War Or Peace?

On September 11, the Assam government extended the ‘disturbed area’ status of the state by another six months under AFSPA or the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. While the state government is yet to give a reason for the extension, the move has come at a time when the central and state governments, both led by the BJP, have been making regular claims that peace has returned to the northeastern state.

- Kaushik Deka

On September 4, Union home minister Amit Shah announced that the signing of a tripartite agreement between the Centre, state and six insurgent groups active in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district was another milestone in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of an “insurgency-free, prosperous Northeast”. In February 2020, the Centre signed another agreement with the representatives of all factions of the Bodo militant outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland. Earlier this week, Paresh Baruah, chief of the United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I), Assam’s most dreaded insurgent group, also expressed willingness for the first time ever to join peace talks, provided Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma played mediator.

These developments have led to a clamour for the removal of the AFSPA from the state, with human rights activists claiming the draconian law has been misused for political gains. “The government leaves no opportunity to claim peace in the state, so why does it need AFSPA? It’s an open secret that various stakeholders do not want central funds—coming to the state in the name of eliminating terror—to dry out,” says Dr Dibyajyoti Saikia, a Guwahati-based human rights activist.