Scrap the law in states where it has outlived usefulness

The 63-year-old Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which empowers security personnel to act with impunity, has come under sharp scrutiny after the killing of 14 civilians in Nagaland. The chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya have demanded repeal of the controversial Act. Raising the issue in Parliament during the ongoing winter session, National People’s Party MP Agatha Sangma has termed the law ‘the elephant in the room which needs to be addressed’, while Naga People’s Front MP KG Kenye has stated that AFSPA is bringing ‘more animosity in the regions wherever it is enforced’. There is no denying that the Act is misused at times by the troops to commit criminal excesses, knowing well that they won’t be punished for their actions. Ironically, the fear and mistrust instilled by this law in the local population in the ‘disturbed’ areas often outweigh its utility in controlling insurgency. In 2016, the Supreme Court had told the Centre that due process needed to be followed while dealing with civilian complaints reported from areas under AFSPA, adding that the Act didn’t provide blanket immunity to Army personnel in anti-insurgency operations. Indeed, as observed by the court, the continuance of the Act in any region for extended periods underlines the failure of the civil administration as well as the armed forces. The Justice BP Jeevan Reddy Committee and the Administrative Reforms Commission, headed by Veerappa Moily, had recommended repeal of AFSPA a decade and a half ago. In the absence of checks and balances, the Act continues to unleash terror among civilians in several parts of the Northeast, even as it was withdrawn from Tripura in 2015 on the basis of a sensible risk assessment. A review of AFSPA every three months or so is a must to ensure that it is done away with in the states where it has outlived its usefulness. At the same time, violations of the special operating procedure for counter-insurgency operations should invite exemplary punishment. The law enforcers must not be allowed at any cost to become a law unto themselves.

(Tribune, India)