Kohima, February 10 (MExN): The Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organization (NVCO) has stated that the Nagaland State Government has “no moral right to appeal civil society organizations to reconsider statewide bandh on February 11 as the lone Lok Sabha member from NDDP had voted in favour of the most controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 (CAB).”
While terming the CAB “against the interest of the present and future generations of Naga society,” NVCO President, Kezhokhoto Savi, in a press release stated today that “For so long the PDA government has been pleasing the master by taking a stand, ‘we don’t oppose CAB’, with silly excuses that the Nagas are protected by Article 371-A of the Constitution of India and the Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 (BEFR 1873) referred as the Inner Line Regulation (ILR).”
NVCO claimed that non-indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland own “much lands” in the State and questioned how far the State Government has been protected the rights of the Naga indigenous inhabitants through Article 371-A. He also questioned the effectiveness of BEFR 1873 (ILR) “when the non-Nagas and the IBIs” control the markets of Nagaland.
Meanwhile, the Government has remained silent on the “demand of the people to apply the BEFR (ILR) to commercial hub, Dimapur.”
According to Savi, Nagaland Land and Revenue Regulation (Amendment) Act, 1978 clearly states that “the entire surface of the earth crust within the territory of Nagaland are to be owned by the Naga Indigenous and not by the Non-Indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland.”
The NVCO also opposed the statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday where he said during a public rally that ‘Citizenship Bill won’t harm interests of NE.’ It also expressed gratitude to the “strong protest group who are fighting for the interests of the NE.”
