Nagaland Post editorial

The Nagaland Post has run this editorial about the recent conviction of Indian Army personnel, including a general, in a case growing out of a 1994 fake encounter. Excerpt:

. . . The irony of the entire brutally inhuman fake encounter killings is about the judgment by the army’s own general court martial. It is an irony because the court martial of the accused should not have happened under Armed Force (Special Powers) Act 1958 which insulates or shields guilty personnel of any wrongdoing even leading to death while operating under the Act. The other irony of the October 15 court martial judgment was that the entire case was initiated through the courageous efforts of former Assam minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jagadish Bhuyan who had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gauhati high court on February 22, 1994. It may be noted that the BJP is not in favour of diluting or revoking AFSPA and to Bhuyan’s crusade does not conform to this stand. After the habeas corpus, what followed was a CBI probe and consequent charge sheet against the accused. From thereon, the army took over by instituting its own general court martial against the accused. Most interestingly, the October 15 judgment came at a time when more than 700 army personnel had petitioned the Supreme Court asking for stay against all court-monitored investigations into fake encounters by the armed forces. The first prayer of the petitioners was to protect the “bonafide” action of soldiers under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, “so that no soldier is harassed by initiation of criminal proceedings”. A colonial mindset within some politicians as well as army, felt that the AFSPA was necessary to protect the internal security and integration of India. On that plea thousand of Nagas under erstwhile Naga Hill and Tuensang Frontier Division were subjected to inhuman atrocities and many still carry the scars on their bodies and minds. Some of the atrocities committed by the army and armed police forces deployed to the Naga hills were unparalleled and unmentionable. It is justice that the accused have been given life sentence for taking away the lives of nine innocent citizens whose families are left psychologically devastated. However, this does not take away the need to remove the draconian cover that insulates uniformed personnel from being taken to civil courts.

The court-martial results are subject to review within the Army as well as appellate review by the Armed Forces Tribunal.