Imphal, September 26: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in parts of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland for another six months.
In Manipur, which has been affected by ethnic violence since May 2023, AFSPA has been extended across the entire state, except for the jurisdictions of 13 police stations in five valley districts. According to the Ministry’s notification, the excluded police station limits are Imphal, Lamphel, City, Singjamei, Patsoi, Wangoi, Porompat, Heingang, Irilbung, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Nambol, and Kakching. The notification, issued under Section 3 of the AFSPA, 1958, declares the rest of the state as a “disturbed area” for six months with effect from October 1, 2025, unless withdrawn earlier.
The extension comes after a review of the law-and-order situation in the state. On November 14, 2024, AFSPA had been reimposed in six police station limits across five districts, mainly in the valley, following ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023. President’s Rule was imposed in the state on February 13, 2024. Previously, AFSPA had been withdrawn from all valley police stations between April 1, 2022, and April 1, 2023, after improvements in the security situation and a “large sense of security among the general public.” AFSPA provisions were withdrawn from the Imphal Municipality area in 2004, while the disturbed area notifications for hill districts have been periodically extended over the past three decades, with the last notification issued on September 26, 2024.
In Nagaland, AFSPA has been extended for six months in nine districts—Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, Peren, and Meluri—along with 21 police station limits in five other districts, including Kohima, Mokokchung, Longleng, Wokha, and Zunheboto.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the districts of Tirap, Changlang, and Longding, and areas under Namsai, Mahadevpur, and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district bordering Assam, have been declared “disturbed areas” for another six months.
The AFSPA, enacted in 1958, empowers the Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in “disturbed areas” to use force, arrest, and search any premises without a warrant, and provides protection from prosecution or legal suits without prior sanction from the Central government. AFSPA has been in force in Manipur since 1981, when it was still a Union Territory. Manipur attained statehood in 1972.
