Nagaland: Amidst the outage over death of 14 civilians, the Nagaland government has decided write to the Centre demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law that gives sweeping powers to the army in troubled regions. The state authorities have also decided to call off the Hornbill Festival, an annual event that draws thousands of domestic and foreign tourists.
The decision came after an urgent cabinet meeting was called. Speaking on the funeral of the civilians on Monday, CM Neiphiu Rio said AFSPA must be removed as it was the cause of unrest and pain in his state. Tagging the law as black stain on the image of the country, he said, “AFSPA gives powers to the Army to arrest civilians without any arrest warrant, raid houses and also kill people. But there is no action against the security forces. They have created a law and order situation.”
Earlier, on Monday an FIR was lodged against Army’s 21 Para Special Forces by the state police. Moreover, a financial compensation of Rs 5 lakh was also issued by the state on Saturday sources informed.
On Saturday, 14 villagers and a soldier died in Nagaland’s Mon district after an Army op to track down insurgents went off script.