The Central Government has decided to extend the ‘disturbed area’ tag under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 to Assam for another year from December 4 next. The extension of the tag for the next year, however, was due to the rise in Maoist activities in Assam.
The Central Government had declared Assam as a “disturbed area” in November 1990 under the provision of Section 3 of the AFSPA and the tag had been renewed every year. The move to extend the tag for one more year came as the current term was supposed to end on December 3.
“However, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) this time has mentioned rise in Maoist insurgency as a reason for extending the disturbed area tag,” a senior official of the State Home Department told The Pioneer on Saturday.
“We have received a letter from the MHA in this regard recently which categorically mentioned that Maoist presence in Assam and border areas of Arunachal Pradesh has been noticed and hence their activities were noticed in Golaghat, Dhemaji, lakhimpur and Tinsukia districts of Assam and Namsai area of lohit district in Arunachal Pradesh,” he said adding that the MHA had also mentioned in the letter that the law and order situation in the State continued to be a matter of concern due to the violent incidents caused by underground outfits.
“We have been planning to take out some districts of the State out of the ‘disturbed area’ tag. However, when we reviewed the situation with the security agencies, we were advised not to do so. Once we take out the some districts from the ‘disturbed area’ the militants might take shelter in those areas and it would be difficult for the Army to operate once the disturbed area tag was removed from some districts,” he said.
“Similar situation had already happened in Manipur. But since the law and order situation has made considerable improvement in the State in last few years, we might take out some districts from the ‘disturbed area’ tag next year,” he added.
According to the fresh extension, the tags will apply to the whole of the Assam and also covers 20 km within the territory of the neighbouring State of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.