By Despite the inclusion of a pledge to reduce the geographical coverage of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in north-eastern states, the BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ released on Sunday notably omitted any mention of the promised rollout of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
In its ‘Sankalp Patra’ for 2019, the BJP pledged to swiftly finalize the NRC process in Assam, which was then ongoing under the Supreme Court’s oversight, and to “actively contemplate its expansion to other states.” It linked the intention to implement NRC gradually in various regions of the country to concerns about illegal immigration, highlighting the significant cultural and linguistic transformations and the adverse effects on the livelihoods of local residents.
In its 2024 manifesto, the party highlighted the absence of terrorist attacks in any city since 2014, a notable decrease in violence in Jammu and Kashmir following the nullification of Article 370, and a 52% reduction in Left-wing extremist violence. While the manifesto did not mention NRC this time, it reaffirmed the commitment to grant citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to individuals from six minority faiths in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who migrated to India before December 2014.
Title: Delayed Implementation of CAA and Phased Rollback of AFSPA in North-East India
- The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) occurred last month, marking a span of over four years since its enactment.
- While the BJP’s 2019 manifesto did not include a promise for a phased rollback of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the north-east, the past five years have witnessed a substantial decrease in areas designated as “disturbed” under the Act, attributable to a 71% reduction in insurgency incidents across the region.
- Presently, AFSPA is only applicable to eight districts in Assam. In Manipur, AFSPA has been lifted from 19 police stations in seven districts, and in Nagaland, 18 police stations spread across eight districts are no longer under its jurisdiction. AFSPA was entirely revoked from Tripura in May 2015 and from Meghalaya in March 2018.
