Various women groups in Manipur, showing solidarity over the Oting massacre, held a joint candlelight vigil at Hatta Kangjeibung, Palace Compound, Imphal on Saturday. They demanded immediate repeal of AFSPA, 1958 from the Northeastern states and to deliver justice to all victims and survivors of all the massacres that took place in Manipur as well.
The women's groups included the Indigenous Women Forum, Conflict Widow Forum, Domestic Violence Survivors Forum Manipur, and the Christian Network of Positive Women.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, convenor of Conflict Widow Forum Manipur K Gangarani said that they all condemned the killing of innocent civilians and expressed solidarity to the victims and survivors of the incident in Mon district, Nagaland.
For the last many decades, the people of Manipur and the Northeast have been facing such types of massacres since the imposition of AFSPA, 1958 by the Government of India, they said.
“The people of NE are survivors of AFSPA; the brutal killing of 14 innocent people and injuring many others during the indiscriminate firing by the security forces remind us of the past incidents where similar massacres took place across Manipur,” she said.
Many mothers and widows are still mourning those who were killed in the Malom Massacre, Heirangoithong Massacre, Oinam Massacre, Patsoi Massacre, Tera Bazar Massacre, RMC Massacre, Ukhrul Massacre, Tonsem Lamkhai Massacre, Bashikhong Massacre, Nungleiban Massacre, and others for which the court of law is yet to deliver justice, she said.
The fact that the armed forces are shielded by the Central government indirectly as they are being protected under AFSPA and it is being imposed in many NE states cannot be denied, she added.
Therefore, she along with other organisations participating in candlelight vigil demand the Central government and state government of NE states to consider an independent and impartial inquiry committee to be led by a retired Supreme Court Judge to examine the case of killing by Indian armed forces at Oting village, Mon district, Nagaland along with others recent cases of killing civilians by the AR, she said.
They demanded respect for the international laws which protect the rights to live, and dignity of an individual and appealed to respect the recommendation of Justice Santosh Hegde Commission, Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission, and treaty bodies of UN Human Rights Council.
They also demanded to direct the governor of Nagaland to strengthen the special investigation team constituted to probe the incident by substituting the team under the supervision of well-experienced former servicemen, not below the rank of Judge High Court.
They further demanded to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs and director-general of Assam Rifles to give prosecution sanctions against the army personnel and officers involved in any fake encounter cases.
It was also demanded to provide immediate proper compensation to the victim’s next of kin and also to those injured in the Oting massacre.
