Why in news?

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in parts of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for another six months from October 1, 2026.

In Manipur, the entire state has been declared a "disturbed area" under AFSPA, barring the jurisdictions of 13 police stations in five Valley districts.

In Nagaland, AFSPA continues in nine districts, plus areas under 21 police stations in five other districts.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Act continues in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts, and in areas under Namsai, Mahadevpur and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district, bordering Assam.

This latest extension comes against the backdrop of the ethnic conflict that erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What Powers Does AFSPA Confer?
• Who Can Declare an Area "Disturbed"?
• How AFSPA Shrank in Manipur — and Then Returned
• Why AFSPA Continues in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh?

What Powers Does AFSPA Confer?

• AFSPA was enacted in 1958 to give the armed forces special powers to operate in areas declared "disturbed" due to insurgency or serious internal security problems.
  • The law first came into effect in 1958 to deal with the uprising in the Naga Hills, followed by the insurgency in Assam.
• Once an area is notified as disturbed under Section 3, security personnel receive powers that ordinary police do not have:
  • Authority to use force, including lethal force, against persons acting in contravention of prohibitory orders.
  • Power to arrest without a warrant.
  • Power to enter and search premises without a warrant.
• Legal Protection
  • The Act also shields personnel: prosecution or any legal proceedings for actions done (or purported to be done) under AFSPA require the prior sanction of the Central government.
  • It is precisely these extraordinary powers and this protection against prosecution that make AFSPA contentious.

Who Can Declare an Area "Disturbed"?

• Both the Central and State governments have the power to declare an area disturbed under Section 3. This is why the geographical application of the law has historically not been determined solely by the MHA.
• For decades, the Manipur government itself issued disturbed-area notifications, even though AFSPA had operated in the state since 1981.
  • This changed after the May 3, 2023 ethnic violence.
• Current Status Across States
  • MHA currently issues periodic disturbed-area notifications only for Manipur, Nagaland, and parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • For Assam, the notification is issued by the State government.
  • AFSPA was removed entirely from Tripura by then state government in 2015.
  • Meghalaya was under AFSPA for 27 years, until it was revoked by the Ministry from April 1, 2018.
  • Jammu and Kashmir has a separate law — the J&K Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1990.

How AFSPA Shrank in Manipur — and Then Returned?

• AFSPA's footprint in Manipur had been contracting before the current conflict:
  • 2004: Withdrawn from the Imphal municipal area.
  • April 2022 – April 2023: A much larger rollback — AFSPA withdrawn from all police station areas in the Manipur Valley, citing an improved security situation and greater public sense of security.
  • AFSPA, however, continued in the hill regions throughout, where disturbed-area notifications had been renewed periodically for decades.
  • The trend was toward gradual reduction — until the May 2023 violence reversed it.
• Reimposition
  • In November 2024, the MHA reimposed AFSPA in Manipur across the jurisdictions of six police stations spread over five districts — areas from which it had earlier been withdrawn.
  • Notably, this notification came from the MHA, not the Manipur government, marking a shift from the earlier pattern.
  • The then Manipur govt did not agree with this decision to reimpose AFSPA and it sought a reversal almost immediately.

Why AFSPA Continues in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh?

• Nagaland: Continuation has historically been linked to the presence and movement of armed insurgent groups and the unresolved Naga political issue.
  • The Centre has held negotiations with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), or NSCN-IM, and Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs).
  • In 2022, security officials indicated that uncertainty over the conclusion of the Naga peace process was a key reason AFSPA persisted in parts of Nagaland and neighbouring states.
• Arunachal Pradesh: Its application has remained concentrated in districts affected by insurgent movement and areas adjoining Assam.

Conclusion

AFSPA's story in India's Northeast is one of contraction and reversal, not a fixed policy. Manipur's own trajectory — years of gradual rollback undone within months of the 2023 violence — shows how tightly the law's reach tracks ground realities.

Even shared political governance, as seen in the Centre-Manipur disagreement, hasn't guaranteed consensus on where the line between security and civil liberty should be drawn.