Longleng, August 12 (MExN): The Phom People’s Council (PPC) today stated that the recent Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023 is “against the Rights of our People” and a threat to the “very foundation of our history, culture, tradition and our existence.”
Accordingly, the PCC called upon the Government of Nagaland to make its stand clear at the earliest on the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023 vis-a-vis Article 371A guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
In a press statement from its General Secretary Hentok C Phom and Vice President Shahsha L Phom, the PPC further asserted that the Nation that destroys the rights of its citizen destroys itself.
In this connection, it cautioned that if the government of the day “cannot stand for the Rights of the tribesman then neither can our people stand for the government of the day be it Central or state, as it is the Right for which it is worth defending till the last man fall.”
To justify its stance, the PPC pointed out that forest and land are “sacred and valuable to us, from our Ancestor to our children; the Mother Nature had nourished us to this days, even the beast, birds, animals, fishes and every living being.”
The peaceful clouds hovering over the thick forest land, the tribal woods, mountains, streams, rivers and air are breath of the history of our origin, culture and tradition, it said.
The songs and colours of the birds and the roaring of the animals from our deep forest are reflected in our folk songs, dance, instruments and customs, it added.
“Our Ancestors were not born in India but India was born on our Ancestors Land and so since time immemorial our Phom tribal enjoys the ownership of land and forest over our ancestors land,” the PPC stated.
Hence, it contented that understanding the historical fact that land holding system is entirely different from the rest of the country in Nagaland with land and forest being traditionally owned by the indigenous inhabitant.
The indigenous inhabitant enjoys the ownership over the ancestral land and forest without any documents and further, to protect the unique history of the people of Nagaland, Article 371A was inserted into the Part XXI of the Constitution of India in the year 1962 which shaped India with a beauty of a diverse culture, the PPC added.
Thus, the PPC stated that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023 is against the rights of the people and a threat to the Naga way of life.
