Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said the centre had instituted a high level committee to review the application of Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland. However, repealing AFSPA will take time, since the Act was enacted by Parliament.
The process would take a long time because it had to consider the fallout over the entire country.
However during the process period, even though AFSPA is in place, a system has been put into place under which there will be no Army Operations in Nagaland, said Rio.
On questioning the ENSF demand of Rs 1 crore each for the victims families and Rs 50 lakh each for the injured at Oting village in Mon district Nagaland, Rio said he had communicated the issue with the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Also read: Get to know the official report on Oting incident of Dec 4 & 5
Rio’s comments comes the day the Army Chief General MM Naravane’s remark that Oting village incident involving the killing of 14 civilians was “regrettable” and that it is being thoroughly investigated. The General assured that “appropriate action” will be taken, and “corrective measures instituted”, based on the outcome of the investigations.
On the status of the SIT, Rio said the forensic laboratory reports are yet to be submitted, as the test is being done outside the state and the result is yet to be out. Otherwise, everything is completed, said Rio.
Also read: “Walkathon against AFSPA”
Query on ENPO demanding the state government to make the SIT report public, Rio said he would have to inquire whether there were provisions for such reports to be made publicly permissible or not legally. Rio told this on the sidelines of an event at Kiruphema village ground during the Western Angami ‘D’ Sports Association jubilee on Wednesday.
On the issue of Shamator district, Rio said one more consultation will be held today, January 13, before assigning the third party to discuss the matters related to Shamator district demand.
Also read: Oting village communiquè shares what went down that fateful Dec 4 evening