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Kohima, Jan. 8 (EMN): The 14 Tribal Hohos of Nagaland have appealed to the government of India to "rethink" the extension of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state and remove it.
In a press release, the tribal hohos urged the Centre to let the Nagas live peacefully like their counterparts in other states without AFSPA.
It stated that the Nagas have been living under AFSPA for 64 years and the Naga struggle for independence started before India got her independence.
It recounted how the villagers had to flee to the jungles in 1956 after the Indian army destroyed and burnt down villages, rape the women and kill “thousands of Naga innocent villagers”.
“Words cannot express the unbearable hardship the Naga people went through,” it said, while recalling how people survived on wild fruits, wild leaves and plants in the jungle.
‘Some of the innocent villagers returned to their villages from the jungle in 1958 and in the same year the government of India imposed AFSPA,’ it stated.
The hohos said that all the Naga areas became peaceful after the Indian government and the Naga political groups started peace talks for a solution. But when the people were longing for peace and development, as well as expecting a solution to arrive soon, the Indian army killed many innocent coal miners in Oting village last month for no reason, it added.
It went on to state that India extended AFSPA for six more months instead of serving justice (to Mon victims).
‘In fact, the AFSPA is intended to be a shield; instead armies use AFSPA as weapon, like they have license to kill mercilessly,’ it stated.