Naga outfits condemn killing of six NSCN cadres

NEW DELHI: An umbrella organisation of Naga outfits currently in talks with the Centre for a political settlement of the Naga issue has condemned the recent killing of six cadres of rebel outfit NSCN(IM) by the Indian security forces in Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh, terming them as “murders in cold blood” even as a ceasefire and political talks are in progress.
Naga National Political Groups (NNPG), which is part of the ongoing talks with Nagaland governor and interlocutor R N Ravi along with NSCN(IM), in a statement issued on Monday said the “brutal killing of six Naga sons near Nginu Village in Longding” by Indian Army “is a perversion of military code of conduct in a conflict“.
“The plan to take no prisoners and kill at any cost..Indian Army has, by the very act, transgressed ethical and moral treatment of enemies even though there is ceasefire and political talks,” the statement issued by working committee of NNPG stated.
NNPG, incidentally, is seen as the Naga group most amenable to terms of Naga settlement proposed by the Government of India. On Monday, while condemning the killing of NSCN(IM) cadres, NNPG recalled how in 1957, Naga rebels had captured 78 Indian Army personnel but ensured they were unharmed and returned safely after their arms were taken. A similar incident in 1960, in which an Indian Dakota cargo plane was shot down, also saw the crew’s lives being spared by the Naga “fighters”.
“We may be divided by nomenclatures, ideologies and political beliefs but all are Nagas by blood, sharing same history, political right and one tilture. WC is deeply hurt by the slaughter of six Naga youth,” said NNPG.
Earlier, NSCN(IM) had condemned the killing of their cadres and blamed the Indian Army for venting their frustration ar the Chinese incursions in Ladakh by going after anybody living close to the Sino-Indian border. Of course, Indian Army maintains that NSCN(IM) cadres had fired first and it had only returned the fire.