Congress delegation barred from entering Nagaland, meeting families of civilian casualties

The four-member delegation was detained at Assam's Jorhat airport, where they staged a protest against the BJP state government

A four-member delegation of Congress was detained in Jorhat airport of Assam and barred from visiting Mon district in neighbouring Nagaland, where security forces gunned down 14 civilians on Saturday and Sunday.

The delegation, comprising AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh, MP Gaurav Gogoi, AICC in-charge of Nagaland and former Jorhat MLA Rana Goswami sat on a demonstration in the airport after the Jorhat district administration issued an order disallowing them to cross the inter-state border. Jorhat shares a border with Nagaland.

"We wanted to travel to Mon and meet family members of the victims who were killed by security forces. But BJP-led government in Assam stopped us at the airport and prevented us from visiting Nagaland. This shows how Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma are trying to destroy our democracy," Gogoi, a Lok Sabha member from Kaliabor in Assam, said in a video on Wednesday.

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Gogoi said the delegation was scheduled to visit the villagers as per the instruction of Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi.

Deputy Commissioner of Jorhat, Ashok Kumar Barman, in his order, said they were barred from entering Nagaland as there was apprehension about a breach of peace and tranquillity in the bordering areas of Jorhat.

They were prohibited to visit Nagaland, even as the Mon district administration on Wednesday decided that Section 144 CrPc would be in force between 8 pm and 4 am, prohibiting gathering of more than five persons and movement of vehicles carrying non-essential items. The same was stated in an order dated December 5 to prevent the spread of violent protests and escalation of law and order issues.

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