Picture : Twitter / ANI
The villagers of Oting in Nagaland’s Mon district and families of the 14 people killed in the shooting by security forces refused any government compensation until the personnel involved are ‘brought to justice’.
According to PTI, In a statement, the Oting Village Council said that on December 5 when the locals were busy with funeral arrangements and other works in the aftermath of the killings, Rs 18.30 lakh was given by state minister P Paiwang Konyak and the district’s deputy commissioner.
At first, they assumed it to be a ‘token of love and gift’ from the minister but later learnt it was an installment of the ex gratia from the state government for the families of those killed and injured, it said.
‘The Oting Village Council and victim families will not receive it until and unless the culprit of 21st Para Commandos of the Indian Armed Force are brought to justice before the Civil code of law and repeal of Armed Force Special Power Act (AFSPA) from the entire North Eastern region,’ the statement said.
The statement, issued on Sunday, was signed by Village Council chairman Longwang Konyak, Angh (‘king’) Tahwang, Deputy Angh Chingwang and Gaon Burahs (village chieftains) of Mongnei and Nyanei.
Earlier, The Konyak Union, a tribal body in Nagaland, has demanded an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his “misleading statement” in Parliament on the killing of civilians by security forces , reported PTI.
Shah had earlier said in Parliament that six civilians mistaken as insurgents were killed by security forces on December 4 after the pick-up truck they were traveling in did not stop when signalled to, and later seven more people were killed after forces opened fire in self-defence when they were attacked by a mob near Oting village in Mon district.
The union’s another spokesperson Yingphe Konyak said that Shah’s ‘misleading statement’ in the Parliament was ‘shameful’.
‘AFSPA is a law of torture, rape and killing. Stop treating Nagas and the Northeast as the fourth gender. The entire episode can’t be forgiven on the pretext of mistaken identity.
‘How can Union Home Minister Amit Shah give such a statement without checking the facts? How can he be so wrong?’ she said, adding that he owes an apology to Konyaks and people of Nagaland.
