Dimapur, August 1 (MExN): The United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA) has demanded amendment in Section 3 and 4 of the State of Nagaland Act, 1962 by invoking the Constitutional provisions of Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution of India to effect re-transfer of Reserve Forests and amalgamate all the Naga territories back to the State of Nagaland.
In a letter to the State Chief Minister appended by its Chairperson and General Secretary, the UNTABA noted that while it has been almost 60 years since the establishment of Nagaland as the 16th state under the Union of India through the Thirteenth Amendment Act, 1962, the inter-State boundary between Assam and Nagaland has never been surveyed or demarcated clearly.
“Owing to these glaring facts, there have been intermittent clashes, fights and even war between the people of two States since the Statehood of Nagaland in 1963 over the land,” the Association stated.
It also stated that, as per Sub-Section (1) of Section 3 of the First Schedule of the Constitution of India, territories in the new State of Nagaland which were earlier comprised in the Naga Hills Tuensang Area “shall cease to form part of the State of Assam.”
“Section 2(e) of the State of Nagaland Act, 1962 Act provides that: Naga Hills Tuensang Area means the Naga Hills Tuensang Area specified in Part B of the Table appended to paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, comprising the areas which at the commencement of the Constitution were known as the Naga Hills District and the Naga Tribal Area,” it added.
It further referred to points 1, 12 and 13 of the 16 Points Agreement of July 1960, between the Naga Peoples Convention and the Government of India for the establishment of a separate Naga State which it said, provides for re-transfer of Reserve Forests and Consolidation of Contiguous Naga Areas.
“The State of Nagaland was created of the territories under the NHTA Act without the inclusion of any other Naga areas as claimed in Point No. 1,” the UNTABA stated.
The Association also highlighted that, during the deliberation on the 16 Points Agreement, it was placed on record that, “The facts that the Naga delegates were referred to Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution of India for transfer of areas from one State to another, namely the Reserved Forests and the contiguous areas inhabited by the Nagas, and that it was not possible for the Government of India to make any commitment in this regard at that stage immediately prior to the formation of the State of Nagaland, the Government of India remains obligated to the wishes of the Naga people to give effect to the relevant Points No. 1, 12 and 13 of the 16 Points Agreement.”
In light of the above, the UNTABA urged the Chief Minister to request the Government of India to act on its commitment and enact necessary amendment in Section 3 and 4 of the State of Nagaland Act, 1962. It sought the invocation of Constitutional provisions of Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution of India to effect re-transfer of Reserve Forests and amalgamate all the Naga territories back to the State of Nagaland and fulfill the mentioned clauses of Agreements in letter and spirit.
From inception of Statehood in 1963 till date, no successive government of Nagaland has raised this pertinent question with the Government of India, the Association highlighted.
As such, it requested the Chief Minister to adopt a resolution in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly demanding the Government of India to introduce and enact necessary amendment to this effect.
