Nagaland: Kin Of Those Killed In Army Shooting Reject Govt Compensation, Demand AFSPA Repeal
The families of the 14 people who were killed in the shootings by security forces in Oting village of Nagaland have refused any government compensation until those involved in the killings are brought to justice and the controversial AFSP is repealed.
According to the Oting Village Council, on December 5 when the locals were busy with funeral arrangements and other works in the aftermath of the killings, Rs 18.30 lakh was given by state minister P Paiwang Konyak and the district's deputy commissioner.
At first, they assumed it to be a "token of love and gift" from the minister but later learnt it was an installment of the ex gratia from the state government for the families of those killed and injured, it said.
"The Oting Village Council and victim families will not receive it until and unless the culprit of 21st Para Commandos of the Indian Armed Force are brought to justice before the Civil code of law and repeal of Armed Force Special Power Act (AFSPA) from the entire North Eastern region," the statement said.
In separate statements, the civil society organisations also demanded to allocate a site to erect a monolith in respect of the victims.
They said the site would be used as 'Genocide Park' in order to commemorate the 14 innocent lives.
The Central government and the state government had earlier announced a total ex-gratia of Rs 16 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh to the kin of the slain and injured civilians respectively.
This comes as anger is growing in the North East over the killing of 14 civilians in Nagaland by the Army, which insists that it was an intelligence-based operation that went wrong.
After the outrage, the army had constituted a court of inquiry headed by an officer of major general rank into the firing incident.
This has, however, done nothing to calm the tensions in the region with Nagaland and Meghalaya chief ministers openly calling for the repeal of AFSPA.
Rights activist Irom Sharmila, who was on a 16-year hunger strike against AFSPA said the incident should be an eye-opener to repeal the controversial security law.
Sharmila said the AFSPA is not only an oppressive regulation, it tantamounts to gross violation of basic human rights.
The AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without prior warrant. In the northeast, it is in force in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (excluding Imphal Municipal Council Area) and some districts of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Assam.
For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit?Indiatimes News.
