Guwahati, March 30, 2025: The Assam government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in three districts for another six months after assessing the law and order situation. However, it has withdrawn the controversial law from Dibrugarh, citing improved security conditions.
Home and Political Department Secretary Debaprasad Misra stated that the government had initially placed four districts under AFSPA as “Disturbed Areas” on October 8 last year. After reviewing reports from various security agencies, authorities observed a significant improvement in Assam’s security situation over the past three and a half years. This progress is attributed to proactive counter-insurgency measures by Assam Police and security forces.
Given these developments, the government has decided not to extend AFSPA in Dibrugarh beyond March 31, 2025. However, sporadic incidents of IED attacks and kidnappings for ransom, allegedly carried out by ULFA—the only active militant group in the state—have led to the continuation of AFSPA in Tinsukia, Charaideo, and Sivasagar districts.
AFSPA was first imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months following government reviews. The act grants security forces sweeping powers, including conducting operations anywhere, making arrests without prior warrants, and providing a degree of immunity for their actions.
Civil society groups and human rights activists continue to demand the law’s complete withdrawal from the Northeast, citing human rights violations. Calls to repeal AFSPA intensified after the killing of 14 civilians in a botched anti-insurgency operation and subsequent violence in Mon district, Nagaland, on December 4, 2021.
