The seven States of the northeast account for about 42 per cent of the total ‘offences against State’ registered in the country in 2015 according to the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB).
Across the country, 147 cases were registered in 2015 of which 63 are from the seven northeast States.
While Assam recorded the highest number of 22 cases under Sections 121, 121A, 122, 123, 124-A of the Indian Penal Code), Meghalaya recorded 20 cases in these sections. Over the same year, Nagaland registered eight cases, Mizoram seven, Manipur four, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura one case.
Among the other States with cases under these sections — classified as ‘offences against the state’ — in the double digits are Bihar with 17 cases, while Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 16.
Manipur tops UAPA casesWhen it comes to cases registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), tiny Manipur accounts for a huge 60 per cent of UAPA cases.
During 2015, the country recorded 894 UAPA cases of which 544 were from Manipur. Assam recorded the second highest number, with 103 cases, followed by Jammu and Kashmir where just 59 cases were registered.
“It is strange and peculiar but not usual. It depends on socio-economic and political situation on the ground level in particular States,” retired Supreme Court Judge Asok Kumar Ganguly told The Hindu .
Justice (retd.) Ganguly said it also depended on how much powers law enforcing agencies had in a particular state. Well-known civil rights activist Sujata Bhadra said such a high number of cases are reflection that the State does not trust its citizens and that these States have become a “police state”.
