Newmai News Network
Senapati | October 12
The Naga People’s Organisation (NPO), Senapati, has expressed its strong opposition to the "plans of the organizers of the Commemoration of Anglo-Kuki War 1917-19 on October 17, 2019, to erect memorial stone for the said commemoration in Naga ancestral land with the inscription 'In defence of our ancestral land and freedom'".
According to the NPO, this "design" is highly provocative as it is an "attempt" to claim ancestral ownership over Naga areas in the "guise of commemorating what is known as the Kuki rebellion" against the British Raj.
"We also call upon the surviving elders among the Kuki community who are upright and respectful of the sentiments of traditional land owners, the Naga villages, to advise the organizers on the fact that the entire erstwhile Manipur North district was Naga ancestral land and continues to be so notwithstanding subsequent of nomenclatures", the NPO added.
The NPO also called upon the attention of the Government of Manipur for swift and immediate action as "communal situation may arise if such blatant provocations are allowed to be played out".
The NPO then cautioned that the Government of Manipur will be ultimately responsible for any undesirable consequence that may arise out of the issue.
