GUWAHATI, July 14 � The fact that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had opposed the extension of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Assam justified the demand of the North East Students� Organization (NESO) for scrapping of the Act, said the chairman of the NESO, Samujjal Bhattacharya.
Referring to the new in The Assam Tribune which reported about the IB�s opposition to extension of the AFSPA in Assam, Bhattacharya said that the report vindicated the stand of the NESO, which has been agitating for the scrapping of the Act from the entire North East region.
The NESO chairman said that on one hand, the Assam Government has been claiming that the law-and-order situation has improved, while, on the other, it pressed the Centre for the extension of the AFSPA in the State. This proved that the Government has been maintaining a contradictory stand on the issue. He said that the Central and State Governments should respect the sentiments of the people of the region and withdraw the AFSPA, which is violating the human rights of the people.
Bhattacharya pointed out that the law-and-order situation in some of the Maoist-infested states of the country is far worse than in the North East as even legislators and district magistrates are being kidnapped. But the Centre has not imposed AFSPA in those states. �We are not demanding that a draconian Act like the AFSPA should be imposed in any part of the country. But if the Government can think of dealing with the situation in Maoist-infested states without imposition of the AFSPA, why the situation in North East and Jammu and Kashmir cannot be dealt with without imposing AFSPA, � he questioned.
