The Konyak Union on Thursday moved President Ram Nath Kovind for the second time in seven days with its four-point charter seeking justice for the 14 civilians killed in the botched counter-insurgency operation and related events on December 4 and 5 in Nagaland’s Mon district and immediate removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the entire Northeast.
Besides an 11-hour Mon district bandh from 6am called by the Konyak Union, the apex social organisation of the district, Thursday also saw mass rallies being taken out in five districts of eastern Nagaland.
The protest rally was called by the influential Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), which is seeking a separate state comprising Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire, Noklak and Longleng districts.
Konyak Union vice-president Honang Konyak said they had sent a reminder to President Kovind about their four-point charter of demands submitted to him on December 10 that included:
⚫ Identify and book all the armed forces personnel involved in killings.
⚫ Immediate setting up of an independent inquiry under a competent investigating agency.
⚫ Place action taken in connection with the killings in public domain within 30 days.
⚫ Immediate removal of the AFSPA from the Northeast.
Honang said if justice was not delivered within the deadline, the demand for justice will only intensify. “Today’s protest rally is the first step. We will march till Delhi seeking justice for those killed. The Naga Students’ Federation has also called a protest rally on Friday,” he said.
The Nagaland government, led by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), is also seeking justice for the “innocent and unarmed” civilians killed in the operation reportedly carried by 21 Para Commandos stationed in Assam and the repeal of the AFSPA .
The state government has instituted a SIT to probe the killings while the Nagaland Assembly, which is without an Opposition, has been convened to discuss, among others, the AFSPA on December 20.