Dimapur, July 27 (MExN): Mangmetong Village Council today said to have unconditionally accepted the apology of an officer of the Assam Rifles accused of desecrating a monument in the village. The council has also decided to withdraw the FIR registered against the accused officer, Colonel Rohit Khare.
The council informed today to have convened a special meeting of all the Mangmetong citizens on July 27, 2010 in the village community hall. After threadbare deliberations, Mangmetong citizens unanimously resolved to acknowledge the officer’s sincere apology without any precondition, the council said. The council said the villagers took this step considering the traditional and customary practice of extending forgiveness for peaceful co-existences among Nagas in general and Mangmetong villagers in particular. The FIR registered against Colonel Rohit Khare also stands withdrawn, the council said.
On July 9, 2010, Commanding Officer of 9 AR Col. Rohit Khare reportedly led the destruction of a monument in the village. The monument testified to the sacrifice of the village and its citizens in the Naga political movement.
The destruction of the monument was taken as a “direct challenge to our historic rights of preserving our suffering for the cause of the Naga nation,” the council said.
“Ever since, the Naga Political struggle came into being, all the Naga villages have undergone many sacrifices and also have came across untold suffering and misery to foster peace in the land, and Mangmetong Village is also one amongst them,” the council said. The council said that on July 25, 2010, Major General Sandeep Singh of the IGAR (N) personally visited Mangmetong village and “confessed and admitted the wrong doing of Col. Rohit Khare and tendered sincere apology in the presence of civil societies from Mokokchung town.”
The Mangmetong Village Council on behalf of the Mangmetong citizens also extends deepest gratitude to all the concerned individuals, civil society organizations including the Ao Senden, Naga Students’ Federation and the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights for their solidarity and support.
