April 28 incident a conflict between ‘hill people’ and ‘Friends of the Hill People’: ENSF
DIMAPUR, MAY 3 (MExN): The Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF) has termed the April 28, 2013 incident which occurred at Kiphire Town as a conflict between the “Hill people” and the “Friends of the Hill People”. The Federation in a press note has out rightly condemned what it alleged were the “atrocities carried out by Vinod and his jawans on many occasions which has culminated into an ugly law & order situation on the Sabbath day”.
“Aggressively exercising the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the region at this hard earned peaceful scenario is totally unwelcomed when Nagas in general had accepted to live in peace. Today, such act of torturing and harassing the innocent public on the pretext of hunting the Under Grounds in the heart of Kiphire is a total violation of the Human Rights & Dignity”, stated the ENSF in a press note issued by Likhumse Sangtam, President and Honang M Jessuhu, General Secretary.
The Federation has sought justification from the Assam Rifle as to what it really meant by the slogan “friends of the hill people”. The press note stated that in fact in many instances, the Officers and Jawans of the Assam Rifle does not honour or acknowledge their own slogan “friends of the hill people”.
“It may be stated that, when innocent people living in International Border Areas are living under the grip of fear from external aggression, it is ridiculous on the part of men in uniform (AR) who are called and known as the friends of the hill people torturing the innocent public in the region is totally uncalled in any manner”.
The ENSF has cautioned the Naga jawans (AR) in uniform not to provoke the people on tribal line. In fact, it stated that the Nagas in general had suffered enough at the hands of men in uniform (Indian army) in the past decades but all those hardships have been compromised for peace. “Therefore, such barbaric act is intolerable in peaceful society at this context”.
The higher authority of Assam Rifles has been told to initiate necessary action against Vinod and his jawans for the violation of what it termed as Human Rights and dignity and for victimizing the innocent peace loving citizen without any valid reason.
“The shameful act of Mr. Vinod and his Jawans has not only hurt the sentiments of the Hilly People but also brought defamation to all the Assam Rifles as a whole”, the ENSF stated.
In order to avert such unwanted situation in near future, the ENSF stated that the Officers in high command should give an appropriate directive to all ranks and files posted across the region to restrain from such provocative attitude and actions so as to justify its slogan called “Friends of the Hill People”.
The Federation extended its deep appreciation to the Parliamentary Secretary of Power C. Kipili Sangtam for his timely intervention and for subsiding the situation and restoring peace in Kiphire town. The Federation also expressed its regrets on the administrative properties were damaged by the angry mobs. The Federation stated that in this most unfortunate incident the District Administration should not be blamed on account of administrative failure and that the undue harassment meted out to the officers and staffs of medical department by the unruly mob is deeply regretted.
While extending cooperation to the district administration and general public to restore peace and tranquility in Kiphire town, the Federation appealed to the higher Authority to deliver justice at the earliest and further sought compensation for the victims so that peace prevails in the region. Meanwhile, the Federation expressed its profound gratitude to other civil societies for showing their deep concern towards this unfortunate incident.
