The Naga Hoho has urged the Nagaland Government to continue its pursuit for justice for the families of the 14 civilians who were killed by Indian Army personnel on 4th December 2021 at Oting Village in Mon district.

Condemning the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of India which set aside the criminal proceedings against thirty Indian Army personnel involved in the incident, the Naga Hoho said that the decision of the Court to terminate the case filed by the Special Investigation Team of Nagaland Police is an “outrage to their pursuit of justice and accountability”.

Further, it maintained that the Court saying that the case can continue and brought to logical conclusion if the Centre grants sanction “is just lip-service”.

The organisation stated that the Oting massacre “remains a painful reminder of the ongoing violence and injustices faced by the Naga People under the Draconian law called Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 1958”. It said that the Oting incident is just the most recent Indian Army atrocity in a long history of oppression and suppression of the Naga Peoples struggle for Civil and Political Rights.

“This reign of terror includes the Matikhru massacre 1960, the Oinam bestiality of 1987, the bleak winter of rape and arson in Mokokchung-Akuluto 1994-95, the mayhem of Kohima on 1995, the murder of students in Wuzu 2015, to name a few,” the Naga Hoho said, adding that the list “will keep on increasing so long as the ultimate caretaker of the rule of law in the land, the Supreme Court continues to protect the Armed forces from accountability for their actions”.

The Naga Hoho has also called upon all Naga Civil Society Organizations, Tribal bodies, Human Rights defenders, Naga political groups and every Naga citizens to stand united in the condemnation of this gross injustice.