Manipur turmoil pushes insurgency numbers to 243 in NE for 2023: MHA report

New Delhi, Dec 30: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has reported that the rise in insurgency-related violence in the northeastern states in 2023 was primarily driven by the ethnic conflict in Manipur.

According to data from the Ministry, there were 243 insurgency-related incidents in 2023, compared to 201 in 2022 and 209 in 2021.

The number of civilian fatalities also saw a sharp increase, with 38 civilians killed in 2023, seven in 2022, and 23 in 2021.

Additionally, 8 security personnel lost their lives in 2023. In the first three months of 2024, the region witnessed 77 insurgency-related incidents, resulting in 9 civilian deaths and the abduction of 53 individuals.

"Counter insurgency operations led to neutralisation of 40 insurgents, arrest of 407 insurgents and recovery of 147 arms in the region. A total of 1,595 members of various insurgent outfits of northeastern states surrendered with 459 arms and joined the mainstream of the society in the year 2023," a Home Ministry report for the year 2023-24 stated.

While Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura remained largely peaceful throughout 2023, other northeastern states experienced insurgency-related violence, with Manipur recording the highest number of incidents at 187. Nagaland saw 35 incidents, followed by Arunachal Pradesh with 19 and Assam with 8.

The Ministry of Home Affairs also noted significant improvements in the security situation across the region, leading to the partial withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA). In 2023, AFSPA was completely lifted from all districts, except for four in Assam, 19 police station areas in seven districts of Manipur, and 18 police station areas in eight districts of Nagaland. In Arunachal Pradesh, AFSPA was restricted to three police station areas in Namsai district, along with the districts of Tirap, Changlang, and Longding.

The secondary objective of the mission includes demonstration of the transfer of electric power between the docked spacecraft, which is essential for future applications such as in-space robotics, composite spacecraft control, and payload operations after undocking. "This capability is vital for India's lunar and interplanetary missions. Docking technology enables multi-launch missions and supports future human spaceflight," Singh said.

After the demonstration of docking and undocking experiments, the two satellites will continue to orbit the Earth for standalone missions for two years.

With inputs from news agency