Rally against AFSPA in Kohima today

Our Correspondent KOHIMA, JULY 22 The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) is organizing a protest rally on Thursday in Kohima Local Ground to denounce the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 and its grave consequences on the Nagas. The rally is scheduled to begin at 11 am and leaders of frontal organizations including the Naga Hoho, the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights, and the Naga Mothers’ Association will be addressing the gathering. After a gathering at the Local Ground, the students will march to the Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum to the Governor with a three-point demand which includes immediate repeal of AFSPA from Nagaland. Speaking to Eastern Mirror on the eve of the rally, one of the leaders of the federation said around 10,000 students are expected to participate in the rally. He said the rally will also seek justice for the two students who were killed in Wuzu under Meluri sub-division on July 16. In the event of failure to meet its demands, the NSF will intensify its protest, he informed. A former leader of the NSF says that the Nagas including young students have long been suffering the negative fallouts of an “unjust war” waged on them by India which is constitutionally shielded by the draconian law of AFSPA. He asserted that the rally is being organized to decry the infringement of the fundamental and human rights of the Nagas. He expressed dismay over the indifferent attitude of “our own legislators” on the recent Wuzu incident wherein two young teenage students were gunned down by the security forces. It is interesting to note that any of the 60 legislators are yet to visit the area after the incident and instead they are playing football with bureaucrats in the secretariat, he commented.