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Kohima Bureau
Kohima, March 20 (EMN): The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) on Tuesday commemorated its 32nd Martyrs’ Day, paying tributes to the lives of Kekuojalie Sachü and Vikhozo Yhoshü, the victims of a 1986 police shooting in Kohima.
The NSF Martyrs’ Day, held at the NSF Martyrs’ Park in Kohima, is organized annually by the student body in remembrance of Sachü and Yhoshü who fell victim to an indiscriminate firing by the state police forces on March 20, 1986 while participating in a peaceful protest called by the NSF to rally against the state government’s decision on the introduction of IPS (Indian Police Service) cadres in Nagaland and the extension of the Disturbed Area Belt from 5 to 20 km along the Indo-Myanmar, the then Burma, border.
During the commemorative programme on Tuesday, NSF president Kesosul Christopher Ltu highlighted in brief, the history of the day. He said the occasion marks the memory of the sacrifice made by the martyrs and calls for ‘solemn respect’ to them from all.
The student leader called upon the gathering to uphold the inscription on the monolith at the Martys’ Park which calls for prayers for the dead and to fight for the living.
The service was marked by laying of floral wreaths on the site of the graves of the ‘martyrs’ and observance of one-minute silence in their memory by the gathering.
NSF executives, well-wishers, members of NSF subordinate bodies and federating units, and relatives of the victims attended the programme.
The tricolored NSF flag (black, white and green) bearing the organisation’s insignia was flown at half-mast on the commemorative day.