Naga union raises five demands in aftermath of civilian killings

Konyak Union, Konyak Naga Tribe’s apex body in Mon district, has sent a set of demands following the Union Home Minister’s statement on Nagaland firing in the Parliament.

Their demands include setting up an independent committee “under a competent investigating agency” to investigate the incident, reported NDTV. They also want the government-constituted Special Investigation Team to have two members from Naga civil society.

Besides that, the Union has demanded that the Assam Rifles contingent be withdrawn from Mon district. They also demanded that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act be repealed from Northeast India. A similar demand to repeal AFSPA has been raised by Nagaland and Meghalaya Chief Ministers, Neiphiu Rio and Conrad Sangma.

Konyak Union’s memorandum stated that the accused Army personnel be punished and “details of action taken be put out in the public domain within 30 days”.

Though Home Minister Amit Shah expressed his condolences to the victims, he hasn’t clarified if any action will be taken against the Army personnel involved in the killings. CM Rio has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 5 lakh, and HM Shah has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 11 lakh and a government job to the victims’ kin.

After the killing of civilians on Saturday, violence has ensued in the state. Seven more villagers and a jawan have died since. A village council leader told the Indian Express, “I will admit it. We got aggressive, but they killed our brothers who had done absolutely no wrong, who had only worked hard, sweated and toiled in a mine, who were returning after a day of sweat and toil. Why would we not be (aggressive)?”