Morung Express news
Dimapur | February 15
A memorandum was submitted to Imkong L Imchen by the South Nagas Union of Nagaland State (SNUNS) who appealed for respite from their “neither here or there” status. In the memorandum, the SNUNS informed that the union was formed by southern Nagas who are permanently settled in Nagaland comprising mostly of central and state government servants, retired or still serving in Nagaland.
“Our children who are born and brought up in various areas of Nagaland are adapted only to this system of social life and find it difficult to adjust especially to that of Manipur where the Nagas are in minority and oppressed and denied by the majority of the Meitei population,” the union stated. SNUNS also said that today they are in a situation that is ‘neither here nor there’ and that ‘they are not recognized in their adopted state of Nagaland.’
The memorandum further informed that in Manipur, children of SNUNS members have no accesses to higher education since they do not speak, read or write Manipuri, whereas SNUNS children are declared not eligible to apply for the unreserved quota because they are schedule tribe candidate but again denied to enter the schedule tribe category because they are not from Nagaland state. “No community suffers this double jeopardy except the members of SNUNS” the memorandum stated.
The memorandum hence requested for “our wards to be given opportunity to apply for facilities at par with members of the other states in the country” and “to declare Lui-Ngai-Ni festival, celebrated on February 15 every year as a restricted holiday of Nagaland.”
