DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 1 (MExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has stated that it is opposed to any move to “part (with) even an inch of our land for pacification purpose” post a solution to the Indo Naga issue.
The NTC asserted this in its executive council and advisors meeting held at Kohima on October 30. A press release from the NTC recognized the “decisiveness of the Prime Minister of India to bring the political negotiation between the GoI and the Naga negotiators to fruition.”
It urged the Government of India bring the protracted Naga political issue to a logical conclusion “on the basis of the agreed points concluded on October 31, 2019 that is honourable and acceptable without delay.”
The council however stated that given “the past precedence,” the people of Nagaland are “apprehensive that the GoI may like to appease the negotiators with land that belongs to the private landowners in Nagaland.”
The NTC said that it “stands on integration;” however adding that “so long as integration of all Naga contiguous areas is not possible, and that the territorial integrity of the neighbouring states are protected, so also with the same yardstick the territorial integrity of the State of Nagaland should be protected.”
“The Nagas of Nagaland cannot accept only population integration. Rights of ownership is utmost important and must be respected and that neither GoI nor the Government of Nagaland should force the indigenous landowners to accommodate outsiders in our land without integration of all Naga contiguous areas,” it said. The NTC reiterated that if territorial and land integration is not possible at the moment, “we cannot opt for population integration.”
The NTC further expressed apprehension about the proposed Pan Naga HoHo, stating that the “GoI may like to approve both of its formation and its funding.”
“The objective of PNH relates to tradition, culture and religious matters of the Nagas. In the light of this backdrop, it is imperative to point out that the Art 371A of the Constitution of India comprehensively covers the aforementioned characteristics with legal insulation from any outside interferences for the state of Nagaland,” it stated.
The NTC reasoned that the establishment of any parallel authority with the power of access to those aspects under Art 371A “will definitely create sufficient rooms for collisions and undue encroachment on the basic rights of Nagas of Nagaland in particular.” If a Pan Naga Hoho is formed, the NTC insisted that its headquarters “should not be within the State of Nagaland”.
It further pointed to the Intangki Nationa Park and the Nagaland Government designated Nagaland Special Development Zones (NSDZ), stating that “it will be disastrous to sacrifice for rehabilitation purposes in the above mentioned lands.” “Neither GoI nor the Government of Nagaland should force indigenous landowners to accommodate outsiders in these lands of ours without integration of all Naga contiguous areas,” it stated.
It meanwhile demanded that all the political parties in the State as well as the Core Committee of the Parliamentary Committee to come out with clear view of their party/Core Committee’s “commitment on the rehabilitation issue for further consideration of the stake holders/indigenous people of Nagaland.”
“Negotiation for settlement of the protracted Naga Political issue has been culminated and now awaits the time for signing the agreement. Yet the Nagas remain wanting for peace, since we do not enjoy real peace in the prevailing situation,” the NTC said.
The main reason behind this, it stated, is that the “political solution to the vexed Naga Political issue that is honourable and acceptable, has not been achieved and that is the anxiety of the negotiating parties for the Naga Peace talks as well as the stake holders/indigenous people of Nagaland.”
Until then, the NTC urged all the Naga Political Groups to restrain from all forms of provocative acts that are detrimental to the hard earned peace in the land. It further asked all NPG members against forming of new faction, or defection(s).
