Call to repeal AFSPA, Shah faces Naga anger

The controversial AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to military personnel in “disturbed regions”, has come under increasing scrutiny after the horriic killing of 14 innocent civilians in Nagaland last week

Kohima: In massive protests across Mon district in Nagaland on Saturday against the botched Army op, that led to the death of 13 civilians and one soldier, furious residents have demanded an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his “false” and “fabricated” statement on the incident in Parliament this week.

Protesters burned an effigy of the Home Minister in a show of anger against the home minister’s alleged incorrect statement, and against the central government over the continued imposition of AFSPA, the Armed Forces Special Forces Act, that say will be invoked to shield the guilty.

The protesters - who included residents from the village of Oting, the home of 12 of the 14 killed - were led by an apex body of tribes called the Konyak Union, and have demanded an immediate apology from Amit Shah and the withdrawal of his statement from the Parliament’s records.

“We are asking for justice... we don’t need sympathy. Twisting of truth is unfortunate... Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Parliament (is) confusing the world with wrong information. He should immediately withdraw... we demand his apology,” Honang Konyak, the union’s Vice President, said.

“We will not rest until justice is delivered to those 14 Konyak youth who were killed,” he added.

These demands, they have said, must be added to the five already placed in front of the centre. The earlier demands include an independent committee to investigate the failed Army ambush and that all those involved in the incident be charged and punished in accordance with the law of the land. —(Agencies)