Atono Tsükrü Kense
Kohima | March 4
Buried deep amidst the serene and beautiful valleys of Nagaland, lies myriad of stories of anguish and trauma suffered by Nagas. Even as decades have passed, the indelible memories, scars and cries of the Nagas still resonate deafeningly across the hills.
On March 1995, as the Naga people were still reeling from the grief of the massacre of December 27, 1994 at Mokokchung and January 23, 1995 at Akuluto, the quiet peaceful Sunday afternoon was shattered with the sound of guns and explosions in Kohima.
The Kohima massacre took place when forces of the 16th Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian Army fired upon civilian population while the convoy was passing through the capital, Kohima.
The incident was sparked off by a tyre burst from one of the convoy's own vehicle, as the armed troops mistook the sound for a bomb attack. This led the armed troops to fire indiscriminately at civilians in the capital town killing seven innocent people and injuring several others who still live with the scars as living embodiment of the massacre.
‘I have forgiven, but I can never forget’
A family’s life was completely overturned on that fateful Sunday, when Vandanshan Patton and his family – wife, mother, two sons and three daughters came back from the Church. He lost his three and half year old daughter on the spot, while another daughter is struggling till today.
Vandanshan Patton recalled he was “shocked beyond acceptance” on that Sunday afternoon. A family who was enjoying tea after the church service at another family’s home, returned home with a dead body, and seriously injured mother and children.
The pain and helplessness of witnessing one of your children die while another is almost dying and others are lying injured is inexpressible.
‘My third daughter who was extraordinarily talented from a young age,’ he said, was killed on the spot by a splinter.
Another daughter who was six at the time had one third of her brain matter blown off, leaving her fully paralysed for years. She is 33-years-old today and still living with the scars of the bloody Sunday massacre.
Though she has learnt to walk gradually, Patton said she gets frequent attacks and is on strong medication till today. “Doctors couldn’t believe that she can walk on her own,” the proud and emotional father said.
“Fortunately, my wife, two sons, one daughter and I escaped with minor injuries,” said Patton who still has a splinter on his leg.
His mother who was seriously injured with 35 splinters almost lost both of her legs. “She has the splinters till today. But through the grace of God and our doctors, amputation of her legs was prevented,” Patton said.
“My wife was saved by our vehicle as 52 splinters got stuck in the car and she escaped with minor injuries,” he recalled.
“As Christians we are asked to forgive and forget. I have forgiven, but I can never forget,” Patton said when asked how his family has coped with the incident. “It haunts me and I feel it was only yesterday. This is the hard way of life I have to face every day, and it’s impossible to forget.”
‘This will not go away’
“Even though I was hit by a splinter and blood was profusely dripping down my leg, I didn’t feel any pain as I was petrified,” said Medokul Sophie recalling the incident.
Sophie who was 30-year-old at that time still has the splinter in his thigh. He said his life was never the same again.
“After hearing the gunshots and explosions, I and my friends went out to inspect and were taken aback as we saw many army convoy vehicles and the armed personnel were shooting all over,” he recalled.
Sophie who, like many other Nagas, has a ‘psychological fear’ of the armed personnel, as his father and grandfather were tortured by the Indian Army said, “Fearing the worst, we went inside, locked the door and hid under the bed.”
However, after some time, he said the Army came and banged the door shouting ‘bahar nikalo.’ They came out and faced the brunt of the troops as they were asked numerous questions. He and his friends were taken to the national highway, lined up and the army started firing indiscriminately around them.
“It was only when my foot got stuck in my chappal that I looked down and saw blood dripping down my leg and realised that I was hit by a splinter in the thigh,” said Sophie. He said the shooting subsided only after, the then Nagaland Director General of Police Chamanlal came walking and shouting at the troops to stop shooting.
“We saw dead bodies lying by the roadside on our way to hospital for treatment. Relatives of the slain were shouting for help but there was nobody to help,” he recalled with pain.
“The kind of fear psychosis that we have was because we have been born and brought up from such background. It’s terrifying and I don’t want to see my generation witness such kind of inhuman atrocities again,” said Sophie.
“I don’t have any regrets about the massacre and I don’t want to remember but this will not go away,” he said, “but the Oting incident has ignited the memories as I can literally visualise, and feel how our brothers must have suffered.”
One-man Commission Enquiry
Following the three incidences, on April 3, 1996, the Government of Nagaland constituted a one-man commission of enquiry with Justice DM Sen, retired judge of the Guwahati High Court, to probe into the shooting, arson and rape by various paramilitary forces in Akuluto, Kohima and Mokokchung.
The DM Sen Commission report stated, “The incidents at Akuluto, Kohima and Mokokchung are not isolated events of killing and excesses by the army.”
The findings of the report on the March 5, 1995 stated “the RR personnel, including officers, acted in a most irresponsible manner that the firing was accompanied by cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians...and the mortar shelling in one of the most thickly populated areas of Kohima was completely unjustified, almost amounting to barbarity.”
The report said that some RR personnel “showed utter disregard for civil authority” and “that the 16th RR personnel were solely responsible for the casualties and damage to property.”
