The North East Dialogue Forum (NEDF) and North East India Christian Council (NEICC) have expressed their horror at the Oting massacre and its spinoff violence in Nagaland which has resulted in 15 deaths.
The NEICC appealed for calm and expressed solidarity with the people of Nagaland. It also urged all legislators in the North East to work together towards the revocation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Meanwhile, the NEDF strongly condemned the “high handedness” of the military forces that killed the coal mine workers in the first incident on December 4.
The body described the shooting as a “racist” act in a letter to the Chief Ministers of the seven North East states.
The NEDF also demanded an independent, credible and impartial investigation into the massacre, immediate compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of each victim, an emergency meeting of North East CMs to take steps to repeal AFSPA and to allow for experts to document and expose human rights violations by the military forces in the region.