"Unwarranted": Naga Villagers Slam Amit Shah's Statement On Nagaland Op
NDTV
They have also called the "heroic reports" about the operation "totally false and fabricated" and termed the botched operation a "massacre".
Villagers in Oting, home to 12 of the 13 civilians who were killed in a botched counter-insurgency operation in Nagaland on December 4, have rubbished the official version of events in a strongly-worded statement. They have questioned Home Minister Amit Shah's statement in the Parliament and called it "unwarranted". They have also called the "heroic reports" about the operation "totally false and fabricated" and termed the botched operation a "massacre".
The special force personnel tried to pass off the six civilians as a group of militants by planting weapons and dressing them in camouflage and boots, the villagers allege. The angry letter uses strong language to describe the group of special forces, calling them "unprofessional, half-trained, psychopaths", and "cowards". The villagers also warn that they would be forced to return to the "head-hunting days", and add that "the target and enemy may vary this time" because of the events of December 4.
The state police had earlier alleged that the "intention" of security forces was to "murder and injure civilians". 21 Para Special Forces of the Indian Army "blankly opened fire" resulting in the killing of many Oting villagers in the Mon district of Nagaland near the Assam border, they said in the FIR against the special forces unit.
"There may be many varying reports from different medium about the massacre of 13 innocent civilians, who were all below the age of 40. We appeal all publicity and media houses not to be biased and twist the issue with misinterpretations," the statement issued by the Oting Citizens Office, representing Oting village, stated.
