At a time when the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is in news in Jammu and Kashmir for good or bad reasons the contentious Act has been extended in Manipur where it was imposed since September 1980 and has been in extended mode from time to time. Compared to Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur too is seeing militancy but of less intensity with some selected bomb blasts. The extension will allow security forces to operate and aid civil administration to flush out insurgents. The recent developments in Manipur have once again brought into focus the question of application of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 in Northeast. On 11th July, 2004, the alleged rape and killing of Thanjam Manorama, suspected to be a cadre of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), sparked agitations throughout Manipur for the withdrawal of the Act from Manipur. Since 1980, the whole of Manipur has been a “disturbed area” under the Act. On the contrary Bharatiya Janata Party which had made its stand clear before the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir took a U-turn recently on the issue and said if it is voted to power the Act will not be needed which is exactly what Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had been demanding. He even had expressed the desire to see the Act removed from the State during his tenure. BJP has been vehemently opposing the removal of the Act. And now advocating for its discontinuation if elected to power is purely a political game to garner votes especially in Kashmir Valley. In 1990, Kashmir Valley and areas close to the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch were declared ‘disturbed’ under AFSPA when armed insurgency began in the Valley. The whole of Jammu region was declared ‘disturbed’ in 2000. Today both Manipur and J and K have not achieved much ground politically but have widened the chasm between people and governments. There is a need to bring in the healing touch to frontier states facing the same malady at the earliest.
