Northeast Diary: Law protects Army, who will protect civilians? | India News – Times of India

som district incident NagalandIn which 13 civilians were killed during an anti-insurgency operation by India armyK 21 Para Special Forces was widely covered by the media. There was a huge public protest in the state, which is being opposed eagerly. waiting for peace For more than two decades now.
the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, or AFSPA They have come to the rescue of the soldiers involved in the operation. The law, which is fully or partially in force in four northeastern states, including Nagaland, gives the military the power to use force and even shoot any person whom it deems to be “law and order” in a disturbed area. to act in violation of”. ,
India’s top court has stayed criminal proceedings against 30 soldiers of 21 Para SF on the ground that the Nagaland government has failed to obtain prior sanction from the Center under Section 6 of the AFSPA, 1958.
The order of the court has come on the petition of the wives of the jawans involved in the operation. he claimedwas based on intelligence input from various sources including Nagaland Police Regarding the movement of militants involved in the killing of an Assam Rifles officer in Manipur in November last year.
Earlier, Nagaland Police charge sheet filed Against 21 Para SF personnel in the case on December 4, 2021. He charged the soldiers with murder as well as culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
According to PTI, the state police chief had said that the CID report seeking prosecution sanction had been sent to the Department of Military Affairs (under the Defense Ministry) in the first week of April this year and sent a reminder in May. went. The approval is still awaited, he had said.
The fact of the matter is that the AFSPA does not guarantee complete immunity to Army personnel, the Supreme Court said in its 2016 order in the Manipur extrajudicial killings case.
“Therefore the law is very clear that there is no concept of complete exemption from trial by a criminal court constituted under the CrPC if an offense is committed by the Army personnel also. Arguing that this would have a detrimental and demoralizing effect on the security forces is certainly one way of looking at it, but from the point of view of a civilian, living under the shadow of a gun that can be exonerated The proposed outright acceptance is equally disturbing and demoralizing, especially in a constitutional democracy like ours.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the state in the Nagaland case submitted a separate report. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also announced on Twitter that the SIT would “completely investigate the incident to ensure justice to the bereaved families”.

However, in the absence of prosecution clearance from the Centre, the wait for justice for the families of the civilians killed will be prolonged. Ironically, the Centre-State legal tussle, between the two friendly governments, could also mean that the psychological trauma of citizens in Nagaland and other troubled areas of the region will continue in the foreseeable future.

A ‘seditious poem’
Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court. He had faced multiple FIRs from the Uttar Pradesh Police and was jailed for allegedly posting tweets that hurt religious sentiments.
Barashree, a 19-year-old college student in Assam buragohain He came out of jail on Friday. His crime – he had written a poem, which according to the state was anti-national. He was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on May 18 for posting a poem ‘Akou Korim Rashtra Droh’ (The nation will rebel against itself again) on the social media platform. Since then she was in jail till she was granted bail by the Gauhati High Court on Thursday.
Police alleged that Buragohain was planning to join the banned insurgent group, United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) or ULFA (I), led by Paresh Baruah.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on July 14, “She wrote an anti-national poem…if her parents or someone takes the responsibility that she will not join the ULFA, she will be released.”
Buragohain is a second year undergraduate student at DCB College, Jorhat. Earlier, the Golaghat District and Sessions Court had allowed him to appear in the semester examinations that began on July 16.