Arunachal Pradesh to ask Centre to review AFSPA extension

Itanagar, April 16: Arunachal Pradesh will ask the Centre to review and reconsider the decision to extend Armed Forces Special Powers' Act (AFSPA) to all districts of the state bordering with Assam.

"The state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki which had its sitting on April 14 last unanimously decided to urge the Centre to repeal the Act immediately," Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Tanga Byaling informed in a statement on Thursday.

Taking into consideration that Arunachal Pradesh has been the most peaceful state in the North East with no history of home grown insurgency, extension of AFSPA to border districts of the state in entirety is not justified at this stage, he said.

The cabinet, he said, also resolved to plead the Centre to maintain status-quo-ante as an alternative by revoking the notification and reinstating the previous stand of extension to a 20 km wide belt in districts bordering Assam in addition to Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts.

Byaling denied the statement of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju of having telephonic conversation with him in regard to the extension of AFSPA in all districts bordering with Assam.

He said no intelligence information was shared with the state home department in connection with the recent attack on army by armed militants at Khonsa in Tirap district leading to the death of four jawans as claimed by Rijiju.

Byaling said he had sought detailed report from security agencies and district administrations from across the state but could not ascertain the presence of any extremist hideout as claimed.

The state government had been coordinating with the Centre on internal security as it believes that internal security is the collective responsibility of both state and the Centre.

PTI