Manipur govt urges Centre to withdraw AFSPA

The Manipur government has requested the Centre to review and withdraw AFSPA from areas falling under the jurisdiction of six police stations in the state, an official said. The Centre has reimposed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in Manipur's six police station areas, including violence-hit Jiribam. A letter from the Joint Secretary (Home) to the Centre on Saturday, mentioned that "the state cabinet has deliberated upon the same (reimposition of AFSPA) in its meeting held on November 15 and has decided to recommend to the central government to review and withdraw the said declaration of areas falling under the jurisdiction of six police stations in the state as disturbed areas under Section 3 of AFSPA 1958."
The Ministry of Home Affairs had on November 14 reimposed AFSPA in areas falling under Sekmai PS and Lamsang PS in Imphal West district, Lamlai in Imphal East, Moirang in Bishnupur, Leimakhong in Kangpokpi and Jiribam in Jiribam district. Manipur has had the Disturbed Area status under the AFSPA since 1980, and it was only withdrawn from some parts of Imphal in 2004 following strong protests after the killing of 32-year-old Thangjam Manorama earlier that year.Since 2022, areas notified as Disturbed Areas have been incrementally reduced. It had been removed from 15 police stations in six districts in April 2022, and with its removal from another four police stations on April 1, 2023, it had been withdrawn from the jurisdiction of 19 police stations in total, all located in the Meitei-dominated valley.Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 2023.

Meanwhile, the situation remained calm but tense in Manipur's Imphal Valley, where an indefinite curfew has been imposed and internet services suspended following violent protests after the discovery of the bodies of six persons, three women and children each, allegedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam. The six persons were missing from a camp for the displaced in Jiribam since Monday following a gunfight between militants and security forces that led to the deaths of 10 insurgents. The bodies of the two women and a child were recovered from Barak River in Jiribam on Saturday, while three other bodies, including those of a woman and two children, were found on Friday night.