Our Correspondent
Kohima | June 20
The state’s women representatives fighting for 33 percent reservation under the banner of the Joint Action Committee on Women Reservation (JACWR) and the judiciary appear to be headed for a bitter war of words as the women body has today outrightly denounced the news reports appearing in Wednesday’s issue of the local dailies and demanding the immediate removal of Advocate General (AG) Nagaland C. Balagopal.
Interacting with the press today, the JACWR today expressed shock and resentment over what it called false information and defamation of Naga women leaders as per the reports carried in the local dailies, as well as the serious threatening statement from the High Court BAR Association Kohima without seeking proper verification.
The JAC asserted that after the court hearing was over and as the women were departing from the court premises, one of the senior women leaders politely asked the Advocate General, “Sir, don’t you have a mother, sister, daughter or wife?” and expressed her disappointment that women’s aspirations were being dragged on, referring to the AG’s statement that he was not prepared to argue before the court.
As per JAC version, immediately, the A.G. Nagaland, who had complained of throat problems in the courtroom before the judges, created a ruckus in the corridor and shouted at the ladies, “You women, come here I will teach you a lesson, I will drag you to the court for contempt”. As the shocked Naga women delegation moved out of the high court building, the newly appointed Additional Advocate General started threatening and shouting at the Naga women leaders for speaking to the A.G. Nagaland without bothering to ascertain the real problem.
The JAC members said, after the Naga women leaders left the court premises shocked with the unbecoming behavior of the Advocate General and the Additional Advocate General, the A.G. Nagaland rushed back into the court room to falsely inform and complain to the court that “Naga women had used filthy language” which was countered by the advocate for the women, senior Counsel Colin Gonsalves, who informed the Court that the Naga women never used any filthy language and no apology was made before the court.
Relating the series of events, the JACWR condemned the misbehavior and threats on the women delegation by the Advocate General Nagaland and said his “false and defamatory statement” that the Naga women had used “filthy language” before the honourable court is not only an insult to
Naga women but to the Naga Society as a whole.
The JAC also declared that the unbecoming behavior of the Advocate General Nagaland as well as his statements made earlier before the court in Kohima against the Naga people and Naga women, that “there is not a single case of domestic violence in Nagaland” is false. Also, his statement before the court in Guwahati during the first hearing, wherein, he had stated there will be “bloodshed and deaths in Nagaland”, amounts to depicting the Naga people as a violent society before the court.
“His false statement and predictions are an insult not only to the women, but to the whole society. Therefore, the JACWR demands that the state government immediately remove the Advocate General of Nagaland, who has insulted the Naga tribal sentiments, its women and falsely projected the Naga society in the court of law. The Nagas cannot afford to have an Advocate General, who is not a Naga, who has scant respect for the state and its people”, the JAC stated. It demanded that a senior Naga Advocate be immediately appointed as the Advocate General of the state in public interest.
The JAC also strongly objected to the threat made by the High Court BAR association, Kohima who termed the conversation made by the lady as “misbehavior and unbecoming conduct”, without verifying the truth while also questioning the “partisan stand” of the Association whereby its president, Timikha Koza, who accompanied the A.G. to the two court hearings in Guwahati, and has now resorted to defamatory statements and threats on Naga women.
The JAC, on behalf of the women organizations, cautioned the state government not to continue its “harassment of Naga women”, cautioning that else “women will be forced to take a political stand against any anti women action of the state government. The press briefing was addressed by JAC leaders Abei-ii Meru, Rosemary Dziivichii, Angela Yhome, and Lochumbeni Humtsoe.
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