AFSPA repeal: 2-day walkathon ends with memorandum to PM

Correspondent KOHIMA, JAN 12 (NPN) : The two-day walkathon (March against AFSPA)that began from Dimapur on Monday morning culminated at the State Capital on Tuesday afternoon with a public gathering at Raj Bhavan here, followed by submission of a memorandum to the Prime Minister through Nagaland governor.

Addressing the gathering, Global Naga Forum (GNF) leader Chuba Ozüküm said the walkathon was a people’s movement, terming it as an initiative “of the people and by the people”, with GNF only appending its name as a signatory in the memorandum.

Lauding the participants of the walkathon, he said like apostle Paul had declared in the Bible that he had fought the good, he asserted that they had every right to say that they had fought for Nagas all over the world.

He alleged that armed forces had been committing atrocities on Nagas for the past 63 years like rape, murder and physical assault.

He urged the people to continue the fight till justice was delivered, adding that the walkathon was just the beginning of the fight.

Speaking on the occasion, Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) adviser Prof Rosemary Dzüvichü said Naga mothers had come forward to protest and raise their voice against the killing of their sons at Oting and for the death of countless lives over the decades.

“And as mothers, we grief and share your sorrow,” she declared.

She thanked Konyak people for coming out in large numbers in support of the walkathon, which GNF co-organised with youth.

Exuding confidence in the youth, Dzüvichü declared that they would make a difference to the people. She said it was time for the youth to lead and that the mothers would be happy to be a part of this change in Naga society. She observed it was not just older people who were leading, but the youth who had come up with the idea that people would have to walk like the old days till Raj Bhavan.

She asked if Raj Bhavan, the Centre and State government were listening to the people’s voices.

Dzüvichü thanked the organisations and communities who had shown solidarity along the way and participated in the walkathon.

She also thanked the people of Piphema village for coming together to host the participants braving cold winter. She hoped that this would be the beginning for Naga people to raise their voices to question and demand for their rights.

Terming AFSPA as an inhuman law that violated every universal right that the Nagas enjoy, the NMA adviser said it was not a question of Nagas being militants or political activists, but of the Government of India looking at the Nagas as “the other”.

“We still have this colonial attitude being shown to us,” she lamented.

She said the gathering was there to represent every organisation, every family and every death that had happened in “our” land.

In his speech, Eastern Nagaland People’s Union Dimapur (ENPUD) vice-president T Sepipa Sangtam thanked everyone who participated and supported the walkathon.

He urged the people to be united in the fight by showing the same unity displayed during the walkathon.

He expressed optimism that such unity among the people would definitely help in withdrawal of AFSPA from the State and the entire Northeast.

While thanking Nagaland Legislative Assembly for passing a resolution to repeal AFSPA, he urged the Centre to follow suit and withdraw the draconian Act.

Konyak Union Dimapur (KUD) president N Mosa Konyak, in a short speech, said the battle against the draconian Act had only just begun.

He urged the people to have patience and be persistent in their demand for justice and pres-surise the government to meet their demands.

He thanked everyone who came forward responding to the call and also the coordinators of the walkathon.

Walkathon coordinator Kevitho Kera, who too addressing the gathering, remarked that even though Nagas were a race of warriors, they had left their daos behind to pursue a non-violent way to demand justice.

“This is a true example of Christianity and what Jesus Christ had taught His followers to be and we have displayed it in the best way possible,” he added.

Lauding the gathering, he said everyone who walked from Dimapur to Kohima was a leader, noting that the public had taken up their true role as leaders.

He asked if the Centre would respond to Nagas non-violent movement with tanks and fighter jets.

Referring to the democratic principles on which India as a nation was based, Kera said the founding fathers of the country must be turning in their graves with embarrassment because of such a draconian Act like AFSPA.

He also read out the memorandum that was submitted to the Prime Minister through the gov-ernor.

Covering more than 75 km from Dimapur to Kohima, the walkathon that began with over 200 participants swelled to over a thousand as it reached Raj Bhavan.

After camping at Piphema village on Monday night, the participants resumed the march at 6 am on Tuesday.

Various organisations, villages and colonies in and around the State Capital greeted the par-ticipants along the way as they arrived here.

Angami Woman Organization and Jotsoma village served lunch to the participants while vil-lages along the highway provided refreshments.
CSOs urge PM to take cognizance of Oting massacre, withdraw AFSPA
Five civil society organisations (CSOs) have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take cognizance of the serious human rights violation committed by Indian armed forces at Oting and give justice to the victims, their families and those injured.
In a memorandum to the Prime Minister through Nagaland governor following culmination of the walkathon here on Tuesday, the CSOs– Global Naga Forum (GNF), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA), Eastern Nagaland People’s Union Dimapur (ENPUD) and Konyak Union Dimapur (KUD)– demanded that the perpetrators of the massacre must be brought under civil court for criminal prosecution, besides seeking immediate and adequate compensation to families of the victims and to the injured.
Further, calling for withdrawal of AFSPA from Naga home-land and the Northeast, the CSOs also demanded that cognisance must be taken of past atroci-ties and excesses committed by armed forces and adequate compensation be given to victims or to their nearest Kin.
They urged Modi to help initiate the process of justice and of righting past wrongs by bringing the perpetrators under civil court for trial.
The memorandum also requested the Prime Minister to recognise the State government’s role in handling law and order in Nagaland and make a provision that henceforth AFSPA would not be enforced in the State. Copies of the memorandum were sent to Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/afspa-repeal-2-day-walkathon-ends-with-memorandum-to-pm/248227.html