Dimapur, September 5 (MExN): On the 60th anniversary of the ‘Pochury Black Day,’ the Pochury Students’ Union (PSU) acknowledged the sacrifices made by the ‘martyrs.’
Every year on September 6, Pochury Black Day is observed in memory of all those who suffered and lost their lives at the hands of the Indian Armed Forces, the PSU stated in a press release.
The PSU recounted the “atrocities and torture” inflicted upon the Pochury people beginning from 1960 when the Naga Army shot down an Indian Air Force plane.
While the Naga Army captured four of the aircraft’s pilots and five crew members, none of them were tortured and they were all released through the Indian Red Cross Society, the release stated.
However, on the process of the Army operations to rescue the airmen, many villages were burnt down and untold atrocities and torture were inflicted upon the villages, it added.
The PSU stated that six villagers from Phor village were tortured to death on September 1, 1960, after the Indian Army again killed three villagers from Yisi village and two from Mokie village on September 3, 1960. Subsequently, another person from Laruri village was severely beaten and buried alive while two from Meluri village were severely beaten and beheaded.
Two villages, namely Tsiküzo and Küluopfü, were abandoned due to tortures, humiliations meted out by the Indian Army, the statement read.
Further, it said that on September 6, the 16th Punjab Regiment posted at Kangjang village reached Mathikhrü village and tortured the menfolk. A total of nine people were beheaded and “the Indian Army did not even allow the loved ones to perform last rites and rituals for the dead,” it stated.
Following these events, it said that the survivors wandered in the jungles without proper food and shelter and were later ‘rescued’ by the Naga Army.
In 1963, the village was reestablished but normal lives could not be restored for years and “even today, the nightmares and tragedy of the incident still remains fresh in the mind of the survivors,” the release stated.
Meanwhile, the Naga Students’ Federation also issued a solidarity message on September 5, offering homage to the departed souls.
Expressing solidarity to the bereaved family members, the NSF stated that their “martyrdom has once again renewed our aspirations and our hopes for a brighter tomorrow with a renewed sense of direction and purpose.”
“The Federation and the Nagas in general shall remain indebted and shall continue to honour our martyrs through the pages of history,” it said.
