'Disturbed area'Act in Nagaland extended

KOHIMA: The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which allow security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior warrant, was promulgated in Nagaland in view of the ''disturbing situations''.

An official of the Nagaland Home Department said that the entire Nagaland was declared as a ''disturbed area'' for another six months by the Home Ministry.

The AFSPA has been in force in Nagaland for several decades and has not been withdrawn despite a framework agreement was signed on August 3, 2015 by Naga insurgent Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). This dominant group of the outfit -- had entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Central government in August 1997 and since then engaged in peace talks.

The outfit has held around 80 rounds of negotiations with the Central government in Delhi and even outside India after signing a ceasefire pact 23 years ago.

The Central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had signed a ''framework agreement'' with the NSCN-IM in 2015. The NSCN-IM and the intelligence sources said that while many of the 31 demands of the Nagas have been almost resolved during the talks with the Centre, differences remain over a separate flag and a separate constitution.

Nagalim, a long-pending demand of the NSCN-IM for a separate Naga State, encompasses the Naga-inhabited areas of Myanmar as well as parts of the north-eastern States bordering Nagaland.

Nagaland Governor and the Central government's interlocutor for the Naga peace talks R.N. Ravi recently rejected the demand for a separate flag and constitution for the State as demanded by the NSCN (IM).

Mentionably, terming the Act as a ''draconian law'', human rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila of Manipur had fought for 16 long years till mid 2016 demanding repeal of the AFSPA.

Tripura is the only State where the AFSPA was withdrawn by the then Left Front government led by Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in 1998 after terror activities were tamed. (IANS)

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