Wednesday, February 9 2005 15:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Agartala: The Committee to review the Armed Forces Special Power Act 1958 at a hearing yesterday (Feb 8, 2005) said it has received representations from civil groups in Manipur who pleaded that while the Act should be repealed, the Army should continue to stay to fight insurgency.

"We received many representations in Manipur from different groups who want repeal of the Act, but that the Army should remain to fight insurgency," Chairman of the Committee, Justice (Retd) B P Jeevan Reddy, a former judge of the Supreme Court told a press conference in Agartala. Reddy said eight representations have been received from Tripura, including from the Opposition Congress, Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and a few student groups and Human Right bodies, but none from the ruling CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist).

"Although we have not received any representation from CPM, Committee members met Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, a politburo member of CPM. He said that his Government would give an elaborate representation in writing to the Committee," Sanjoy Hazarika, journalist and author and a member of the Committee said.

The Committee was set up in November 2004 after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured a group from Manipur that the Government would look at all aspects of the Act and it's implementations in the North East.

Barring Sikkim, the Act is in place in seven of the eight States of the region and there have been public demands for its repeal or replacement, Hazarika said.