Nagaland firing: Protests call for justice for victims, AFSPA repeal

Thousands of people took part in the “Peoples' Rally” held here on Friday, demanding justice for the 14 civilians killed by security forces in Nagaland recently and scrapping of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the Northeast.

Participants of the rally walked for around 2.5 km, and submitted a memorandum on the demands to the governor's secretariat.

In the memorandum, the participating groups demanded immediate justice for the slain youths of Oting and all Naga victims of alleged excesses by the Army, repeal of the AFSPA, and expediting a solution to the Naga political problem.

The protestors raised slogans denouncing the killing of 14 civilians in Oting area of Mon district in a botched up operation and its aftermath in the state on December 4 and 5. They also held banners and placards some of which read, “Nagas are not terrorists”, “Ban AFSPA, not our voice” and “Justice for Oting victims”.

Regretting the death of the civilians, Home Minister Amit Shah had told the Lok Sabha that security forces had fired in self-defence.

Besides members of the Naga Students' Federation (NSF), which organised the rally, representatives of the North East Students' Organisation (NESO), All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and apex bodies of several tribal bodies took part. 

The protestors submitted a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the governor's secretariat. 

Alleging that people of the state were tortured by security forces as they get immunity under the AFSPA, the memorandum provided a list of alleged incidents of excesses by the armed forces in Nagaland since 1970.

In 1947, the Naga National Council (NNC) had declared Nagaland as an independent state, following which the Centre sent security forces to the state. The AFSPA was enacted in 1958, and after decades of insurgency, peace process started and a Framework Agreement was signed in 2015 after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years.