New Delhi said on Wednesday it was considering redeploying its main regiment from the troubled northeastern state of Manipur in the face of mounting demonstrations against alleged human rights abuses.

The crisis, which was sparked last month by the discovery in Manipur of the battered corpse of a 32-year-old woman, has taken India’s new Congress-led government by surprise. The woman who was also allegedly raped in custody, was detained by the Assam Rifles under special anti-terrorist laws.

The protests have also overshadowed New Delhi’s announcement on Tuesday that it was introducing legislation to scrap the controversial anti-terrorist law that had been passed by the previous Hindu-nationalist-led government in 2002.

Critics say the move would be mostly symbolic since the Indian military uses a separate law – the Armed Forces Special Powers Act – to detain people in Manipur and other insurgency-affected states such as Jammu Kashmir.

“Since Manipur is mostly Hindu, it is the classic example of an insurgency that didn’t need to happen,” said Ravi Nair, a human rights lawyer. “The insurgency is direct consequence of the abuse of powers by the security forces. Replacing one security force with another will make very little difference.”

Protesters in Imphal, capital of Manipur, which has a long-running insurgency, have demanded the removal of the Special Powers Act. Groups in the state said on Wednesday the redeployment of the Assam Rifles, which is accused of a long list of human rights abuses in the north east, would do little to address their concerns.

Shivraj patil, India’s home minister, has said the regiment could be replaced by the Border Security Force, a paramilitary group. Manipur borders Burma.

Meanwhile, India’s main opposition BJP said on Wednesday the abolition of the anti-terrorism law would play into the hands of terrorists.

“Ironically, abolishing the Prevention of Terrorism Act would probably harden anti-Delhi attitudes in Manipur since it looks like double-standards,” said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, head of the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi. “But it doesn’t look like New Delhi has yet mustered the courage to address the demands of the Manipur protesters.”

However, human rights groups welcomed the proposed scrapping of the anti-terrorism law, which gives the police the right to detain suspects for up to 180 days without access to a lawyer.

The law, which also defines a “terrorist” in notoriously vague terms, has been repeatedly misused by state governments to persecute political opponents and settle local scores.

For example, the tiny state of Jharkhan in eastern India has detained  1,400
people under the act without suffering from any terrorist problems