Extension of AFSPA in the Northeast

Source: The Hindu

Introduction 

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in parts of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for a further six months with effect from 1st October 2026. In Manipur, the whole State stands declared a "disturbed area", except for the jurisdictions of 13 police stations spread across five Valley districts. The extension comes against the backdrop of the ethnic conflict that broke out in Manipur on 3rd May 2023, which reversed a period in which AFSPA had been gradually withdrawn from large parts of the State.

What is the Present Extent of AFSPA in the Northeast? 

• Manipur: The entire State has been declared a disturbed area, barring the jurisdictions of 13 police stations in five Valley districts. 
• Nagaland: AFSPA continues in nine districts, along with the areas under 21 police stations in five other districts. 
• Arunachal Pradesh: The Act has been extended in the Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts, and in the areas under the Namsai, Mahadevpur and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district, which borders Assam.

What Powers Does AFSPA Confer? 

• AFSPA was enacted in 1958 to vest the armed forces with special powers in areas declared "disturbed" on account of insurgency or serious internal security problems. 
• Once an area is notified as disturbed under Section 3 of the Act, security personnel deployed there acquire powers that the ordinary police do not have. 
• Subject to the conditions laid down in the Act, the armed forces are authorised to:  
  • use force, including lethal force, against persons acting in contravention of prohibitory orders; 
  • arrest persons without a warrant; and 
  • enter and search premises without a warrant. 
• The Act also grants legal protection to personnel acting under it. No prosecution or other legal proceeding can be instituted in respect of anything done, or purported to be done, under AFSPA without the prior sanction of the Central Government. 
• It is this combination of extraordinary powers and protection from prosecution that has made AFSPA a contentious law.

Who Can Declare an Area "Disturbed"? 

• Under Section 3 of AFSPA, both the Central Government and the State Governments are empowered to declare an area as disturbed. This explains why the geographical spread of the Act has not always been decided by the MHA alone. 
• AFSPA has been in force in Manipur since 1981, and for decades the Manipur Government itself issued the disturbed-area notifications, with the MHA largely leaving their periodic renewal to the State. This changed after the ethnic violence of 3rd May 2023. 
• The law first came into force in 1958 to deal with the uprising in the Naga Hills, and was later applied to tackle the insurgency in Assam. 
• At present, the MHA issues the periodic disturbed-area notifications only for Manipur, Nagaland and parts of Arunachal Pradesh, while the notification for Assam is issued by the State Government. 
• Other States:  
  • Tripura: AFSPA was removed from the entire State by the CPI(M)-led State Government in 2015. 
  • Meghalaya: The State remained under AFSPA for 27 years until the MHA revoked it from 1st April 2018. 
  • Jammu and Kashmir: It is governed by a separate law, the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1990.

How Did AFSPA's Footprint Shrink in Manipur? 

• The area covered by AFSPA in Manipur had been reducing well before the present ethnic conflict. 
• The Act was withdrawn from the Imphal municipal area in 2004. 
• A far more significant rollback began in 2022, when the security situation was assessed to have improved. 
• Between 1st April 2022 and 1st April 2023, AFSPA was withdrawn from all police station areas in the Manipur Valley, with the State Government citing better security conditions and a greater sense of public safety. 
• The Act, however, continued in the hill regions, where disturbed-area notifications had been renewed periodically for decades. 
• The overall direction thus appeared to be a steady reduction in AFSPA-covered territory, until the violence that began in May 2023 reversed the trend. 
• On 14th November 2024, the MHA reimposed AFSPA in the jurisdictions of six police stations across five districts, all areas from which the Act had earlier been withdrawn. 
• The move stood out because the notification was issued by the MHA and not by the Manipur Government.

Did the Manipur Government Agree with the MHA? 

• No. The State Government sought a reversal almost at once. 
• On 15th November 2024, the Manipur Cabinet, led by then Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, resolved to recommend that the Centre review and withdraw the notification in the "public interest". 
• The disagreement was unusual, as both the Centre and the State were then governed by the BJP, yet they took opposing positions on whether AFSPA should be restored in the six police station areas.

Why Does AFSPA Continue in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh? 

• Nagaland: The continuation of AFSPA has historically been tied to the presence and movement of armed insurgent groups, and to the unresolved Naga political issue.  
  • The Centre has held negotiations with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), or NSCN-IM, and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs). 
  • In 2022, security officials had indicated that uncertainty over the outcome of the Naga peace process was one of the reasons for continuing AFSPA in parts of Nagaland and neighbouring States. 
• Arunachal Pradesh: The Act's application has been concentrated mainly in districts affected by insurgent movement and in areas adjoining Assam.

Conclusion 

The latest extension of AFSPA shows how closely the law's reach tracks the security situation on the ground. After years of steady withdrawal, particularly in the Manipur Valley, the 2023 ethnic conflict brought the Act back into areas it had left, with the Centre now directly issuing the notifications that the State once controlled. The episode, including the Manipur Cabinet's open disagreement with the MHA in 2024, highlights the unresolved tension between the Union's security imperatives and a State's assessment of local conditions under Section 3. At the same time, the Act's wide powers of arrest, search and use of force, coupled with the requirement of prior Central sanction for prosecution, continue to keep AFSPA at the centre of debates on accountability, civil liberties and the balance between national security and fundamental rights, as reflected in continuing public protests such as the Manipuri Students' Federation rally in August 2026.