Lt Gen R P Kalita : AFSPA will be denotified in some of the regions as violence parameters reduced

According to Lt General R P Kalita, commander of the Eastern Army, an increasing number of the AFSPA-affected districts will be denotified as soon as the violence thresholds in those areas are satisfied. 
The Armed Forces (Special Power) Act (AFSPA) was denotified from some areas, according to Kalita, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command, who noted that there had been a significant decrease in violence in the past nine months in the northeastern regions affected by the insurgency.

He claimed that these areas had seen peace and progress.

After a wreath-laying ceremony on the occasion of Raising Day of the headquarters of Eastern Army Command, he spoke to the media and said, “This has been possible only due to the sacrifice that has been made by the Indian Armed forces in ensuring that violence parameters are brought down to an acceptable level.”

In response to a query on whether there are plans to remove AFSPA from regions in the north and east where it is still in use, he noted that the situation is still fluid.

According to him, “when violent parameters come down, more and more locations will find denotification taking place.” He added that this will depend on the ability of the local police to maintain law and order, a decision that must be made by a state administration in consultation with the Centre.

From April 1 of this year, the AFSPA was repealed in a number of locations around Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, stated on Monday that his administration is thinking of removing AFSPA from two additional places in the state.