Bonnie Konyak
Guwahati | July 14
A MEETING between student leaders of Assam and Nagaland which stretched from noon to 8:30 in the evening at Guwahati today found the Centre and the two state governments responsible for the recent border flare-up.
The Naga Students’ Federation and the All Assam Students’ Union, in the presence of six NESO representatives and other student bodies from the region, said the matter should be settled through dialogue as affirmed in the Merapani joint declaration in 2004. A ‘third party’ or an ‘external force’ attempting to disrupt relations was targeted as the mastermind behind the border tension.
NSF President Imchatoba pointed out the events which led to the killing of Alemmongba by Assam Police and also stated that the identity of perpetrators of the killing of labourers on the Assam side cannot be ascertained to be Nagas. He questioned as to why the AASU had imposed the economic blockade even after the Merapani declaration. To this, the Assam students replied that it was not the head office but the subsidiary unit at Sibsagar which had called for the blockade.
The meeting demanded that the victim’s families be resettled and that the killers of Alemmongba and the labourers slain recently be brought to book. A joint team of students is expected to meet Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and they have also sought an audience with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
The Assam and Nagaland students have also decided to visit the border but no date has yet been fixed. Initially, the meeting appeared a little tense with NESO steering the whole conversation. The Nagaland team also comprised of Dimapur Naga Students’ Union and All Nagaland College Students’ Union representatives.
Morung Express News
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