Dimapur, June 17 (MExN): The Naga Students' Union of Delhi today said the arrest warrants issued against United Naga Council leader Samson Remei and All Naga Students’ Association of Manipur president David Choro by the Government of Manipur will only the division between the Nagas and the Meiteis.
“The decision of O. Ibobi Singh’s government to proclaim the presidents of ANSAM and UNC as ‘Wanted’ with Cash Prize of Rs. 1 Lakh each on their heads is nothing short of a blatant misuse of the state machineries to suppress the Naga peoples’ struggle for justice,” the NSUD said in a note today. Such arbitrary and undemocratic acts of outlawing the Naga students’ leaders by the Government of Manipur will only aggravate the already volatile situation in Manipur and in turn will further deepen the division between the Nagas and the Meiteis, the union reminded.
The NSUD has demanded immediate revocation of the arrest warrants and has also sought the intervention of the central government at the earliest possible time. “The union further warns that if any untoward incident occurs, the Government of Manipur shall be solely held responsible. The Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act (Third Amendment) 2008 was passed in a surreptitious and hasty manner without proper consultations with the tribal people,” the NSUD said.
The NSUD questioned the intention of the Manipur government in forcibly conducting the election “under the barrel of the guns and the new found urgency to conduct District Council's election after 20 years.” Calling it unconstitutional and undemocratic, the union said “the very purpose of having an autonomous body is void ab initio. It was solely in the backdrop of this development that UNC and ANSAM, after getting no response from the state government on their demands, called for economic blockade and the blockade was not due to any other agenda as certain section of the media tried to project.”
“The district council's elections forcibly carried out against the wishes of the people on the 26th May, 2010 and 2nd June, 2010 was at best a farce with total abstention by the people in most of the Naga areas. The casting of vote was almost ‘nil’. The union demands that the district council's election must be declared null and void,” the NSUD said.
On the economic blockades, the NSUD said the “reasons or demands” behind the agitations “need to be studied and urgently look into so that a lasting solution acceptable to all can be ushered in at the earliest.”
