Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government would remove Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) only after installing peace in northeast India. He added that the government is trying to strengthen internal security so that there is no need for Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the region.

The Home Minister stated this while addressing a public gathering at the inauguration of the newly built BJP office – Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan in Guwahati, Assam. As per reports, the newly built office is spread over 95,000 square feet and is reportedly the party’s biggest office in the north-eastern region.

Shat addressing the crowd in Guwahati.

Shah also said AFSPA will be removed from Northeast not for the sake of removing it but in letter and spirit, adding that AFSPA has been already withdrawn from 80 per cent areas of the Northeast.

“Rahul Gandhi gave Congress an agenda to remove AFSPA from the northeast if they came to power (in 2019), for the sake of appeasement. When it was asked of me, I said we will first bring peace in the northeast and then only will remove AFSPA, which would not happen just for appeasement,” the Home Minister stated.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on April this year had withdrawn AFSPA from some areas of Nagaland, Assam and Manipur. The Ministry on 1 October had also extended the AFSPA – an act that empowers the armed forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas” – in some parts of the northeast for another six months.