A 74-km-long walkathon organised by several civil society organisations and citizens in Nagaland to step up pressure on the Centre for repeal of the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 concluded at the state capital, Kohima on Tuesday.
The walkathon, which was organised by some citizens and was supported by several civil society organisations in the state, began from Dimapur on Monday morning. The protesters spent the night at Piphema before resuming their march for Kohima on Tuesday morning.
The idea of the walkathon initially started on social media during the public outcry Nagaland witnessed following the killing of 14 civilians by the army in Mon district in December during a botched operation and the aftermath. The number of participants was reduced due to Covid-19 restrictions but people lined up on both sides of the Dimapur-Kohima road at several places to express their solidarity to the march.
Those who took part in the march were seen holding placards that slammed the Centre for not repealing the AFSPA despite demand by common people, civil society organisations and political parties. "How can a democratic country have such a black law?" one protester asked.
"Our first and foremost demand is that the AFSPA should be immediately withdrawan from Nagaland and be repealed. Justice should be given to the families of those who were inhumanly killed by the army at Oting village and the armymen involved in the massacre should be identified quickly and be tried in a civil court (not in military court). We also demand that adequate compensation should be paid to the families of the victims and steps must be initiated to ensure that similar incident is not repeated," he said.
The protesters submitted a memorandum to Nagaland Governor Jagdish Mukhi listing their demands.
The demand to repeal AFSPA, that gives special powers to the army to search, arrest and even shoot at "suspected people" in areas declared disturbed, intensified after the killing of 13 persons at Oting village on December 4. The AFSPA, which was imposed in Nagaland to deal with the Naga insurgency, was not withdrawn even as peace talks with NSCN-IM, the biggest rebel group had started in 1997.
Nagaland Assembly on December 20 unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the Centre to repeal the AFSPA, following which the Centre set up a committee to take decision regarding whether the AFSPA can be withdrawn from the state. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 45 days.
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