Kolkata:
Rights activist Irom Sharmila, who was on hunger strike for 16 years and demanded the withdrawal of AFSPA, welcomed the Center’s decision to reduce the areas covered by the law in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, but insisted that the “draconian, colonial law” can be reversed completely.
Union Home Secretary Amit Shah announced on Thursday a reduction in the number of “disturbed areas” in the three northeastern states where the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 is still being imposed, along with Jammu and Kashmir.
Ms Sharmila, hailed as the ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’, called AFSPA an ‘oppressive law’ and said it has never been a solution to tackle the insurgency.
“I welcome the Center’s decision to reduce the number of areas under the jurisdiction of the AFSPA. It is a positive step in the right direction. But the law should be repealed because it is not a solution,” she told PTI in a statement. interview by phone.
“India is a democratic country. How long should we continue this colonial law? Why should people suffer from it? In the name of fighting insurgency millions of rupees are wasted that could have been used for the overall development of Northeast. AFSPA acts as a roadblock for progress,” said Ms Sharmila, who ended her marathon hunger strike in 2016.
The Center’s decision came three months after it formed a high-level committee to investigate the possibility of lifting AFSPA from Nagaland, where 14 civilians were shot by security forces in an “identity swap” case last December. sparked outrage.
“The law and order situation in Manipur is not so bad that AFSPA should remain imposed. Only bureaucrats and politicians benefit from it. It causes misunderstanding among unemployed young people. It is the ordinary people who suffer,” said Ms Sharmila.
AFSPA has been in effect for decades in the three northeastern states to deal with insurgency. It gives security forces the power to detain anyone on suspicion without a warrant, in addition to granting immunity from arrest or prosecution. Human rights activists have claimed that the law has often been abused to arrest, rob houses or even shoot people.
“You cannot win people over by force. The government should try to win the hearts of the people in the Northeast. Once there is a real connection between the people and those in power, things will improve,” she said.
Ms Sharmila, who unsuccessfully contested Manipur’s 2017 election campaign, noted that people from the northeast are being discriminated against in other parts of the country and said the repeal of AFSPA has also increased the distance between the people in the region and “mainland India”. ” will shrink.
Ms Sharmila had started her hunger strike against AFSPA after 10 civilians were allegedly shot by security forces at a bus stop in Malom near Imphal in 2000.
She fought peacefully for 16 years before putting an end to it in 2016. The 50-year-old rights activist married in 2017 and is now based in South India with her family.
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