In the northeastern state of Nagaland, India has held funeral rituals for 15 citizens “mistakenly” slain by its security forces, amid tight security and periodic internet disruptions aimed at quelling growing unrest in the remote territory.
Officials from the security and government sectors said 14 members of the region’s powerful Konyak tribe, as well as one security trooper, were murdered on Saturday when forces in the border state mistaken a group of workers for armed fighters and opened fire.
Another tribal member was slain during protests over the military operation on Sunday, forcing the government to initiate an investigation, as police and authorities increased patrols in preparation for the funeral rites.
Hundreds of mourners lined up on a public playground to lay flowers on the dead’s coffins as state Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio led a mass funeral service in the Mon region, the scene of the disaster.
“The killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, we are Indians, not terrorists,” read a placard nearby.
On Monday, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah will address Parliament about security in Nagaland, where hundreds of security troops with automatic weapons continue to patrol the restive Mon area.
The Indian army has expressed “deep remorse” for the intelligence error, but citizens of the state have urged that the army’s operations be halted and that camps be relocated away from civilian areas.
The event prompted police to file a complaint against a paramilitary unit, claiming that there was no police guide or request for one from security forces.
“Hence it is obvious that the intention of security forces is to murder and injure civilians,” they said in the complaint, reviewed by news agency.
In Nagaland, where residents have regularly accused security personnel of targeting innocent natives in counterinsurgency operations against rebel groups under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, anger over the incident is growing (AFSPA).
In addition to broad search and arrest powers, the law, which is in effect in parts of four of the seven northeastern states as well as Indian-administered Kashmir, permits Indian authorities to open fire in places designated as “disturbed regions” to maintain public order.
The rule applies to Nagaland because India claims that rebel groups operate from deep jungles in an unfenced zone that also includes the Myanmar-bordering states of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
The state’s chief minister, on the other hand, described the law as draconian and advocated for its repeal.
“Today, the whole world is criticising AFSPA and now the Nagaland government wants AFSPA to be withdrawn,” Neiphiu Rio said.
The Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) urged for the “immediate arrest” of the alleged security officers behind the killings in a statement released to the media on Monday.
“Insurgents travelling in a pick-up truck is unheard of and it is nothing but plain massacre of the civilians. Since the FIR (police report) names the accused for the mass murder of the civilians, the law must take its own course and the accused ought to be handed over to the police for the offence of murder,” it said.
“Justice must be established through a fast-track trial.”
