By Dr Asangba Tzudir
A para of the statement laid in Rajya Sabha by Union Home Minister regarding the massacre at Oting reads: “based on inputs received by the Indian Army about movement of the insurgents near Tiru village in Tizit area of Mon district, a team of 21 para-commandos of Indian Army laid an ambush in the evening of 04.12.2021. During the ambush, a vehicle approached the location and it was signaled to stop. However the vehicle tried to flee, following which the vehicle, suspected of carrying insurgents, was fired upon resulting in killing of 6 out of 8 persons travelling in the vehicle.” About this statement, nothing could be further from the truth, because truth is not something which is spoken or attested by humans alone. The ill-fated vehicle which bears marks of sprayed bullets in the windshield is testament enough that the statement made by Union Home Minister is nothing but lie to justify the massacre where it is already reduced to a case of mistaken identity. That, the incident which is even attested by the vehicle is a clear case of ‘ambushed shoot to kill’ and not a case of shooting at a fleeing vehicle carrying suspected insurgents.
What is also appalling is the report about the security forces personnel trying to hide the dead bodies by wrapping and loading them in another pickup truck. This only escalated the situation making it volatile leading to further killings.
The nature of the so called ‘mistaken identity killing operation’ was so botched that Retd. Infantry Officer of Sikh Regiment K J Singh tweeted on the Oting, Mon, Nagaland tragedy – “why do we need SF for a routine pedestrian ambush. Why couldn’t AR lay this ambush? Who ordered SF for this op? Was it NSA? There is something not right happening about the military command and control structure.”
Now, what is considered “not right” about the military command and control structure requires further elaboration. Something that is not democratic in a country that professes to be democratic, where certain zones are declared ‘disturbed’ through a ‘state of necessity’, where killings on mere suspicion are legitimated. In context, the military control structure is built around draconian laws like AFSPA placed at a zone of indistinction between legal and fiction. Such laws only adds to the attitude and cruelty of Indian Army so much so that their presence do not give a sense of security, rather terrorize the people and the land even through their mere presence.
The lives of those massacred will not Rest in Peace and will live on crying out until AFSPA is abolished from the face of this earth. With another black day added to the long list, the current narrative against AFSPA also should change. Why repeal AFSPA from North East region? It is high time India as a democratic and inclusive country realizes that there is no place for such a fictional law in a civilized society. As such the demand should be for repealing AFSPA from the face of the earth.
(Dr Asangba Tzudir contributes a weekly guest editorial to The Morung Express. Comments can be emailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
