The other 9/11: Northeast vows to fight AFSPA

GUWAHATI: As the world observed the 13th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks in America and renewed its commitment to fighting terrorism, the northeast, too, remembered a 9/11 which changed its history forever. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was imposed on undivided Assam on this very day in 1958.
The Act, which gives sweeping powers to security forces in troubled areas, was first imposed to quell the Naga movement for cessation.In 1958, undivided Assam comprised Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
To mark the day, human rights activists in the northeast raised the pitch demanding repeal of the controversial Act. Accusing successive governments of promoting state-sponsored terrorism in the northeast (and, later, in Kashmir) through the Act, the activists said they would petition the Narendra Modi-government to scrap the legislation.
The face of the anti-AFSPA campaign is Manipur’s Irom Sharmila, who has been on a continuous fast for the last 13 years, seeking abrogation of the law.
“The UPA government did nothing to repeal AFSPA. We will now appeal to the BJP government. On this day, we resolve to take along civil society groups, human rights organizations and public representatives of the northeast to push forth our demand in New Delhi,” Babloo Loitambam of the Manipur-based Human Rights Alert (HRA), said.
HRA, along with Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti, WinG-India, North East Dialogue Forum, Borok People Human Rights Organization, among others, organized a discussion, “The Invisible 9/11: 56 years of AFSPA in North East” here on Thursday.
“The new government has been very vocal about providing special focus to the northeast. Even Union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju has sympathized with Sharmila’s long struggle. So, we have to refocus on scrapping AFSPA,” Loitambam added.
Writer and activist from Nagaland, Kaka D Iralu, said the law propagates “state-sponsored terrorism” as it gives security forces the licence to kill on mere suspicion. Iralu added the law sanctions killing and renders perpetrators immune to legal prosecution.
Former dean of social sciences at North Eastern Hill University, Apurba Kumar Barua, said the movement for the scrapping of AFSPA in the northeast should be transformed into a pan-India struggle.
“The other parts of the country are not aware of the atrocities unleashed by AFSPA in the northeast. Unless we involve people from the other parts of the country in the movement, our struggle will not be effective,” Barua said.
The consultation saw organizations agreeing to float a platform for broader coordination and coalition of various human rights groups, civil society groups, peoples’ movements in the northeast, as well as at the all-India-level, by going beyond ethnic, tribal and community affiliations.