Amit Shah to adress Nagaland killings in Parliament today
text_fieldsUnion Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to give a statement on the killing of 14 civilians by Army forces in Nagaland today in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The statement was made after Opposition leaders gave adjournment motion notices to discuss the killing of civilians in the Mon district of Nagaland on Sunday.
"What exactly is the home ministry doing when neither civilians nor security personnel are safe in our own land?" Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter. Opposition leaders have already taken up the issue after widespread protests in the Oting village, where the incident took place, led to villagers torching Army vehicles and attacking soldiers upon which the Army opened fire on the protestors, killing several.
The Congress' Gaurav Gogoi and Manickam Tagore and the RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha are among several MPs to have served adjournment notices. Mr Gogoi condemned Army action on the basis of "inaccurate intelligence inputs" and Mr Tagore called the deaths "heart-wrenching".
Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, raised the issue of the civilian deaths, demanding the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as a statement on the issue from Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
"Anguished over an unfortunate incident in Nagaland's Oting, Mon. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives. A high-level SIT constituted by the State govt will thoroughly probe this incident to ensure justice to the bereaved families," Shah tweeted on Sunday, even as the Indian Army made a statement saying it 'deeply regretted' the killings.
One Army personnel died in the incident.
The Trinamool Congress has said that it's representatives will be travelling to Nagaland to meet the families of the deceased.