Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA)

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2 Context: The killing of 14 civilians in a botched military operation in Nagaland has led to fresh calls for repealing The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), a stringent law that allows the armed forces to use maximum force in an area declared as ‘disturbed’. Origin of AFSPA In the wake of the partition riots, four ordinances were promulgated in 1947. The first was the Bengal Disturbed Areas (Special Powers of Armed Forces) Ordinance; this was followed by ordinances for Assam, East Punjab and Delhi , and the United Provinces. These were replaced by a....Read More