‘Naga villages at the border inherited their land and the land can neither be encroached upon nor seceded through any treacherous force’
Dimapur, January 28 (MExN): The joint forum of India based Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF) and Myanmar based Naga Students’ Organisation (NSO) has expressed “utmost resentment” at the construction of border fence at Pangsha and declared it “repeating a historical wrong upon the Nagas.”
The student bodies have appealed to New Delhi and Naypyidaw to immediately stop such “cruel move” of building a fence in the border and expedite governmental talks for peace and development through investment in all the Naga inhabited areas.
A release from T. Mankhat Konyak, President, NSO and Honang M Jessuhu, General Secretary, ENSF stated that “since time immemorial, every single Naga village had survived self independently.” The code of law that governed the villages, it said, “was purely in a republicanism form” and “encroachment or disaffiliation of its land was totally unthinkable.” The Naga villages at the border, the forum added, inherited their land and the land can neither be encroached upon nor seceded through any “treacherous force.” It further demanded that New Delhi and Naypyidaw should immediately reconsider the imaginary line that “runs through the heart and the soul of the Nagas.”
The ENSF and NSO also pointed out they had appealed to the Governments of India and Myanmar as well as the NSCN/GPRN (Khaplang) to be sincere in delivering peace and tranquillity.
“However, to our utmost dismay, the pleas were totally disregarded... Today, the joint forum is shocked to see the self made insincere attitude and its doctored consequences/situation as fingered upon,” it lamented.
Further, ENSF and NSO termed the move to segregate the Naga families through the border fencing initiated by the Myanmar Government as “undemocratic act of cruelty.” On the other hand, it questioned, “Can New Delhi declare its uncontaminated mind on this issue when after huge funding have been plunged at Naypyidaw?” The joint forum opined that if at all such move had been included in the diplomatic talks between India and Myanmar, it should be rectified at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the joint forum declared that Nagas along with their inherited land “is an undeniable ‘natural barrier’ that had stood firm safeguarding the sovereignty of both India and Myanmar.” Thus, such barrier should be honoured and “the concept/question of concrete wall or even imaginary line should not be diluted upon it which might endanger its own sovereignty instead.”
The release also noted that the border fencing is a mockery to the Act East Policy of Government of India.
“Though the joint forum temporarily admits its political segregation, it cannot compromise on such infliction that permanently segregates its land and its people. Instead, funding or investment on either side should be primarily focused or be invested on the development of road infrastructure, health, education and economy of the Nagas living on either side,” it added.
