Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
| The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,1972 | |
|---|---|
| Parliament of India | |
| |
| Citation | Act No. 28 of 1958 |
| Enacted by | Parliament of India |
| Enacted | 11 September 1958 |
| Commenced | 11 September 1958 |
| Status: In force | |
legislature, enacted_by.Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in "disturbed areas". According to the Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976 once declared 'disturbed', the area has to maintain status quo for a minimum of 3 months. One such act passed on 11 September 1958 was applicable to the Naga Hills, then part of Assam. In the following decades it spread, one by one, to the other Seven Sister States in India's northeast (at present, it is in force in the States of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur {excluding Imphal Municipal Council Area}, Changlang, Longding and Tirap districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and areas falling within the jurisdiction of the eight police stations of districts in Arunachal Pradesh bordering the State of Assam). Another act passed in 1983, applicable to Punjab and Chandigarh, was withdrawn in 1997, roughly 14 years after it came to force. An act passed in 1990 was applied to Jammu and Kashmir and has been in force ever since.
The acts have received criticism from several sections for alleged human rights violations in the regions of its enforcement. National politicians like P. Chidambaram and Saifuddin Soz of Congress have advocated revocation of AFSPA, while some like Amarinder Singh are against its revocation.
2022: Areas in the Northeast have seen scale down of forces. Since 1954, for the first time, no army unit of the size of brigade is being employed for the purpose of counter insurgency. Now, only one brigade looks after the same role. Though, some of the residual army units are moved to the border areas.