The Assam government has declared the entire State as “Disturbed Area” for another six months.
The notification came at a time when there has been demand from several quarters to remove the infamous Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.
“Consequent upon review of law and order situation in Assam, in the past six months, the State government vide a notification issued to this effect by the Home & Political Department, Assam and as per Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, has declared the entire State of Assam as ‘Disturbed Area’ from 28-08-2019 up to six months unless withdrawn earlier,” said an official statement.
Although there has been a demand for removal of the AFSPA from Assam, the security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations in Assam want the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act to remain applicable in the entire State.
“There has been considerable improvement in the state’s law and order situation. However, the AFSPA should be in force at least till the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) is published,” a senior Army official said on condition of anonymity.
The NRC authorities on August 31, 2019 published the final NRC that excluded names of over 1.9 million people.
It may be mentioned that about 218 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) were deployed across Assam ahead of the publication of the final NRC on August 31.