By Kukiland Express Desk
Songpi, April 22, 2026
The Kuki Liberation Army-Letkholun (KLA-L) on Tuesday demanded that the Centre re-notify the Imphal Municipal Area as “disturbed” under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, arguing that the legal threshold has been met and calling it a matter of necessity rather than political choice.
In a press communique issued by its Department of Information and Publicity, KLA-L listed four conditions it said Imphal has witnessed since May 2023. These include the storming and burning of police armories with over 4,000 weapons looted, repeated attacks on state forces that led police to abandon posts, blockades of NH-2/37 by mobs in thousands that paralyzed essential supplies for weeks, and the use of automatic firearms and IEDs in civilian areas confirmed in FIRs under BNS Sections 110 and 111.
Citing the legal framework, the communique stated that AFSPA does not require war or insurgency. Section 3 permits declaration of a “disturbed area” when the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is necessary. It referenced the Supreme Court’s 1997 judgment in _Naga People’s Movement v. Union of India_, which held that “widespread public disorder” that civil administration cannot contain satisfies Section 3. KLA-L asserted that Imphal has crossed that threshold.
The group noted that Imphal has more than 20,000 police personnel plus RAF and CAPF. Yet between May 2023 and April 2026, 19 police stations were attacked and seven burnt. Curfews under Section 163 BNSS were imposed over 140 times but were routinely defied, it said. District Magistrates themselves sought Army flag marches, which KLA-L argued amounted to an admission of inability under the CrPC/BNSS framework.
KLA-L said AFSPA was withdrawn from Imphal in 2004 and 2022 on the premise that “the valley is peaceful, hills are not.” The last three years, it contended, proved that premise false. It added that keeping the Army out of Imphal while deploying it 10 km away in Kangpokpi created a security vacuum in the capital. Invoking Article 14, the communique said citizens in Imphal cannot be left with weaker security than those in Churachandpur due to “2004-era politics.”
The communique clarified that KLA-L is not seeking AFSPA for decades as in the past. It called for strict application of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ six-month review mechanism. The demand is to notify Imphal Municipal Area as “disturbed” for six months with three clear metrics: recovery of 90% of looted arms, zero police station attacks for 90 days, and NH-2 open 24×7 for 60 days. If met, the area should be de-notified.
Describing AFSPA as a “circuit-breaker, not a constitution,” KLA-L said opposing it in Imphal today confuses sentiment with security. The law, it argued, exists for scenarios where mobs overwhelm civil police and the State must choose between anarchy and armed forces acting under statute with scrutiny and a sunset clause.
The communique also questioned what it called unequal treatment. It asked on what legal or moral basis the Government of India can deny a constitutionally sanctioned administrative arrangement to a community seeking protection within the Union while extending accommodation to groups whose declared objective is to dismember the Union in Imphal. The Kuki demand, it said, is for governance under the Constitution.
Concluding its position, KLA-L stated that law must be applied without discrimination and constitutional claims cannot be subordinated to extra-constitutional threats.
Edited By: Kimbawinu Vaiphei
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<p><strong>Keywords:</strong> AFSPA Imphal, KLA-L demand, Manipur law and order, Imphal security crisis</p>
