After the death of 14 civilians in Nagaland’s Mon district due to “mistaken identity”, demands for repealing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) have been strongly raised across the Northeast region.

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on December 6 said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) should be removed.

Terming the AFSPA as “draconian law”, the Nagaland chief minister said that this law has blackened the image of India.

“We are Indian and India is the biggest democratic country in the world. This is a draconian law, so it should be removed from our country. There are many laws which can be handled. But this law has blackened the image of our country. This is my opinion,” Neiphiu Rio said.

CM Rio on December 6 visited Mon district and met the family members of 14 deceased persons who were killed in firing incident in an area between Tiru and Oting village and Mon town area on December 4 and 5.

The Nagaland chief minister was accompanied by deputy chief minister Y Patton, cabinet colleagues and they took part in the funeral programme held at Mon helipad ground.

Thousands of people, village council members of Oting, Jakphang, Chi villages, leaders of different organizations, civil society groups, students’ organizations, NGOs, political groups were also present in the mass funeral of 14 deceased persons.

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio tweeted: “Nagaland and the Naga people have always opposed #AFSPA. It should be repealed.”

Not only the Nagaland chief minister, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma has also raised his voice against the AFSPA and said that it should be repealed.

Conrad Sangma tweeted: “AFSPA should be repealed.”

Many organizations, civil society groups, tribal groups, students’ bodies, political parties of the Northeast region have raised their voices and demanding immediate repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the region.

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About Hemanta Kr Nath

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Hemanta Kumar Nath is a Guwahati-based journalist. He had worked with India Blooms News Service (IBNS), Meghalaya Times, Global News Network among others.