Withdraw AFSPA, disturbed areas from Assam: State cabinet to Centre

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Assam government on Friday made a recommendation to the central government to withdraw the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the entire state. This comes days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of AFSPA from the state.

Also read: Kuki groups protest killing, demand re-imposition of AFSPA in parts of Manipur

On Monday, Sarma had said that he would take “further steps based on the suggestions of the Home Minister”.

AFSPA is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”. Meanwhile, the Disturbed Areas Act states that once an area is declared 'disturbed', it has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of three months. In Assam, the disturbed area notification has been in force since 1990.

Earlier, the disturbed area tag - imposed under the AFSPA - was removed from the entire state of Assam, except from eight districts. At present, the act is in force in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao districts.

Assam CM on removal of AFSPA

The Assam CM has been pushing for the removal of the act from the state. Last month, Sarma assured that the state government would take necessary steps to withdraw AFSPA from the entire state by the end of this year.

"I want to assure the people of Assam that by the end of this year, we will take fruitful steps to withdraw the AFSPA from every district of Assam. That will be an 'amritmoy' time for Assam's history and we are eagerly waiting for that day," he said as quoted by news agency PTI.

(With inputs from agencies)