Naga students’ body, NSCN (I-M) unhappy with SC order on Oting killings

Photographs of the 14 civilians killed in a botched counter-insurgency operation in Nagaland, at Oting in Mon district. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI

GUWAHATI

The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and an extremist group have criticised the Supreme Court’s order denying sanctions to prosecute 30 personnel of the Army’s 21 Para Special Forces allegedly involved in an alleged botched encounter in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4, 2021.

The extremist National Socialist Council of Nagalim, better known as the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland or NSCN (I-M), also expressed “rude shock” over the dismissal of criminal proceedings against the soldiers by the top court.

Thirteen civilians were killed in the incident in Mon district’s Oting, triggering widespread outrage. The Supreme Court’s decision led to the closure of all FIRs against the accused.

In a letter addressed to Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, the NSF demanded that the Centre give prosecution sanctions against the personnel and withdraw the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the “Naga homeland and the northeast”.

It warned of democratic agitations if the demands were not fulfilled.

“…The Supreme Court’s decision to close the FIRs without prosecution further compounds the gross injustice the Naga people have endured. The NSF is appalled by the Government of India’s consistent refusal to grant prosecution sanction against the guilty personnel,” the letter read.

“The Special Investigation Team formed by the Nagaland government filed a charge sheet naming 30 members of the 21 Para based on irrefutable evidence. The denial of prosecution raises serious questions,” the NSF said, asking what it was trying to hide by protecting the guilty and not upholding the rule of law. “The Oting incident is not merely an isolated act of violence but a reflection of systemic injustice that has persisted under the draconian AFSPA,” the letter read.

In its statement, the NSCN (I-M) expressed resentment over the denial of justice to the victims of the Oting “massacre”, which was a clear violation of human rights.

“Nagas are justice-loving people. We cannot imagine how the perpetrators of a crime of such enormity can go scot-free. Nagas would always stand and fight for justice against inhumanity and oppression,” the extremist group said.

Army soldiers killed six coal miners on that fateful day after “mistaking” them for militants. Later, seven other civilians and a Para commando were killed at the same place when the villagers retaliated.

Enraged over the killings, a mob of hundreds of people attacked an Assam Rifles camp in Mon town the next day. A civilian was killed after the personnel of the paramilitary force opened fire.