Guwahati: A week after civilians were killed in a security operation in Nagaland’s Mon area, a row of graves and mothers wailing and pleading with their sons to return home for Christmas.
The mothers of 12 villagers from Oting village in Mon district were among the 14 civilians and a security member killed in the botched ambush.
Some women are seen silently crying, while others sob and cry out to their sons’ graves, pathetically pleading with them to return.
It may mention that 14 people lost their lives in the Oting Tiru incident in the Mon district of Nagaland where the Army opened fire on the civilians suspecting them militants.
However, the Army later issued a statement where they regrated the deaths of the civilians.
The incident sparked criticism and requests for the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act to be repealed (AFSPA). The law allows the military forces the power to preserve public order in “disturbed areas” in Nagaland, Assam, sections of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir. After warning a person determined to be breaking the law, it empowers forces to use force or even open fire.
Family members of the victims killed in the bungled operation recently stated that they will not accept the government’s compensation until the security forces implicated in the ambush are brought to justice and the AFSPA is abolished.