Nagaland firing: Congress demands Shah’s resignation
Highlight
- Congress demands compensation to victims and independent probe headed by Guwahati HC judge
- The army has said that all efforts are on to complete the investigation at the earliest.
Hitting out at the Center over the Nagaland firing incident earlier this month, the Congress on Sunday demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah, compensation to the victims and an independent inquiry headed by a sitting judge of the Gauhati High Court. The opposition party made this demand after a delegation including Congress General Secretary Jitendra Singh, party’s Nagaland in-charge Ajay Kumar and MP Gaurav Gogoi visited Dibrugarh Medical College and interacted with the families of those injured earlier this month. incident, and submitted a report to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Kumar held a press conference here and shared the findings and contents of the report submitted to Gandhi regarding the incident in Nagaland’s Mon district, in which security forces opened fire on civilians, killing 14 and in three consecutive episodes. 11 others were injured. Which was a case of mistaken identity. A soldier also died in the riots that followed.
Expressing regret over the Nagaland firing incident, Home Minister Shah had told Parliament that the investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would be completed within a month and said that all agencies should ensure that the investigation against the insurgents is done. While taking action such incidents should not recur. In its report, the Congress delegation demanded Shah’s resignation, alleging that the Nagaland incident was a continuation of the BJP government’s “failed policy” in the North-East.
“This unfortunate incident once again displayed a massive intelligence failure and, therefore, the failure of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Moreover, the Home Minister was addressing political gatherings in Rajasthan instead of focusing on the situation in Nagaland. Another example is the step-motherly treatment of children, shown by the government in the North East,” the report alleged. Kumar accused Shah of making false statements and “lying” in the Lok Sabha, alleging that his remarks were “contradictory and full of untruths” when tested against information available on the ground.
Kumar said people were shot without any warning. He also demanded that the victims of the violence in Som be given compensation by the central government and the family of the deceased should be given a compensation of Rs one crore and a job with the government. He said compensation of at least Rs 10 lakh could be given to the injured. The party in its report demanded an independent inquiry by a sitting judge of the Gauhati High Court.
“The SIT announced by the Nagaland government is a sham and the Congress party believes that no meaningful solution is possible, as evidenced by the government’s false statements after the Som incident,” the report said. The party’s report said that the Congress demands that an inquiry commission be set up immediately under the chairmanship of a sitting judge of the Gauhati High Court as such an independent committee would help the country understand the true events of December 4-5. will enable
The Congress delegation’s report said they were pressured to drop their plans to fly back to Delhi/Calcutta and meet the families of the victims of the violence. However, three members of the delegation refused to give up and sat on a dharna at the Jorhat airport. Meanwhile, the Nagaland Congress President issued a video statement on social media condemning the ban on the delegation from meeting the families of the victims and the injured, the report said. After a sit-in for hours at the Jorhat airport and later on learning that the injured were being treated at the Dibrugarh Medical College, the delegation members insisted that they should at least go to Dibrugarh and meet the families. be allowed. Of the injured, it said. The report said that after a four-hour standoff, the delegation was finally allowed to travel to Dibrugarh Medical College.
At the hospital, interacting with the family members of the injured, it immediately became apparent that they were afraid to hold talks with opposition leaders as they were “warned by both the Assam Police and the Nagaland Police to do so”.
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