The Calcutta High Court has ordered the formation of a three-member committee to identify and rehabilitate people displaced by violence during protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Murshidabad district. The court also extended the deployment of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) in the area. The committee will consist of officials from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), and the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA). It will be responsible for identifying displaced persons, assessing damage to properties, collecting FIR data, facilitating FIR filing, and overseeing the well-being of displaced individuals. The state government has been instructed to provide necessary infrastructure to the committee and report on its progress by May 15. The court also directed the state to formulate a rehabilitation scheme for displaced persons, including the construction of damaged houses and shops, compensation for lost livelihoods, and protection for families of those who died in the violence.
On the controversial AFSPA, the home minister said, "We will also think of revoking AFSPA."
"Border skirmishes have been rising and people are dying... A way has to be found to deal with this. Except for talks... As you are talking to China to attempt that it withdraws (from Ladakh border), we should also talk to our (other) neighbour to find a way to get out of this situation," he said in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour amid protests from treasury benches.
The army said on Friday it has completed the Summary of Evidence against two of its men involved in July's Amshipura encounter in Shopian district.
Referring to the enactment of the Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act, 2011 which created a trained force to aid and assist the security forces in maintaining law and order in the state, the bench said in its view it cannot be said to be an act of contempt of the order of 2011 passed by this court.
This Act was imposed in the state on February 16, 1997 following spurt of violence by the ultras.
Minister of State Kiren Rijiju, who looks after the northeast division in the home ministry, seems to have been bypassed in recent decision to declare entire Nagaland as 'disturbed area' under the AFSPA with clear indications emerging of his unhappiness.
The latest amendments to the NIA Act will allow the agency to probe terrorist activities against Indians and Indian interests abroad, cyber crimes and cases of human trafficking.
There was more to him than he let on, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
A surge in violent crimes, including targeted killings, has raised concerns about law and order in Bihar. Police attribute the rise to the widespread availability of illegal firearms and ammunition.
Illegal weapons proliferation through the porous India-Myanmar border in the north-east has been a boon for the Maoists operating in the rest of the country. It has been disclosed by the Bharatiya Janata Party's national security cell convenor P Chandrasekhar following his situation review meeting with convenors of state BJP security cells in the north-east.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday expressed satisfaction over the recent statement by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde wherein he had said that 'the state government would be taken on board over the revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
'Due to the imposition of AFSPA, our people have for so long suffered untold miseries and discrimination at the hands of security forces'
Trump, who has repeatedly said that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan through trade, last Friday said for the first time that "five jets were shot down" during the fighting.
As India and China continue to face off across the Himalayas six decades later, the echoes of that earlier conflict remain unmistakable. The core of China's sensitivity lies not in maps or mountain passes, but in its perception of sovereignty over Tibet, points out Dr Kumar.
The Maharashtra legislative assembly passed the 'Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill' aimed at preventing unlawful activities of Left Wing Extremist organizations, focusing on urban Naxalism and passive militancy.
Exploiting the killings to ratchet up the tension in the region and harden negotiating positions with the central government serves nobody, least of all the people of Nagaland. The peace process must not be stalled because of this incident or distracted by calls to repeal the AFSPA, argues Vivek Gumaste.
'The government needs to think if a draconian, outdated and colonial law is needed in a democratic, multi religious, diverse country governed by a democratic government.'
Demand for repeal of the act found echoes in the nation's Parliament with National People's Party (NPP) MP Agatha Sangma, a former Minister in the United Progressive Alliance government, terming the act as 'the elephant in the room which (needs to) be addressed' and seeking the 'draconian' Act be repealed.
'The visit of the honourable PM with the workable strategy towards conflict resolution will help greatly.' 'But visiting the state without concrete proposals may not bring the desired outcome at this stage.'
Survivors of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts express shock and disappointment after the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 accused, citing lack of evidence. They feel justice has not been served after 19 years.
Almost every year, three to four waves of flood ravage Assam. The average annual loss due to the disaster is to the tune of Rs 200 crore, according to a state government website.
Uproarious scenes on the concluding day of the special session on Thursday turned the West Bengal Assembly into a cauldron of chaos, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's speech was repeatedly drowned out by slogan-shouting, leading to the suspension of five Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs and the collapse of two legislators during forcible eviction by marshalls.
In its election manifesto -- 'Sankalp Patra' -- the Bharatiya Janata Party has vowed to implement the Union Civil Code (UCC), maintain peace in the Northeast, among other key poll promises.
Curfew was relaxed in three Imphal Valley districts on Tuesday and the suspension on broadband internet lifted with conditions, even as Chief Minister N Biren Singh blamed the Congress for the present crisis in Manipur and NDA MLAs called for a "mass operation" against militants responsible for the killing of six women and children. Peaceful rallies were also staged across the state, with hundreds taking to the streets with empty coffins in Churachandpur district, demanding justice for those killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Jiribam, and members of various civil society organisations bringing out a procession in Imphal West district to protest the reimposition of AFSPA in parts of the state.
Discussions and deliberations need to be held on the purpose of imposing AFSPA and how to revoke it, Rio said during the public funeral of the 14 daily wage earners of a coal mine, who were shot dead by security forces on Saturday at Oting village on their way home from work.
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
In what was perhaps the most critical meeting before full-scale war broke out, Shastri defined India's immediate war objectives to his defence minister, army, and air force chiefs: 'To defend against Pakistan's attempts to grab Kashmir by force and to make it abundantly clear that Pakistan would never be allowed to wrest Kashmir from India; To destroy the offensive power of Pakistan's armed forces...' A fascinating excerpt from Shiv Kunal Verma's must-read 1965: A Western Sunrise India's War With Pakistan.
Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) lists why India must not do away with AFSPA, but ensure enough transparency to avoid confrontation with human rights.
The move prompted a strong reaction from the Congress, with its state unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu equating it with the 1919 Rowlatt Act or Black Act and saying that the party will explore legal options to challenge it.
Presenting the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on May 12, 2025, in which he dictated India's new doctrines on countering terrorism.
The tribunal also granted conditional bail to Captain Bhoopendra Singh and directed him to appear before its principal registrar at a regular interval starting from January next year.
A mother of two girls, Arambam Robita Leima said she would launch her fast-unto-death against AFSPA.
The Centre on Thursday welcomed the Tripura government's decision to lift Armed Forces Special Powers Act saying there was no need for the state government to take the consent of the central government while taking the move.
The home ministry said the entire Assam, besides bordering areas of Meghalaya, have been declared 'disturbed' under the AFSPA for three months with effect from May 3.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday made it clear that reduction of footprints of security forces and phased withdrawal only needs a "courageous statesman" and not referendum.
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
A day after AFSPA was extended in most parts of Manipur, rights activist Irom Sharmila said the "oppressive law" was not a solution to the conflict in the state.
Six ULFA anti-talk insurgents were apprehended with arms and ammunition by a joint Army and Meghalaya police team in Meghalaya along Assam border, a defence officer said in Guwahati on Wednesday.
Stating that incidents of militancy related violence in Jammu & Kashmir have come down by over 70 per cent in the past five years, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday asserted that gradual revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act will begin in his present tenure.
