Our Reporter
Dimapur, Dec. 13 (EMN): The National People's Party (NPP) Nagaland has accused the Mon Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of negligence in the recent Oting and Mon town firing incidents that killed 14 civilians and demanded their suspension.
The party said at a press conference held in Dimapur on Monday that two sequences of the incident (ambush) could have been avoided if the district administration and the police had acted swiftly.
At least eight more civilians were killed and many injured on December 4 in the aftermath of the ambush by the 21 para-commandos that shot dead six coal miners from Oting village. One more person was killed by the Assam Rifles during a protest in Mon town on December 5.
The NPP Nagaland unit also accused the state government of trying to suppress the truth of the incident by prohibiting the party members and some journalists from entering Tizit area.
The party general secretary (media), Tohovi Achumi, alleged that the party members were stopped from going further on reaching the Nagaland gate, Tizit, on December 8. However, the personnel manning the check gate failed to produce “prohibitory order” when demanded and the team was finally permitted to enter Tizit after almost 20 minutes of negotiation.
The team visited Oting village on December 8, and Mon and Chi village on Dec. 9, it was informed. After paying homage to the victims, the party affirmed the village that they would take the incident on priority basis and fight for justice, it added.
The NPP stated that the party will closely monitor the proceedings of the special investigation team (SIT) and make sure that it doesn’t try to cover the incident and justice is served as the crime is already in the public domain.
The visit, the party claimed, was not on political agenda but on humanitarian ground.
The NPP general secretary (Political Affairs), Ricky Ozukum, said that there was not just one but sequence of events, adding that although the first ambush was unavoidable, the other two incidents where the innocent villagers were killed in Oting and in Mon could have been avoided if the police and the administration acted swiftly.
‘There was a gap of 3-4 hours before the second incident took place. As per the narration from the villagers, the administration had warned the villagers not to proceed to the incident site but the villagers proceeded defying the order to look for the eight coal miners and upon reaching found them killed and the para military hiding their body and trying to cover the incident by changing their clothes,’ Ozukum claimed.
He further said that the next incident in Mon could have been avoided had the district administration taken precaution from the first and second turn of events. He demanded that the prosecution of the jawans should be given by the central government.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), he said, is not new to the Northeast region and the security forces have been misusing it by continuing to kill people. If AFSPA is in place, peace negotiation has no meaning, he asserted.
NPP general secretary (organisation), Lima Longkumer, asked how many black days will the Nagas observe and placed the party’s six demands: All the jawans involved in the killing be given capital punishment; they should be tried as any criminal in civilian court; central government should sanction their prosecution immediately; suspension of Deputy commissioner and Superintendent of Police for their negligence; Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) to take the matter seriously; and repeal of AFSPA.
The party president, Dr. Andrew Ahoto, said the fact-finding is still going on while maintaining that much truth seems to be buried and suppressed. On the party members being stopped initially from entering the village, he said: “We were precisely told that the government had ordered to stop”. Why were other political parties allowed to enter and not NPP and some section of the media? he asked.
The entire incident was staged by the armed forces and they should not promote themselves for higher rank or to sabotage the peace process, he claimed.
The vice president of National People’s Youth Front, Atoka Awomi, affirmed that the party would give all efforts for justice, while requesting the civil society and student bodies to fight together as one, saying that the Northeast cannot be victimised always under AFSPA.
He added that the party will stage a dharna against the Oting and Mon incident.