Kohima, February 24 (MExN): In the backdrop of the harassment of a team of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) executives in Imphal, Manipur State, on February 14, by the Manipur Police Commandos, the NSF has raised the issue of the safety of Naga people, particularly those travelling on Nagaland vehicle Registration numbers, through Imphal.
Highlighting the broader issues that the episode has brought to fore, the NSF, in a statement issued today, asked the Government of Manipur (GoM) if Nagas are the “problem makers” of Manipur State, as said to them by the Manipur Police Commandos who detained them for more than an hour on the morning of February 14.
The statement recalled the whole incident as it occurred on the day. “Why and on what ground did the Government agency ask the Nagas not to take Imphal route to reach Ukhrul for the festival?” the NSF has asked the Government of Manipur to answer, among many other questions.
“What sort of sufferings the hill people have caused to the other people of the State?” questioned the NSF and asked what the GoM wants from the Nagas. “What is the intention of the GoM in disturbing the Nagas every now and then?” The NSF reminded that it had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Manipur on February 16 with a three-point demand: To terminate the duty officer in-charge from service and the suspension of all the police personnel involved in the incident; Assurance to provide safety and security of the Nagas and Nagas vehicle in and around the valley areas; and, To officially tender a public apology to the NSF.
“The NSF officials came down to Imphal to register our protest and resolve the matter..but they didn’t even bother to meet us. The failure of the GoM to respond..compelled the NSF to believe that the GoM entrust(ed) the duty-party to harass the Nagas travelling to Ukhrul for Lui-Ngai-Ni festival, in particular to the NSF officials. And also if possible to make us disappear if nobody knows about us,” alleged the NSF in its statement.
Challenging the GoM’s claims that it was “normal checking and frisking,” the NSF stated that the duty party spoke “openly and aggressively on communal lines. The duty party accused the hill people of creating problems in the valley.”
In that, it asked “If it is just a normal checking then, why were we detained for more than 90 minutes? Why were they not stopping any other vehicles but only the Nagaland Registration car? What was the motive of duty party for forcefully trying to take NSF to an undisclosed location?” The NSF also found “unacceptable” that an armed force had tried to “impose Manipuri language to people who can’t speak Manipuri.”
“Nagas travelling in the valley have never been safe; especially the Nagas driving Nagaland Registration has become very risky,” alerted the Federation. Reminding the GoM of a similar incident in 2010 when NSF members were barred from entering their ancestral lands, the NSF maintained that lately their officials have been facing “this kind of treatment time and again from the GoM. This time, “the NSF officials were questioned for passing through Imphal valley and not Senpati to Ukhrul. Do they mean to say that Imphal valley is only for a particular community?”
In this scenario, the NSF appealed people to examine “who first went communal.” While appealing for support for “this people’s struggle,” the NSF reminded that since its inception, the NSF has been “tirelessly fighting for justice; justice against fake encounter, justice against communal attitude by the government agencies, justice against the imposition of a foreign language, justice against the harassment meted out to the innocent people, justice against insecurity in our own land, justice against atrocious attitude of the armed forces & militarization.”
