Nagaland: India can’t use Northeast to practise AFSPA, says Konyak Union

Our Correspondent
Mon, Dec. 11 (EMN): The Konyak Union on Saturday said that the government of India should not use the Northeast as a playground to ‘practise’ the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) which gives the security forces the impunity to kill anyone on mere suspicion.

The union called a press conference at its office in Mon on Saturday, nearly a week after the Indian security forces killed 13 innocent Konyak youths on December 4 and another civilian during a protest on the following day.

Addressing the media, KU Spokesperson Yingphe Konyak stated that the government of India’s “interference” in the north-eastern region is nothing new.

She alleged that the government of India is missing the ‘whole reality’ of the Northeast and Nagaland in particular by using its army in dealing issues in the region.

‘The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) is a law to torture, rape, and kill,’ she said, adding that the Indian government ‘can’t make the Northeast a ground to practice it’.

Stop treating the Nagas and the Northeast differently, she said.

She also termed the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in the Parliament as “very shameful” and asked ‘in which part of the (army) rule was it mentioned that they could put on uniforms on dead bodies’.

‘It is the 21 para commandos who put on the camouflage clothes on the victims,’ she claimed.

‘How can a case of mistaken identity arise when the ambush was carried out in broad daylight? It cannot be a mistaken identity unless the 21 para-commandos are blind. It only goes on to show that the intelligence (of the army) had failed,’ she stated.

‘The Home minister must know the meaning of ambush,’ she said and demanded an apology to the people of Konyaks and Nagas.

Amit Shah had recently stated in the Parliament that the ambush by the Indian armed forces in Mon district was a case of “mistaken identity” and expressed regret, while adding that seven civilians were killed when the security forces opened fire in self defence to disperse the crowd that had gathered following the incident.

The statement has invited backlash from various quarters.

Another spokesperson of KU, T Yanlem, also said that there is no question of self defence because the civilians were unarmed. “Where is their source of information?” he asked.

The 21 para-commandos, an elite force, had shown their “blunder and madness”, he added.

Nearly a month ago, Rifleman Khatnei Konyak was killed by militants in Manipur but civilians from his community were killed in return for his sacrifices and services, he said.

He also asked if the ceasefire is being implemented in true spirit.

He further said that the Konyak Union is closely monitoring the entire sequence of events from December 4 till date. He also appealed to the media not to mislead the public by providing “wrong” information but report the truth.