The Next Agenda

Subhashis Mittra

For a long time, the police in the Northeast (NE) primarily focused on fighting insurgency. However, with insurgency now nearly eradicated in the region, the police should shift their focus towards protecting people’s lives, property and dignity.

This was Union home minister Amit Shah’s advice to the police in the Northeastern states at a recent review meeting in Guwahati on the status of implementation of three new criminal laws in NE states.

After taking stock of the implementation of three new criminal laws—the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA)—Shah said in a post on X, that he had directed the NE states to monitor the progress and instructed the police forces to focus more on securing the rights of the citizens.

The meeting reviewed the implementation and present status of various new provisions related to police, prisons, courts, prosecution, and forensics in the Northeastern states. The meeting was attended by the chief ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, along with Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Governor of Manipur, which is now under President’s rule.

The Union home secretary, chief secretaries and directors general of police of Northeastern states, the director general of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), the director of the National Crime Records Burea