Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, 10 May, said that he was confident that the "Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) would soon be revoked from the entire Assam." Shah said this after presenting the President's Colour to the Assam Police for successfully managing the issues in the state over the years.
Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the northeastern state, said that law and order and peace accords with militant outfits had improved and already led to the partial withdrawal of AFSPA in the state, reported news agency PTI.
The controversial law has been fully revoked from 23 districts and partially from one district, he added.
'Day Is Not Far When Entire State Is Free of Violence, Insurgency'
The efforts of the Centre and Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma have paved the way for peace agreements with most of the militant outfits and "the day is not far when the entire state is completely free of violence and insurgency," Shah said.
Militants who have surrendered are being rehabilitated by the Centre and the state, he added.
Stating that the Assam police rightfully deserved the President's Colour, he said, "The Assam Police has a glorious history and has successfully tackled insurgency, border issues, smuggling of arms, drugs and cattle, rhino poaching and social issues like witchcraft to emerge as one of the foremost police forces of the country," reported news agency PTI.
'No Success in Bengal Because of Non-Cooperation': Shah
Speaking at the Guwahati rally, Shah said that cases of illegal migration from Bangladesh had substantially declined under the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2016, whereas the "lack of success" in West Bengal over the same was due to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government.
"The Assam government is helping the Centre by standing like a wall against infiltration. This is why we are getting a lot of success in Assam. But there is no success in Bengal because of non-cooperation there."Home Minister Amit Shah
"Some works are left and once they are completed, infiltration can be completely checked," he continued, as reported by The Hindu.
The BJP fulfilled its promise, he claimed, since "about 10,700 bighas of satra land has been freed of infiltrators by the BJP government."
The President's Colour was on Tuesday presented to the state police in the presence of CM Sarma and Director General of Police, Bhaskar Jyoti Mananta.
Assam is the 10th state in India to receive the President's Colour – the highest honour that recognises the exceptional service offered to the nation both in peace and war.
Earlier in the day, Shah also planted saplings in Guwahati to mark the one-year anniversary of Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government in Assam.
(With inputs from PTI and The Hindu.)
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