Guwahati, Sept 4: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met Union home minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Assam.
“I met honourable Union home minister Amit Shah at his residence today to discuss the roadmap for the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Assam. The Government of Assam will take further steps based on the suggestions of the honourable home minister,” the chief minister conveyed on his official micro-blogging site, X, formerly Twitter.
Last month, Sarma had said that the Assam government would take the requisite measures to completely withdraw AFSPA from the state by the end of this year.
“Our government’s aim is to completely withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the state by the end of this year. Prior to our government coming to power, previous governments had requested the Centre to extend AFSPA 62 times. Now the situation has improved and AFSPA is currently effective in only eight districts of Assam,” Sarma had said, while delivering his Independence Day speech here.
The chief minister said that during his tenure, four peace accords were signed with the insurgent groups and close to 8,000 militants have returned to the mainstream.
Notably, the Assam government had extended the “disturbed area” notification under AFSPA for another six months in eight districts with effect from April 1, 2023.
The “disturbed area” tag was extended in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts.
It may be recalled that AFSPA was first imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months since then after a review by the state government.