Mon: Following the death of 14 civilians in Nagaland’s Mon district, Konyak Union on Saturday said the northeast region cannot be a practice ground for the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).
Addressing a press conference at the Konyak Union (KU) office in Mon, KU spokesperson Yingphe Konyak said the Centre cannot make NE a ground of practice as AFSPA is a “law of torture, rape, and killing”.
Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah‘s statement in Parliament on the Mon incident, she said that such a huge statement made by the Centre was “very shameful”, questioning how a case of mistaken identity could take place. She said the incident happened in “broad daylight”.
Alleging that security forces attempted to dress the deceased in militant outfits, the Konyak leader questioned as to which law permitted security forces to change the clothes of the deceased persons after killing them. “It is the 21-para commandos who volunteered to put on the camouflaged clothes onto the victims,” she said.
Konyak said the Union minister should apologise to the Konyaks and the Nagas as the statement was made “without checking the facts”. She added that Shah should withdraw the statement made in Parliament.
According to Konyak, the Government of India is missing the “whole reality” when it is sending the army to deal with the political issue. She also said that the “K” in the NSCN (K) stands for “Khaplang” and not “Konyak”. In this regard, the KU also refuted reports which claimed that the security forces launched an ambush on NSCN-K.
KU spokesperson T Yanlem questioned the self-defence stand by security forces saying the civilians were unarmed. “Where is the proof that they are terrorist and where is their source of information?,” he asked.
Condemning the “blunder and madness” of the security forces, he said that before such an act is carried out, facts must be ascertained.
Recounting the recent death of Rifleman Khatnei Konyak, who was killed in an ambush by militants in Manipur, he said, “For all the sacrifices he had given, is killing civilians the right way to give back for the services rendered?”, further questioning whether the ceasefire agreement has been implemented in the true spirit.
The Konyak Union also appealed to the media reporting on the killing incident not to distort the facts and refrain from giving wrong information to the public.
Meghalaya HRC chief: AFSPA nothing but an instrument of harassment
