NSCN-IM takes 'strong exception' to SC decision on 2021 Nagaland killings

Kohima: The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) on Tuesday took a strong exception against the Supreme Court ruling that dismissed criminal charges against the Indian Army officials in connection with the “killing of 14 Naga civilians” in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4, 2021.

The Joint Council meeting of the NSCN-IM on Tuesday expressed condemnation in the strongest terms, a statement noted. “It is a blatant violation of human rights and against the spirit of right to life and liberty,” the influential Naga body said in a statement.

It said that “certainly, the Supreme Court found itself helpless to go against the ‘notorious’ Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that continues to victimize the Nagas, even after the 1997 ceasefire to resolve the Naga political issue”. Ironically, Nagas abhor AFSPA because it is incompatible to the spirit of the government of India seeking Naga political solution, the statement said, adding that Nagas would not surrender tamely but fight for justice.

On September 17, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P.B. Varale directed the closure of the FIR and consequent criminal proceedings initiated by the Nagaland government against members of the Indian Army operational team in connection with the killing of 14 civilians in the state’s Mon district in December 2021. The apex court allowed the writ petitions filed by the wives of officers for quashing of suo moto FIR registered against the personnel of 21 Para (Special Force).

The apex court noted that the sanction under Section 6 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 was rejected by the competent authority in February last year. Section 6 provides that no prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings can be instituted against any person in respect of anything done under the AFSPA except with the previous sanction of the Union government.

The NSCN-IM said that the Joint Council Meeting also passed a resolution against the controversial Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) that violates the very meaning of indigenous peoples in the context of God-given Naga nation.

“It dilutes the Naga meaning of indigenous as RIIN comes with divisive venom to divide the Nagas, as instigated by the forces against the Naga nation. Naga as indigenous people have no class and no boundary. Nagas are one and Nagas are indigenous wherever they are in their God-given land, Nagalim,” the statement noted. The Naga body said that therefore, the present form of RIIN classification of indigenous based on artificial state boundaries is not acceptable to the Naga people, adding “come what may, we shall resist!”

The statement said that another resolution adopted in Tuesday’s Joint Council meeting is to resist the border fencing along the India-Myanmar international border and the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR).

“Scrapping of FMR also violates the spirit of Naga political talks to find a peaceful Naga political solution,” the statement mentioned.

The NSCN-IM is against the scrapping of FMR and therefore shall not tolerate border fencing and we shall do whatever is deemed fit to stop such aggression against the existence of Naga brotherhood as a nation, it added.

The FMR allows citizens residing close to both sides of the border to move 16 km into each other’s territory without a passport or visa. Four northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram — share border with Myanmar. (IANS)

Also Read: Nagaland: NSCN-IM Condemns Killing of Deputy Leader in Mon District

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