Guwahati, Dec. 29 (AGENCIES): Assam is planning to do a Manipur to prevent Delhi from fulfilling the NSCN (I-M)’s “Nagalim” dream at the cost of the territorial integrity of other states of the Northeast. Taking the cue from Ulfa’s recent salvo at Nagaland for allegedly usurping Assam’s land and the NSCN (I-M) for propounding the “greater Nagaland” theory, the People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam has begun mobilising public opinion for a campaign “to protect the state’s territory”. The organisation has convened a two-day conclave of indigenous communities, beginning tomorrow in Sivasagar, to work out a strategy to deal with the “threat”.
For the NSCN (I-M), news of a campaign building up in Assam against the concept of Naga integration could not have come at a more inopportune time. Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of the NSCN (I-M), is at present in New Delhi at the government’s invitation to carry the dialogue forward.
Lachit Bordoloi, a member of the Ulfa-constituted People’s Consultative Group and also the convenor of the People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam, said his organisation was not opposed to “our Naga brothers” but could not sit and watch the state’s territory being impounded.
“We respect our Naga brothers’ right to self-determination but we won’t accept any solution that imperils the territorial integrity of Assam. We will be discussing the Nagalim issue and how it can be resolved through intimate dialogue and people-to-people talks,” he added.
The NSCN (I-M) envisions “Nagalim” as a Naga homeland comprising the whole of Nagaland and parts of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Manipur has been the staunchest opponent of this campaign.
Representatives of as many as 60 organisations, including those of the Bodos, Karbis, Misings, Tiwas, Morans, Muttacks and Rabhas are expected to attend the conclave at Rangpur Jyoti Club in Sivasagar.
Members of the All Assam Students’ Union and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad have been invited, too.
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