New Delhi: The National Council of Churches of India (NCCI) on Tuesday asked the government to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir in view of the “improved” law and order situation.
“The government should rethink and review its present policy of dealing with the states in the North East of India and the Jammu Kashmir crisis,” NCCI vice president P B M Basaiawmoit said.
“The law and order situation has improved considerably in these states and the government ought to find new ways to build the confidence of the local people so as to sustain peace and stability,” he said. The AFSPA has been operative in North Eastern states since 1958. In 1972 it was extended to Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura before it was extended to Jammu and Kashmir in 1990. The National Human Rights Commissiaon (NHRC) in its report from 1994 to 2007 had noted of 1318 allegations of human rights violations, of which, 1269 have been investigated by the Commission and 54 found to have truth in them. 115 persons only have faced punishment, Basaiawmoit stated. (PTI)