Heard it from national news agencies that security forces had once again been given the mandate of Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 (AFSPA) in parts of the Imphal valley which had been targets for frequent attacks by Kuki militants with sophisticated guns, snipers, bombs and rockets.
Whether it was an unilateral decision or did Centre inform the state authorities before issuing the order? The answer would only be known when Chief Minister N Biren Singh opens his mouth like when he admitted in the state assembly a few months back that the Unified Headquarters is no longer under his command. Yet, he did not say anything about the proclamation of Article 355 which took away his powers in security related issues of the state and he seems quite contented with the way Centre is encroaching upon his territory and mandate. He still cannot prevail upon the central leadership to abrogate SoO like he did through a state Cabinet decision.
The abrogation of SoO with Kuki militant groups had long been the demand of valley based CSOs which was resisted by both the Kuki leadership and the security forces. On the other hand, the Indian security establishment had always been against the withdrawal of AFSPA from Manipur. Right from the day the then Congress government under Okram Ibobi withdrew AFSPA from the Imphal Municipal area in 2004 in the wake of unrelenting movement of the people in the valley following the infamous Manorama incident. Yes, both the state government and central government has the power to withdraw AFSPA and the Disturb Area Act unilaterally.
In 2004, it was the state government under O Ibobi which took the decision to withdraw it from Imphal Municipal area and the central government then led by Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose not to override the state government order. It even instituted a Commission led by Justice Jeevan Reddy to find ways to replace AFSPA with a more ‘humane’ act.
Well now, the question is whether Chief Minister N Biren Singh would choose to overturn the central government order to reimpose AFSPA in some parts of the valley like he unilaterally chose to withdraw from the tripartite SoO agreement signed with the Central government and Kuki militant groups. One finds it hard to believe that N Biren would resist the new AFSPA order as evidenced by his meek submission to wresting of Unified Headquarters and appointment of a Security Advisor taking away his powers by the Union Home ministry.
Also, he seems rather unconcerned with the current situation in Jiribam or elsewhere where six innocent women and children had been abducted by Kuki militants or increasing violence. Well, he did warn of an impending reimposition of AFSPA in the last few months dangling it like a threat to rampant incidence of extortion and violence. But now, it is required of him to speak his mind in the way areas for reimposition of AFSPA had been identified. It was mostly in fringe areas, where the central security forces had failed to ward off attacks from the surrounding hills and also areas where they put up stumbling blocks on defenders of the valley from retaliation.
Sadly, Chief Minister N Biren Singh is busy sharing the tweets of the Prime Minister and other leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah and JP Nadda in issues like assembly elections in other states. He even touched upon the conflict with Canada, but he has no time for the six abducted innocent women and children or of AFSPA. Well, the Kukis have their demand on reimposition of AFSPA in the valley and the security establishment is happy with it while the demand of abrogation of SoO is still pending.
(The views expressed are personal)
