The NSCN-IM has voiced its strong objection to the Supreme Court of India’s dismissal of criminal proceedings against the 30 Indian Army personnel involved in the Oting massacre. The court’s decision was made on September 17, 2024.
In a press release issued through its MIP, the NSCN/GPRN said it was “constrained to recall the heinous crime” committed against 14 innocent Naga civilians by the 21 Para Special Force Army unit on December 4, 2021, in Oting village, Mon District, Nagalim.
The NSCN-IM stated that, since the occupation forces first set foot in Nagalim, their “strategic policy” has remained the same – to crush the Nagas.
“It is, undoubtedly, structured and institutionalized in the existing established system itself-militarization,” the NSCN-IM said.
Allegorizing the Oting killings as unleashing a monster, the NSCN-IM further said that the Indian state, under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which it called a “draconian law,” has continually branded the Nagas as “separatists, secessionists, militants,” while enabling “reign of terror throughout Nagalim.”
Describing the events of December 4, 2021, as “tragic” and “dehumanizing the Nagas,” the NSCN/GPRN stated that despite a ceasefire in place since August 1, 1997, the Indian Army personnel “mercilessly gunned down six unprovoked Naga innocents,” mistaking them for militants, and later killed eight innocent protestors. The organization labeled the incident as a “farce” and a “lie.”
In response to the court’s dismissal, the NSCN/GPRN expressed their commitment to standing with the victims and ensuring that justice is served. “Nagas are justice-loving people,” the NSCN-IM said, stressing that they cannot accept that “the perpetrators of a crime of such enormity are allowed to go scot-free.”
“Nagas would always stand and fight for justice gainst inhumanity and oppression,” it said, adding that, “Amongst others, the Oting Massacre was a clear violation of human rights.”
The NSCN/GPRN vowed to continue the fight for justice and declared that “no justice-loving people who value human rights can forget the behavior of the Indian Army that was reckless in the extreme, till justice is delivered”.