The Nagaland Assembly unanimously passed a resolution seeking repeal of the AFPSA (Armed Forces 'Special Powers' Act-1958. It will embolden the anti-AFPSA movement in the State and beyond. This will put more pressure on the Union Government, and it will be difficult for the government at the Centre to ignore the AFSPA issue for long. The Assembly condemned the massacre of innocent civilians in the Mon District and demanded an apology from the "appropriate authority" along with an assurance that justice would be delivered by applying the law of the land upon those responsible for it. The House was unanimous in demanding the repeal of AFSPA from Northeast and specifically from Nagaland "so as to strengthen the ongoing efforts to find a peaceful political settlement to the Naga political issue." The special one-day session of the Nagaland Assembly urged the "negotiating parties" of the Naga peace talks to bring the parleys to a logical conclusion by reaching a settlement that is honourable and inclusive at the earliest. The resolution states that it is of paramount importance that the people's voice is heard and respected. It reflects the writing on the wall that dragging the peace talks endlessly will only put lives of more innocent people in danger and also that a conducive situation must be created for signing the final peace accord. The NSCN-IM — National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) — has hardened its position over the AFSPA. The NSCN-IM has stated that the talks would not be meaningful under the shadow of the Act. While the talks reached a dead end over the NSCN(IM)'s demand for a separate flag and a separate constitution for the Nagas, clouds of uncertainty have thickened with the AFSPA issue snowballing. Lessons were not learnt from the past mistakes of some erring personnel of the armed forces and the abusing impunity given to them by the AFSPA to cover up their misdeeds of torture, killing or innocent people in the region in alleged incidents of extra-judicial killings. It is the bounden duty of the government to ensure that there is no collateral damage during the counter-insurgency operation. The civilian population have been trapped in the crossfire of insurgency and counter insurgency for decades, but they perceive the security forces to be the custodians of their lives and properties. Therefore, when innocent civilians get killed in incidents of "extra-judicial" killings or "mistaken identity" their trust on security forces fast evaporates. The Central government expressed regret over the Mon incident but with a claim that the security forces fired after the vehicle ferrying the coal miners ignored its signal to stop. Instead of diffusing the situation, the apology has only rubbed salt into the wound. Even if the vehicle carrying the innocent victims had not stopped as claimed by the security forces, the firing cannot be justified under any circumstances. While the anti-AFSPA movement is growing in Nagaland and the Naga-inhabited areas of the neighbouring states, the uncertainty over the Naga peace talks is also growing. This is a cause of concern for the civilians yearning for permanent peace through conclusion of the ongoing peace talks and signing of a single Naga peace accord with all the armed faction at the earliest. The Army has constituted a 'Court of Inquiry' while the Nagaland government constituted a 'Special Investigation Team' to probe the incident. Conducting these inquiries in an expeditious manner is important to deliver justice to the families of the innocent victims.
The Central Government needs to clarify its position on AFSPA and come up with a strong message against any abuse of power by the armed forces and committing atrocities on unarmed innocent civilians. The Central and the States governments are confronted with the hard realities of insurgent groups waging war against the State with support from external forces and agencies inimical to India. Failure of the state governments in the region to strengthen the police force requires the deployment of armed forces to counter insurgent activities by proscribed outfits. Some of these outfits are waging a proxy war against India by setting up training and shelter bases in some of the neighbouring countries. The Central government as well as the concerned State governments cannot ignore such threats to the country's sovereignty and must curb the activities of the secessionist outfits waging armed campaigns and spreading terror to extort money, besides siphoning government fund and thereby posing impediments to the development activities. While the deployment of armed forces cannot be avoided to deal with such a security situation, providing power to the Army troops under AFSPA to fire upon anyone — even causing death — merely on the suspicion to be an insurgent, cannot be justified. Winning the support of the peace-loving people to counter insurgency is crucial to effectively deal with such a situation. Remaining engaged in peace talks even after it stumbles on roadblocks is the way out to end the decades of armed conflict in the Naga-inhabited areas of the region. The Union government is walking a tightrope on the issue of AFSPA in Nagaland and the other States in Northeast.