Delhi, December 2 (MExN): The Naga people living in Delhi have expressed deep concern at the recent events in Manipur which have led to the arrest of United Naga Council (UNC) President Gaidon Kamei and Information and Publicity Secretary S.K. Stephen. According to a press release, the Naga Students’ Union, Delhi (NSUD) has formed a Committee for Joint Naga Civil Societies, Delhi (CJNCSD) on November 28 in collaboration with various Naga Civil Society based in Delhi “to voice a strong protest against the highly condemnable action of the State Government of Manipur.” Insisting that the arrest is “highly condemnable”, the statement from the Joint Committee maintained that the action amounted “to dismissing Naga people’s rights over their land and age old customary law.” “The UNC is a respected apex institution of all the Nagas whose territory falls within the jurisdiction of Manipur State pertaining to land, culture and customary law,” it added. According to the release, the Committee has representation of Naga Forum Delhi (NFD), Naga People Movement for Human Rights, Delhi Sector (NPMHR), Naga Lawyers’ Guild, Delhi (NLGD), Naga Students’ Union Delhi (NSUD), Forum for Understanding the Naga-India Conflict & Human Rights (FUNICH), Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA) and Naga People’s Union for Civil Liberties (NPUCL). The Joint Committee insisted that the protest launched by the UNC leaders was to safeguard the indigenous land of the Naga people against the State’s arbitrary decision and its complete disregard to the past Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Governments of Manipur and written assurance from Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, on November 24 on the issue of Sadar Hills and Jiribam. The Committee informed that Naga Hoho President Chuba Ozukum and his team on their visit to New Delhi lent their support and participated in the meeting of the leaders of various Naga Civil Societies. The Committee further informed that it will launch a democratic movement in New Delhi for immediate and unconditional release of the UNC leaders and demand for direct Centre Government intervention in the present Manipur crisis. “Instead of maintaining social harmony in the State, the State Government of Manipur chose to steer ethnic tension which could erupt violent ethnic conflict as it has been witnessed in the past,” the Committee stated and argued that the Manipur Government has “completely failed” to represent and address the genuine concerns of various ethnic communities of the State. The Committee informed that it held a meeting with Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on November 29 during which it submitted a memorandum.
