Northeast Students’ Organisation (NESO), which comprises of eight major students’ bodies in the region, is set to stage a protest on Thursday condemning the killing of 14 civilians by Indian security forces in Nagaland’s Mon district on Saturday.
The student bodies will stage sit-in protests in all the state capitals of the Northeast region on December 9 as a mark of protest, The Northeast Today reported.
The NESO also demanded the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
The AFSPA grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed” areas. First passed in September 1958 in the Naga Hills, the act was then extended to part of Assam, and later to other states in the Northeast as well as Punjab, Chandigarh, and Jammu & Kashmir.
On December 4, an army patrol in the Mon district in Nagaland (where the AFSPA is in force) killed six civilians returning from work in the coal mines. When violence broke out in the area as a result, eight more civilians were killed after security forces allegedly opened fire. One Indian soldier also succumbed to injuries sustained during the clash with the locals.
Although the army called the original killings a “case of mistaken identity,” locals refused to accept such claims.
Another civilian was killed by the security forces on Sunday afternoon when protestors attacked an army camp in the region.
On Sunday, all mobile internet, data services, and SMS from all providers in the entire area of Mon district were shut down by the Nagaland government owing to “apprehension of grave law and order problems” in the wake of the incident.
“SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, and other social media platforms could be used for spreading of rumours, fake news, and for circulating inflammatory texts, pictures, videos, etc, which may inflame passions and thus exacerbate the law and order situation,” read the notification from the state government.
Later on Sunday, the Nagaland Police registered a suo moto FIR against the the 21st Para Military Force of the Indian Army in connection with the firing incident stating that the security forces “blankly opened fire” at the vehicle containing the returning coal mine labourers “without any provocation” resulting in the killing of several villagers and injuring many others. The FIR further states that the fact that no police guide was requested for the operation shows that the intention of the security forces was to “murder and injure civilians.”
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Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who attended the funeral of the deceased civilians on Monday, took to Twitter and demanded the repeal of AFSPA. “Nagaland and the Naga people have always opposed AFSPA. It should be repealed,” he wrote.
Speaking to the media after the funeral, he said, “I’ve spoken to Union Home Minister, he is taking the matter very seriously. We’ve given financial assistance to the affected families. We’re asking the central government to remove AFSPA from Nagaland. This law has blackened the image of our country.”