Recently security forces opened fire on a truck on the Tiru-Oting road of the Mon town in Nagaland that was carrying villagers and mine workers after a tip-off about a possible movement of insurgents. Six villagers were killed in the incident. All of them were mine workers returning home. This led to angry locals protesting the killings after which the security forces opened fire and killed six more villagers. A soldier also died in the incident.
This has caused much outrage across the nation and again rekindled the debate over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law that gives enormous discretionary powers to the armed forces over a civilian population.
Let’s see how AFSPA was enacted, why it is controversial, and how demands for its repeal have grown louder over the years.
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