NEW DELHI: Maintaining status quo, Centre on Sunday declared the entire state of Manipur – excluding areas within the jurisdiction of 13 police stations across five districts – as ‘disturbed’ under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (Afspa) for an additional six months.
The move comes when the state has not seen any major or prolonged bout of ethnic violence for the past seven months, contrary to the trend of recurrent clashes between its two dominant ethnic groups since May 2023. Also, the political landscape has changed since the last notification under Afspa was issued on Nov 14, 2024, with CM N Biren Singh having stepped down in Feb, followed by the imposition of President’s rule in the state.
In separate notifications that also maintain status quo, Centre Sunday extended the validity of Afspa in parts of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh until Sept 30, 2025, “unless withdrawn earlier”. As per the notification with respect to Nagaland, eight districts and 21 police stations spread over five other districts would continue to remain in the ‘disturbed areas’ list. Similarly, Afspa will continue to apply in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts as well as areas falling within the jurisdiction of three police stations in Namsai district.
According to home minister Amit Shah, there is now a semblance of normalcy in Manipur, with shops and markets having opened and prices kept in check, and talks between the sparring ethnic groups also on track, with one round already held at the level of the home ministry and another expected soon.
In the last Afspa notification for Manipur issued on Nov 14, 2024, six police stations across the state’s five districts were declared as ‘disturbed’ till March 31, 2025, barely one-and-a-half months after they were included in the notified list of 19 police stations kept out of Afspa purview. In a break from the usual practice of the state govt notifying the ‘disturbed areas’ under Afspa, the notification was issued by Centre.
The move to declare six additional police stations as ‘disturbed’ in Nov had bucked the trend since 2014; for the first time since Modi govt assumed office at Centre, the area under Afspa within a state was being expanded.
Now extending Afspa validity further till Sept 30, “unless withdrawn earlier”, Centre Sunday notified the entire state as ‘disturbed area’ except 13 police stations.
