BJP ally Agatha Sangma raises 'repeal AFSPA' demand in LS

New Delhi: In the wake of the Nagaland incident in which 14 civilians were killed, National People's Party (NPP) MP Agatha Sangma on Tuesday raised the issue of repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the Lower House of the Parliament.

Speaking during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, Sangma, who is an MP of BJP-ally NPP in Meghalaya, said that "the elephant in the room be addressed" and the "draconian" AFSPA be repealed.

Sangma further said that an "unfortunate and condemnable" incident took place in the Mon district of Nagaland in which "14 civilians were shot dead by the armed forces in a so called counter-insurgency operation".

She said that this was not the first time that an incident like this had taken place where innocent civilians had to bear the brunt of "draconian laws" like AFSPA.

"It also reminds us of an incident that took place in Manipur in 2000, in Imphal, which is known as the Malom massacre in which over 10 civilians were shot dead and it prompted a 28-year old Irom Sharmila to go on a 16-year-long hunger strike," Sangma said. She also noted that various political leaders cutting across party lines spoke about this issue and condemned this on Monday.

Even Home Minister Amit Shah gave a statement regarding this incident and informed the House that an SIT will probe this issue, she said, adding that the incident has been condemned by every possible student union from the Northeast.

"My own political party NPP has condemned this. Even the Jeevan Reddy Committee had recommended that this act be scrapped. Therefore, on those lines, I would like to say that in the Northeast there have been procedures where the armed forces within themselves can address these issues and a lot of prosecutions have taken place," she said, adding that the reason why AFSPA was enacted in 1958 was to ensure that insurgency be stopped in the Northeast but it has not been able to do that.