Garos in Nagaland appeal for M’laya-Assam peace

Dimapur, January 11 (MExN): Garo organizations in Nagaland today appealed for peace between the Garo and Rabha communities in the Meghalaya-Assam border where the two are currently locked in ethnic conflict. Garo organizations in Nagaland called the conflict a ‘most unfortunate and mutually damaging event.’ The Nagaland Garo Tribal Council (NGTC) and the Garo Students’ Union, Nagaland Zone, met in an emergency meeting on January 8. In the meeting were also elders of the Garo community.
A joint statement received here from the two organizations stated: “Since both the Garos and Rabhas are of same ethnic origin, as such Garos and Rabhas are brothers and sisters. It is like fighting against its own family which must be stop immediately for the sake of its future generation of both the community, because we can only march forward in our endeavour unitedly and with co-operation to each other in every field of development, be it educational, economic and political.” “At this juncture, we should not pay any heed to any instigation against each other from any quarter, as it will be harmful and self degrading to both the tribes,” the Garo organizations appealed. The Garo community of Dimapur has urged all the elders, students’ leaders and intellectuals of both the communities to take prompt steps to bring about normalcy and permanent peace.
The meeting also resolved to make an appeal through the media to the state governments of Assam and Meghalaya to make all-out effort to contain “this shameful and self degrading ethnic clashes between these two same ethnic origin tribes immediately.”