Much of the Naga-inhabited areas in the Northeast shut down for six hours on Monday to protest the botched ‘ambush’ by a special unit of the Army, leading to the death of at least 15 civilians and a soldier in Nagaland’s Mon district over 24 hours since Saturday evening.
Apart from Nagaland, the Naga-inhabited areas are largely in Manipur.
The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), which gave the total shutdown call, also asked all armed forces not to make any movement during the bandh.
“We have exempted certain services, scheduled marriages and students appearing for exams. We have also appealed to the Naga people cutting across artificial boundaries to refrain from any festivity for five days of mourning for the dead from December 6,” NSF president Kegwayhun Tep said.
The NSF asked the Centre to set up a court-monitored committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to conduct a fair and impartial probe into the incident.
“The massacre of innocent civilians is a reminder that the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act has to be revoked from the Naga-inhabited areas,” the union’s general secretary Supuni Ng Philo said, demanding compensation for the victims of the massacre at Oting in the Mon district.
Expressing solidarity with the bereaved families, the Nagaland Baptist Church Council has called upon all its constituent member churches in the State to conduct special prayers on Tuesday morning.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is scheduled to attend the funeral service for the victims of “cold-blooded murder” at the helipad ground in district headquarters Mon at 10 a.m.
The Konyak Students’ Union and other local organisations have arranged the service.
