Naga public set out on 2-day march demanding AFSPA repeal

Organised under the banner ‘March against AFSPA’, the 74 km march will culminate in Kohima on January 11, wherein the organisers will also submit a memorandum to the Government of India through Nagaland Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi demanding the repeal of AFSPA from Nagaland.

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DIMAPUR:

A two-day protest march to demand the repulsion of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Nagaland began here in Dimapur on January 10.

Organised under the banner ‘March against AFSPA’, the 74 km march will culminate in Kohima on January 11, wherein the organisers will also submit a memorandum to the Government of India through Nagaland Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi demanding the repeal of AFSPA from Nagaland.

Triggered after the killing of 13 innocent civilians at Oting in a botched operation by the 21 Para Security Forces on December 4 last year, the march will also denounce the decision of the union government to extend AFSPA in Nagaland by another six months.

The organisers had earlier requested the participants to listen and obey the authorities and not to indulge in any form of violence or destroy public property or heckle or harass military personnel on duty or disturb any military convoy during the two-day march.

“This is a purely non-violent and peaceful march. We shall silently march till the end,” coordinators of the march said in a release.

Meanwhile, Dimapur deputy commissioner, Rajesh Soundararajan, had on January 9, granted permission for the march on the condition that the participants would adhere to all Covid-19 SOPs and protocols.

The permit has been granted on the conditions that all the participants should be asymptomatic and fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and that the organisers would be responsible for ensuring strict adherence to the terms and conditions, the DC said.

The DC warned that any person or group of persons acting in violation of the conditions, including other existing orders, SOPs and guidelines for preventing spread of Covid-19 would be liable to be prosecuted under relevant sections of the law.

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