Naga Hoho takes exception Amit Shah’s statement on Oting killing

Dimapur, Dec. 16 (EMN): The Naga Hoho has taken strong exception to the Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent “distorted” statement on the floor of the Parliament in connection with the Oting ambush, which killed several innocent civilians, and sought public apology from him.

In its press statement, the Naga Hoho has accused the Home minister of trying to cover up the Oting incident by terming it as “mistaken identity and in self-defence”, claiming that the “incident was intentional”.

“The misleading statement in the parliament itself is a proven fact, and therefore, we strongly believe that, the ambush has been masterminded by the political masters of the 21 Para Commandos,” the press statement read.

It said empowering the security forces through the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act (AFSPA) is “nothing but to suppress the rights of people’s freedom of movements and expression which is a contradiction to the guaranteed constitution of India”.

“The AFSPA is a direct violation of human rights and a negation of democracy which India claims with pride to be the largest democratic nation in the world. India’s acclaimed peace keeper at the international level is a farce rather deputed its forces to suppress and dehumanize the people,” it stated.

“The Nagas hope for a ‘political solution’ after the signing of Framework Agreement is twisted to ‘No Solution’ for ignoring the commitments and assurances with no political will after Shri. Amit Shah took over the charge of Home Ministry. Instead of resolving the Naga political issue, the government of India is trying to create law and order situations in the Naga areas by torturing and killing the innocent people but unable to live by its commitments for justice,” it continued.

The Naga Hoho appealed to the government of India to immediately repeal AFSPA in the Northeast and the Naga areas in particular, as well as remove ‘disturbed area’ tag from Nagaland.

It went on to state that the “Indo-Naga political talks must conclude at the earliest keeping in view the commitments made to the people so as to avoid misusing of AFSPA by Indian military forces in future”.