Armed Forces in areas in the Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The powers were also extended to forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir as well.
