The 10-day Hornbill Festival in Nagaland has been officially called off. The hugely popular cultural festival that attracts tourists both from home and abroad returned on December 1, after a year’s hiatus because of the COVID19 pandemic. More than 12,000 people joined the event on its very first day.
The festivities have been called off to mourn the 14 civilians who were killed in a botched Indian Army operation in three consecutive open firings on December 4 and December 5.
A timeline of the events.
December 4
On December 4, six villagers were killed in Mon district of Nagaland in an ambush by the Indian Armed Forces. Eight villagers, all residents of Oting village, were reportedly returning home in a pick-up van after working at a coal mine. Of the eight villagers, six were killed and two injured. The security forces, as stated by Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, ‘mistook’ these villagers for militants.
On the same day, seven other civilians were shot dead by the security forces at Oting as a crowd attacked the security forces. The violence also caused the death of one soldier.
December 5
A day after the shooting down of the six coal miners, the Nagaland police registered a suo motu FIR [First Information Report] against the Army’s 21st Para-Special Forces unit, accusing the troops of ‘murder’.
The FIR accused the Indian Armed Forces of murder (Section 302), attempt to murder (Section 307) and common intention (Section 34).
According to the FIR, lodged at Tizit police station,“On reaching at Langkhao between Upper Tiru and Oting village, security forces fired at the vehicle without any provocation, resulting to the killing of many Oting villagers and seriously injured many others.”
“At the time of the incident, there was no police guide for the security forces, nor did the security forces make any requisition to the police station to provide a guide for their operation. Hence, it is obvious that the intention of the security forces is to murder and injure civilians,” stated the FIR.
On the same day, an agitated crowd of about 250 targeted Assam Rifles company operating base, in Mon district. As per Union Home Minister Amit Shah the unit had to ‘open fire’ to disperse the crowds. This resulted in the death of one more civilian.
The Nagaland government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 500,000 each to the families of those who died and Rs 50,000 to those injured.
December 6
The shooting by the security forces has led to outrage. And, there has been a reinforced demand to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). AFSPA gives security forces the authority to arrest or shoot to kill on mere suspicion, and arrest without prior warrants.
AFSPA has been in force in Nagaland and parts of the northeast for several decades. The Nagaland government is expected to write to the Centre calling for the repeal of this Act.
Neiphiu Rio, chief minister of Nagaland and an ally of Bharatiya Janata Party, has demanded the central government repeal AFSPA. “Nagaland and the Naga people have always opposed #AFSPA. It should be repealed,” he tweeted yesterday on December 6.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma from Meghalaya has also demanded the withdrawal of ASPA from the northeast.
The matter was brought up in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament yesterday, December 6, when Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated the killings were a result of mistaken identity.
“The Government of India expresses regrets over the incident and condolences to those killed … Situation is tense but under control. All agencies have to ensure such incidents do not happen in future,” Shah said in the Lok Sabha.
He went on to explain the sequence of events that led to the tragic deaths on the three separate shooting incidents in Nagaland.
The Union Home Minister also stated that a Special Investigation Team has been formed that has been directed to complete the investigation in a month.
Explaining the sequence of events, Amit Shah said, the army had received information on the movement of extremists in Oting, Mon district, and acting on it, 21 commandos laid an ambush in the suspected area on December 4. A vehicle reached there, was asked to stop but it did not and suspecting that there were extremists in the vehicle, the commandos opened fire. It was only later that it was discovered that the vehicle was carrying civilians of which six died and two were injured. The injured were taken to the nearest health facility by the Armed Forces, Shah informed the Lok Sabha.
