Opinion Express View: Centre has been lifting AFSPA in the Northeast incrementally. This must continue

The Centre on Saturday lifted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from more police station limits in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. This is the second time in a year that the Centre has reduced areas under AFSPA in the Northeast. The decision to withdraw AFSPA, though in an incremental manner, is welcome. It sends out a positive message in a region that has had to bear the burden of the draconian Act for decades. The prevalence of insurgencies in almost all states in the Northeast — from the Naga rebellion that dates backs to the 1940s, to the Mizo uprising in the 1960s, radical Left groups in Manipur in the 1970s, and the ULFA in Assam in the 1980s — may arguably have necessitated the imposition of the AFSPA. The Army was sent in because the civil administration had failed to control the situation. But statistics suggest that violence in the region has been on the decline. The Centre can take some credit for this, for it has tactfully negotiated peace treaties with rebel groups, wherever possible. The time is indeed ripe for the government to reduce dependence on the AFSPA to impose its writ.

The Centre has been careful not to antagonise the NSCN-IM, which has criticised it for going slow on the framework agreement for a closure in the Naga peace talks. Since the ceasefire in 1997, successive governments have pushed for talks with the rebels, who have played ball. Assam has also negotiated with its rebels — Ulfa, Bodo and Dimasa groups — despite stray incidents. All this is not new, of course. The Mizo rebels, who signed a peace accord in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister, joined electoral politics in Mizoram and won office. The Left Front government in Tripura successfully negotiated with the insurgency and got the AFSPA removed in 2015.

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A stable Northeast is extremely important, especially at a time when Myanmar, in areas bordering India, has turned restive. This, of course, requires the government to make judicious choices. Recently, the Manipur government had to withdraw from the ongoing ceasefire pact with two Kuki militant groups — Kuki National Army (KNA) and Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) — that were among the 25 Kuki-Chin-Mizo militant groups with which the state had signed a “Suspension of Operations” agreement. It will have to walk the thin line between regional and ethnic identity assertion and nationalism. Considering the potential of the region, that’s an investment the Centre must make.