18 years after the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was enforced in Tripura, the state government has decided to withdraw the Act. "In view of the significant taming of terrorism in Tripura, the council of ministers decided to withdraw the AFSPA from the entire state," Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told. "The security forces recently exhaustively reviewed the law and order situation in the state. Considering the reports of the security forces, the council of ministers decided to recommend to the union home ministry to issue a notification to withdraw the AFSPA," he said.

"The decisions were taken in view of the decrease in militancy-related incidents in Tripura over the last few years. However, the security forces would be watchful over the situation," Sarkar said. "When the Act was imposed there were only 42 police stations and two-third of the entire police station areas were under this act," CM Sarkar said.

Tripura has seen a rapid decline in militancy in the past five years as hundreds of militants have surrendered. The ruling Left Front, who in power in Tripura since 1993, has been contemplating the withdrawal of the law and had been supported by  opposition parties like the Congress and BJP, who are also in favour the move. The home department said, "Though the four-and-half-decade-old terrorism has been tamed in Tripura, the state government is always cautious about the terror outfits and their activities."

The most important evidence regarding the decline of militancy and separatism in Tripura is displayed when the state recorded above 84 percent voter turnout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, highest voter turnouts in the country, according to the Election Commission.

AFSPA empowers to security forces with unlimited powers to shoot at sight, arrest anybody without a warrant and carry out searches without consent. The central act was enforced in Tripura on 16 February, 1997 when terrorism was at its peak in the state, which shares an 856-km border with Bangladesh. Many local rights groups and political parties in Tripura had accused the act as "draconian" and demanded its repeal. Tribal parties such as the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura and the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura had been demanding the withdrawal of the Act for a long time, saying that it is aimed at suppressing the State’s 33 percent tribal population.

By Premji