Manipur assembly elections 2022: AFSPA is a big election issue in Manipur
Home Minister Amit Shah was in the northeast for the first time since last December's Nagaland firing incident and the violence that follow, which left 14 dead in Nagaland. That incident has brought the focus back on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, or AFSPA, with chief ministers in the northeast seeking withdrawal of the controversial law that give sweeping powers to the military.
Mr Shah campaigned in Manipur, where the opposition parties have made AFSPA a big issue. The Home Minister was, however, silent on AFSPA when he was in Manipur, where elections are being held in two phases.
Five years ago, human rights activist Irom Sharmila broke her long fast in protest against AFSPA and unsuccessfully contested the elections with a call to ensure AFSPA was removed. This time, the Nagaland incident has had a spill-over effect in the Manipur elections.
"We kept our promise of blockade- and bandh-mukt Manipur. I take pride in the fact that the Biren Singh government has transformed Manipur into path of peace. (Chief Minister) Biren Singh is a former footballer; he knows how to score a goal and also defend the goal post," Mr Shah said.
Mr Shah spoke at a rally in Churachandpur yesterday, where three months ago an army Colonel, his wife and son, and four jawans died in an ambush by insurgents.
All parties barring the BJP have promised the immediate repeal of AFSPA in Manipur if voted to power.
Neena Ningombam, 46, a mother of two boys, is among hundreds of AFSPA widows in Manipur. She says she can't forget the day her husband, Michael, was picked up by police commandos on his way home in Imphal and shot dead in what has now been proven in court as fake encounter.
In 2014, the high court ordered a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, which she got in 2016. But the police commandos have not been brought to justice.
"Justice for me would be when the perpetrators would be given capital punishment. I really don't think AFSPA will go. The political parties are putting this in their manifesto to get votes," she told NDTV.
In the 2017 election, Irom Sharmila after giving up her 16-year-long fast fought the state election with a call to repeal AFSPA, but she lost.
In 2017, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that over 1,500 fake encounter cases in Manipur must be investigated. Of these, the CBI has investigated 39 cases, filed chargesheets in 20 but there has been no conviction.
"Despite the CBI finding clinching evidence, the centre denied prosecution sanctions in each and every case where security forces are involved in killing innocent people, and now we see even a regression from the BJP. Till 2017, they had AFSPA in their manifesto saying they want to create an environment to repeal it, but now that agenda is completely absent," said Imphal-based human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam.