After the Oting incident, the Nagaland council decided to request the repeal of AFSPA.
Kohima:
A committee will be formed to consider the withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Nagaland, Minister Neiphiu Rio tweeted after a meeting with Union Interior Minister Amit Shah on this afternoon. Demands to repeal the law – which gives much power to the military – have been running high in the state after 14 civilians were killed earlier this month in an unsuccessful military operation in Mon county and retaliatory violence. Protest marches were held across the state, including in the state capital Kohima.
Brief media report on meeting hosted by Hon’ble @HMOIndia Shri @AmitShah on December 23, 2021 in New Delhi. Grateful to Amit Shah ji for taking the matter seriously . State Governor urges all sections to continue to maintain a peaceful atmosphere,” read Mr. Rio’s tweet.
Brief media report on the meeting chaired by Hon’ble @HMOIndia Shri @AmitShah on December 23, 2021 in New Delhi. Grateful to Amit Shah ji for taking the matter seriously. State Government. call on all departments to continue to maintain a peaceful atmosphere pic.twitter.com/a8CLuw3MM6
– Neiphiu Rio (@Neiphiu_Rio) December 26, 2021
At the meeting, also attended by Himanta Biswa Sarma – Assam Minister and BJP opinion officer in the northeast – it was also decided that the committee would include Center and government and police officials. close to the state. The Commission will submit its report within 45 days and the AFSPA withdrawal will be based on the committee’s recommendations.
In a statement, the government also said the Court of Inquiry would initiate disciplinary proceedings against the military unit and staff involved in the Oting incident. “Those identified to face investigation will be suspended immediately,” the statement read.
The state added that it will provide jobs for the families of those who died.
The National Assembly, which sent a fact-finding team to Nagaland, demanded the immediate resignation of the Interior Minister, accusing him of “liasing to parliament and the nation”. The party has also requested an ex gratia of Rs 1 crore for each family that loses a member. They have also requested that a Special Investigation Team be established to work under a judge of the Gauhati High Court.
Chemwang Konyak from Oting, who lost his son in the incident, said: “The government has offered compensation. Now they are offering jobs. But all this will not pay us back your son. we…we want the government to clean up and give us the truth with proof how our youth our son was killed”.
In a statement, the military asked the people to be patient. “The investigation ordered by the Army is being carried out urgently and every effort is being made to bring it to an end as soon as possible… The Indian Army is also fully cooperating with the Special Investigation Team,” the statement said. newspaper.
Last week, Nagaland council unanimously decided to demand the repeal of AFSPA from the northeast, especially the state.
Mr. Rio led the National Assembly to pass the resolution at a special session.
“Nagaland and the people of Naga have always opposed the AFSPA. It should be abolished,” the minister said days after the violence, in a stinging attack on what he called the “draconian law”.
Nagaland is not the only state asking for the repeal of the AFSPA.
After the Oting incident, Minister Meghalaya Conrad Sangma, whose National People’s Party is a member of the National Democratic Alliance, also called for the organization’s abolition, saying AFSPA was counterproductive and had caused ” more unrest”.
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