1. Basically, AFSPA or 'Armed Forces Special Powers Act', was introduced by Colonial British Raj, as an ordinance to tackle 'Quit India Movement' in 1942. AFSPA gives special powers to security forces, without the fear of legal retribution.
2. In year 1958, Under Late Prime-minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, AFSPA was re-enacted and refreshed, with the intent of giving more powers to security forces dealing with chinese sponsored insurgency in north eastern states of India, specially Manipur and Nagaland. For AFSPA to come in to action, the state or area of a state has to be declared a 'disturbed area', and the state government's sanction is a must. This itself explains a lot of double faced politicians and political parties.
3. As in the present times, Honourable Supreme Court of India, has already termed, an indefinite imposition of AFSPA, in any part of free India, as a sign of failure of civil administration. Under AFSPA, any suspect can be arrested without a warrant. Forces can prohibit gathering of five or more persons in an area, they are entitled to open fire on, or take action against hardened offenders till offender's death, can search any house without a warrant, use force to search it, seal it and destroy it if deemed fit. Forces can search or impound any vehicle. AFSPA gives legal insulation to security forces for actions taken by them.
4. There has been a long standing demand for scrapping AFSPA, but no party has ever taken a step ahead to scrap this draconian law, and ever taken it any further than, an election manifesto. In fact dropping AFSPA is brought in election manifestos, as a tool of gaining popularity with concerned masses, but then the idea is dropped, as no government would like to take away the teeth of its biting guards.
5. According to a Public Interest Litigation hearing, the Supreme Court of India, ordered a CBI probe into 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur in just 3 years, between 2000 and 2012. These people, according to HR PIL, were killed in encounters by security forces.
6. On the other hand, Army, Assam Rifles and the Manipur Police, which enjoy special protection under AFSPA, maintained in supreme court that, they could not be, and should not be subjected to FIRs for carrying out anti-militancy operations in insurgency-prone, or terrorist infested areas.
7. At present the original AFSPA is in force in Assam, Nagaland, Changlang, Longding and Tirap districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur excluding Imphal municipal council area.
8. Another AFSPA passed in 1983 became applicable to Punjab and Chandigarh to tackle terrorism. The act was withdrawn in 1997, 14 years after it came in to force.
9. Another AFSPA was enacted and passed in 1990, and was applied to Jammu and Kashmir, to tackle separatist terrorism, and has been in force since then.
10. In gist, this law, was basically brought in to force by firangi, to suppress 'Quit India Movement'. The law gives special powers to forces, to use Xtreme methods, where insurgency, proxy war and terrorism become difficult to deal with, under normal laws prevailing in normal circumstances. It can not be denied that AFSPA, does create a serious human rights issue as well. Such powers with forces end up in staged encounters and extra judicial killings, but also at the same time, we all realise that, nothing can be allowed to bring an end to a nation, and that a tumor can only surgically be removed.
🚩तत्त सत्त अकाल 🚩
🎙Guru Balwant Gurunay.⚔
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