New committee to look into withdrawal of AFSPA, says Nagaland govt after meeting with Amit Shah

Nagaland govt demanded the repeal of AFSPA following the killing of civilians in Mon district on Dec 4, 2021 (Representative image)

A new committee, whose formation was decided at a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier in the week, will look into the withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Nagaland government said on December 26.

The panel "will submit its report in 45 days", said a statement issued by the state government.

The committee "to look into the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act will be instituted", the statement said, adding that it will be chaired by Additional Secretary, North East of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and will include the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of Nagaland.

Representatives of IGAR (N) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will also be part of the committee, the Nagaland government said.

The statement comes three days after Shah held a meeting with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, state's Deputy CM Y Patton, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and other senior officials.

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The meeting was called by the Union home minister on December 23 to discuss the prevalent situation in Nagaland. The state remained tense after the accidental killing of 13 civilians in a botched military operation in Mon district, on December 4.

The government led by Rio subsequently appealed to the Centre to repeal AFSPA, which provides immunity from the state laws to the security forces.

The Indian Army has ordered a Court of Enquiry into the killing of civilians. The Nagaland government, in its statement issued today, said the enquiry panel will "initiate disciplinary action against the army unit and army personnel who are directly involved" in the incident and "action will be taken immediately on the basis of fair enquiry".

Explained | What is AFSPA and why its repeal is being demanded

Shah, in a statement made in the Parliament on December 6 following the "unfortunate" killing of civilians, said the Centre deeply "regrets" the loss of lives.

"Army had received information on the movement of extremists near Tiru, Mon. On that basis, one unit of Army's 21 Para Commando laid an ambush in the suspected area. A vehicle reached there, it was signalled to stop but it tried to flee. On suspicion of carrying extremists, it was fired upon.
- 6 out of the 8 people in the vehicle died. It was later found to be a case of mistaken identity," the Union home minister had said, adding that in the violence that followed, seven more civilians died as the security forces "had to resort to firing for self defence".