Naga Mothers' Association fumes over journalist's 'frontal organisation of NSCN-IM' comment; FIR filed

DIMAPUR: The Naga Mothers' Association (NMA) has taken strong affront to a journalist naming it as a "frontal organization" of the NSCN-IM going so far as to lodge an FIR at the office of Nagaland's Director General of Police.

Issuing a release, the NMA stated that this kind of wild allegation "is baseless and unfounded and used with malafide intent to defame, humiliate and intimidate women."

"The Naga Mothers' Association has therefore, registered an FIR under the SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, with the Director-General of Police, Nagaland," it said.

It further informed that a legal notice has been sent to the reporter Manoj Anand to tender a public apology and withdraw his article and remove all posts on this specific article on social media sites as Facebook and Twitter which has defamed the NMA, within 15 days or face "legal consequences of defamation."

Anand wrote the piece in question after the NMA took objection to Nagaland's women tying rakhis to the wrists of Indian army personnel in Dimapur, Nagaland.

Later, responding to a query as to whether the statement is correct, Anand doubling down tweeted that "this is the hard fact known to all those who know the insurgency..yes many will deny it but fact remains the fact."

The NMA in a statement said the rakhi-tying act was shameful as the Naga women at large have been affected by the alleged atrocities committed by the Indian armed forces under protection from the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

“The women have been traumatized by a genocidal history of rapes, molestation, killings, village groupings, inhumane atrocities at the hands of Indian armed forces under the impunity of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). It is a shame and a black day to witness our women tying rakhis and felicitating these very armed forces,” the NMA said in a statement.

The Raksha Bandhan celebrations were reportedly held at Dimapur in Nagaland and Tamenglong in Manipur. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was reportedly behind the initiative at Dimapur whereas a students’ body organised it at Tamenglong.

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