Australia withdraws travel advisory for Assam except AFSPA-hit districts
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday thatAustralia has withdrawn its travel advisory for Assam, allowing itscitizens to visit most parts of the state.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday thatAustralia has withdrawn its travel advisory for Assam, allowing itscitizens to visit most parts of the state.
In a demonstration of unity and defiance, thousands of people gathered at THAU Ground in Imphal on International Human Rights Day to demand the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), a law criticised for its sweeping powers and alleged human rights violations.
Thousands of protesters rallied in the Lamlai constituency of Imphal East district on Thursday, demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and justice for the killings of three women and three children in Jiribam district.
Civil society organizations in the Imphal East district of Manipur staged a protest rally denouncing the reimposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and condemning the brutal killing of six Jiribam hostages by suspected Kuki-Zo militants.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has been extended for six more months in the districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, and Sivasagar in Assam.
Interestingly, the law was first introduced by the British to suppress the Quit India movement in 1942.
The Centre on Sunday constituted a high-level committee, headed by a secretary-rank officer, to examine the possibility of lifting the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Nagaland.
The AFSPA (1958) that happens to be one of the most draconian instruments of security and control, first applied to Assam and Manipur and later amended in 1972 to extend to Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, vests unaccountable and extraordinary powers with the armed forces. The public consciousness against the AFPSA was raised when a group of elderly and middle-aged women from different organisations of the Meira Paibi the largest civilian movement fighting state atrocities and human rights violations in Manipur, besides drug abuse and crimes against women - led a protest march against the rape of Thangjam Manorama by soldiers of Assam Rifles. The fast unto death begun by Irom Chanu Sharmila on 2 November 2000, in protest against the Act, that continued well into August 2016, stirred public conscience
Nagaland has been under the coverage of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for almost six decades.
The day political parties truly demonstrate that the real weight of those three seats from J&K in Parliament is worth 100 per cent to the 'idea of India', maybe the tide will finally turn. The perpetuation of the 'us-versus-them' storyline within J&K has to end, the security forces need to keep up the steel and guard as they have done so selflessly for decades ~wherever AFSPA is required, so be it ~but the government has to demonstrate empathy, compassion and creativity in reaching-out to the mainstream, politically and psychologically.
