Nagaland to write to Centre seeking cancellation of AFSPA

New Delhi, Dec 07: Nagaland will write to the Centre to cancel the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act after a botched up operation by the Indian Army claimed the lives of 14 civilians.

This is an Act to enable certain special powers to the armed forces in the disturbed areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland.

The Act says that any commissioned officer, warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or any other person of equivalent rank in the armed forces may in a disturbed area.

Meanwhile, a Naga Tribe has listed five demands relating to swift and strict action against the responsible defence personnel involved in the death of 14 civilians in Nagaland.

The demands were placed soon after Union Home Minister, Amit Shah's address in Parliament in which he said that the developments were being closely monitored and the incident was highly regrettable.

The Konyak Union said that its first demand is to sett up an independent inquiry committee under a competent investigative agency. The Union said that the two members of the Special Investigation Team set up by the government should be from the Naga civil society.

All Army personnel involved in the incident must be booked and punished under the law of the land. The details of the action taken against the Army personnel should be put Putin public domain within 30 days.

Further the Konyak Union also demanded the withdrawal of the Assam Rifles from the Mon District. It also demanded that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of AFSPA be demanded from the entire Northeast of India. Under AFSPA, the security forces can conduct operations anywhere where the law is in effect and also carry out arrested without prior warrants.