A gazette notification issued by the Central department opined that the 'whole of Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is necessary.'
The notification of the Centre read, "Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (No. 28 of 1958), the Central Government hereby declares that the whole of the said State of Nagaland to be a 'disturbed area' for a period of six months with effect from 30 December 2021, for the purpose of the said Act."
The development came after the MHA set up a committee, headed by Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Vivek Joshi, to examine the possibility of withdrawing the contentious Act from the state.
As many as 14 civilians were killed by the Indian army in Nagaland on in a series of incidents earlier in the month, renewing the decades-long calls to repeal the controversial law.
The Nagaland Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the Centre revoke the act from the state and rest of the Northeast on December 20.