Indian Tribal News Service
Guwahati/New Delhi
Protests against the killing of 14 civilians by the security forces entered the third day in Nagaland with protesters taking to the streets to demand justice for the victims and repealing of the AFSPA. Students in large numbers carried placards and posters questioning the continuance of the controversial legislation and expressing their anger over the killings that have not only rocked the State but also the nation.
While the protesters are demanding an immediate arrest of the soldiers involved in killing of innocent civilians, they also want Union Home Minister Amit Shah to withdraw his statement in Parliament wherein he had stated that the vehicle was fired upon after it tried to flee. The protesters have termed Shah’s statement as “false” and “fabricated”.
It started off with the Konyak Union, the apex body of the Konyak Naga tribe in Nagaland’s tragedy-stuck Mon district, announcing a “total restriction of Indian Military force convoy and patrolling” within Konyak soil “until justice is delivered to those killed”.
The statement jointly signed by KU, Konyak Nyupuh Sheko Khong (KNSK), which is the apex women’s body, and Konyak Student Union also said that the Konyak community would “cut off all forms of public relation” with the forces. The Konyak Union announced the launch of the first phase of its mass agitation from December 16.
The Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) joined the protests by resolving to abstain from any national celebrations and enforced a dawn-to-dusk bandh in Mon district.
Apart from Mon district, protests hit Kiphire, Tuensang, Noklak, and Longleng districts in the eastern part of the state, where shops were shuttered and angry residents flooded streets.
