Dimapur, February 19 (MExN): The Jessami Village Council (JVC) in response to the article published on January 13 under the caption “Land-grab: Meluri warns Manipur village” has termed it as “completely misleading” and it has hurt the sentiments of the village in particular and the whole region and Manipur State in general.
Nizote Mekrisuh, Secretary, JVC in the rejoinder said that “It was rather exasperating to note the fact that Meluri Village Council (MVC) had twitchily created their own story based on their own imbalanced emotional imagery and not on factual happenings. In fact, the story has been created to tarnish the image of Jessami village due to the age-long ill-feeling of Meluri villagers against the peace loving people of Jessami. Therefore, the JVC is left with no choice but to retort and tell people the truth.”
Clarifying on the report that “Jessami villagers have been intruding into Meluri’s land engaging in illegal activities” the JVC said that the people of Jessami have never encroached or intruded into anybody’s land. “If Jessami villagers were found fishing, hunting (in spite of the strict ban by the village council), or picnicking it was in their own ancestral land which, for instance, stretches from North Khamachi to the South Kiiziiri and that includes Tizu and Thetsu Rivers. However, Meluri villagers have been willfully claiming some of these areas and the dispute still remains unsolved,” the Council stated.
Responding to the report that on June 6 1994, demarcation agreement was signed between the two villages, the JVC said that it “is totally baseless” as there never has been anything like “demarcation agreement” between the two villages. Moreover, the JVC expressed the desire of Jessami village to settle the dispute once for all in order to maintain peace and harmony between the two villages. On several occasions, both on personal and official levels, the JVC has initiated and invited its counterpart MVC for peace talk between the two villages. However, the Council alleged that “sadly enough, for the reason unknown, the people of Meluri have been adamantly opposing to the proposals of peace and harmony. If they were serious enough for peace and harmony, they would have positively responded to the many proposals of peace talk rather than choosing to concoct the story of their own.”
The Council also expressed shock at the allegation that Jessami villagers “took the aid of Manipur police and even using the official pool vehicle of the DGP of Manipur” when the DGP has never visited the village let alone the police station Jessami has never own a vehicle of their own. “This flawed and defamatory statement has propelled a serious question in Manipur State for smudging the office of the top police officer in the State. Both the Manipur and Nagaland governments must seriously probe into this defamatory statement and take appropriate action against those who have challenged the integrity of the highest policing authority,” the JVC added.
Notwithstanding the undiplomatic approach of the MVC as portrayed above, the JVC still welcomes them for “a straight talk to settle the issue of land dispute that is acceptable to both the villages.”
