18/02/2022
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NAGALAND? A BLACK-DAY FOR NAGAS!
Tensions have tremendously increased in the Mon district of Nagaland since December 2021. What actually happened in Mon? On the evening of 4th December, an operation in Mon, sharing border with Myanmar was being carried out after receiving credible intelligence inputs regarding the movement of insurgents of Yung Aung faction of proscribed outfit NSCN(K). The operation was said to be conducted in Tiru village of Mon district, where, the Army Commandos openly fired on a pick-up van carrying daily-wage labourers returning to Oting village from a coal mine in lower Tiru. Nearly 6 civilians were killed & this unfortunate incident was declared to be a “case of mistaken identity”. Soon after the incident, the agitated villagers started protesting during which a soldier died. In the name of self-defence, the army openly fired upon the citizens once again & killed more people. Thus, killing 13 civilians & 1 soldier.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 comes into the picture here. The AFSPA is an Act of the Parliament which empowers the armed forces to use force or even open fire after giving due warning if they feel a person is in contravention of law. If reasonable suspicion exists, the army can also arrest a person without a warrant, enter or search a premises without a warrant & ban the use of fi****ms. The Act remains in place in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur & parts of Arunachal Pradesh. The said act has been regarded as an aggressive, ruthless & arbitrary law, also sometimes as draconian. There has been persistent demand in the North-eastern states to repeal the law. Finally, after the incident in Mon district, the Nagaland Chief Minister demanded to repeal AFSPA from the State.
But, at the same time, the other facet of the incident is also worth bearing in mind. Though 7 villagers died & was indeed an unfortunate loss of lives but one needs to understand that if there was even the slightest possibility of the presence of an insurgent among those villagers, the death-toll could have reached to 700 in numbers.
What are your thoughts for the same ?