AFSPA Extended in Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for Six Months (2026-09-26)

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in parts of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for a further six months from October 1, 2026.

In Manipur, the whole State remains a "disturbed area" under the law, except for the jurisdictions of 13 police stations spread across five Valley districts — Imphal, Lamphel, City, Singjamei, Patsoi, Wangoi, Porompat, Heingang, Irilbung, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Nambol and Kakching.

The renewal comes amid the ethnic conflict that broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023. AFSPA had been steadily withdrawn from several parts of the State before the violence, but the Home Ministry began restoring it in some areas as the security situation worsened.

In Nagaland, the Act will stay in force in nine districts — Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, Peren and Meluri — and in areas under 21 police stations in Kohima, Mokokchung, Longleng, Wokha and Zunheboto districts.

In Arunachal Pradesh, it has been extended in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts, and in areas under the Namsai, Mahadevpur and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district along the Assam border.

What the law does

AFSPA was enacted in 1958 to give the armed forces special powers in areas declared "disturbed" because of insurgency or serious internal security problems. Once an area is notified under Section 3, security personnel there get powers that ordinary police do not have.

Subject to conditions set out in the Act, the law allows the armed forces to use force, including lethal force, against anyone acting in contravention of prohibitory orders; to arrest without a warrant; and to enter and search premises without one. It also shields personnel acting under the Act: prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings require the prior sanction of the Central government. These extraordinary powers and the protection from prosecution are what make the law contentious.

Who can notify a disturbed area

Both the Central and State governments can declare an area disturbed under Section 3, which is why the law's geographical reach has not always been decided by the Home Ministry alone. For decades, the Manipur government issued the disturbed-area notifications itself. Although AFSPA has been in force in the State since 1981, the Ministry largely left periodic renewal to the State government — a practice that changed after the May 2023 violence.

At present, the Union Home Ministry issues the periodic notifications for Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Assam's notifications are issued by the State government. Tripura revoked the Act in 2015, and Meghalaya, where it had applied in a 20-km belt along the Assam border, was taken out of its ambit from April 1, 2018, after 27 years. Jammu and Kashmir has its own Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1990.

Manipur's shrinking — then expanding — footprint

AFSPA's reach in Manipur had been contracting. It was withdrawn from the Imphal municipal area in 2004, and a larger rollback began in 2022 as the security situation was seen to have improved. Between April 1, 2022 and April 1, 2023, the Act was withdrawn from all police station areas in the Manipur Valley, with the State citing an improved security environment and a greater sense of safety among the public. It continued, however, in the hill regions, where disturbed-area notifications had been renewed for decades.

That trajectory reversed after the violence began in May 2023. On November 14, 2024, the Home Ministry reimposed AFSPA in the jurisdictions of six police stations across five districts — Sekmai and Lamsang in Imphal West, Lamlai in Imphal East, Jiribam in Jiribam district, Moirang in Bishnupur and Leimakhong in Kangpokpi. These were among the areas from which the law had earlier been withdrawn. The Ministry said the step was needed for "well-coordinated operations by the security forces" and to contain insurgent activity. The move stood out not only because AFSPA was returning to some places, but because the notification came from the Centre rather than the State.

The Manipur government did not agree. On November 15, 2024, the State Cabinet under then Chief Minister N. Biren Singh decided to recommend that the Centre review and withdraw the notification in "public interest", and conveyed the decision to the Union Home Secretary the next day. The disagreement was unusual, since both the Centre and the State were then governed by the BJP. The political situation later changed: President's Rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13, 2025, and revoked on February 4, 2026.

The latest arrangement still exempts 13 police stations in five Valley districts but keeps the rest of the State under the disturbed-area notification, showing how the post-2023 security situation interrupted the earlier process of shrinking AFSPA's footprint.

Why Nagaland and Arunachal remain covered

In Nagaland, the continuation of AFSPA has historically been tied to the presence and movement of armed insurgent groups and to the unresolved Naga political issue. The Centre has held negotiations with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) and the Naga National Political Groups. In 2022, security officials indicated that uncertainty over the conclusion of the Naga peace process was one reason the Act continued in parts of Nagaland and neighbouring States.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the law's application has been concentrated largely in districts affected by insurgent movement and in areas adjoining Assam. Tirap, Changlang and Longding have therefore remained under the Act, along with specified police station jurisdictions in Namsai district.

The present system is no longer one in which AFSPA uniformly covers much of the Northeast. Its application has been narrowed progressively to particular States, districts and even individual police station areas.