Nagaland: Ao Senden urges urgent resolution of Naga political issue to MoS Home

Opposes abrogation of FMR, diversion of Nagaland’s land for camp & fuel exploration

Mokokchung, November 20 (MExN): Likening the protracted Naga political talks to a seemingly endless and futile exercise or a “Sisyphean affair,” the Ao Senden today urged the Union Minister of State for Home, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, for an immediate resolution.

“We pray that, based on the Framework Agreement and the Agreed Position, a solution be reached at the earliest,” the apex civil organisation of the Ao Naga community stated in a representation to Kumar, who held an interactive session with the District Machinery and local communities of Mokokchung District on November 19.

The ongoing peace talks, which have continued for about 27 years, are becoming akin to a Sisyphean affair and an item for the Guinness World Records, it added.

The agreements in question are the August 3, 2015 “Framework Agreement” with the NSCN (IM) and the November 17, 2017 “Agreed Position” inked with the Working Committee, Naga National Political Groups (WC, NNPGs) by the Government of India (GoI).

The Ao Senden also stated that all the competencies or points of agreement related to the agreements must be made available in the public domain to facilitate thorough and comprehensive discussions.

It further pointed out that, due to the unresolved Naga political issue, the people of Nagaland are facing numerous challenges, while there has been a “proliferation of factions among the negotiating parties.”

Accordingly, the Ao Senden also urged the GoI not to recognise or sign ceasefire agreements with any newly formed groups.
Meanwhile, the apex Ao Naga body stated that it was shocked beyond words over what it termed the “callous and arbitrary attitude” of the GoI by abrogating the Free Movement Regime (FMR).

According to the Ao Senden, both India Burma (Myanmar) practised “naked colonialism” by dividing the Nagas at their “whims and fancies” along watershed lines only, without taking into consideration the Nagas inhabiting these lands.

This cruel attitude of the GoI, without considering the concerns of the Nagas, “does not show even a semblance of the much-acclaimed welfare government” but reflects a suppressive attitude, it asserted.

The abrogation of the FMR would not only prevent the Nagas from earning their livelihood by restricting them from cultivating their arable land but also hinder their access to forest products, which they heavily depend on due to the lack of development in the border areas, it contended.

“This is not an era to fence the Nagas like animals in a limited space but to let us thrive and prosper in our own land according to our capabilities without any undue and enforced restrictions,” it added.

Accordingly, called upon urged the GoI and the Nagaland Government to abandon the illogical ideas of abrogating the FMR and implementing border fencing” at the earliest.

The Ao Senden also raised concerns regarding the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for the diversion of forest land measuring 28 hectare (Ha) for the construction of an Assam Police Commando Battalion Camp, as well as another 4.4998 Ha for oil and gas exploration, based on the recommendation of the Government of Assam (GoA).

The site for the construction of the police camp is located at “Suptsuyong Lu,” the traditional land of Kangtsung Village under Mokokchung District of Nagaland, it pointed out. 

However, the GoA has already begun construction works, claiming the area to be under Geleky Reserve Forest of Sivasagar District, it added.

Further, the Ao Senden maintained that the permission granted by the MoEFCC for 4.4998 Ha of forest land for oil and gas exploration by M/s Vedanta Limited (Division Cairn Oil & Gas) pertains to a site in the Tsurangkong Range, within Mokokchung District, and not in Jorhat District of Assam.

However, claiming the land to be under Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest in Jorhat, the GoA reportedly provided the approval. 
Subsequently, company officials, accompanied by GoA officials, visited the site for inspection on November 15 but were turned away by the Ao Naga community from surrounding villages in Mokokchung District, the Ao Senden stated.

To this end, it accused the MoEFCC of “playing a mischievous game” by granting approval or clearance on ancestral traditional forest lands belonging to the Ao Naga community and “abetting” the Government of Assam in land encroachments.

It further asserted that GPS data can be “manipulated and maps can be drawn as such”, but the ground realities of all the lands should be verified on-site, and all stakeholders must be taken into confidence before any approval or clearance is granted.
No unilateral or ex-parte decisions must be made, stated the Ao Senden in the representation signed by its President Marsanen Imsong and General Secretary Imtipokyim.

“These actions are provocations which may lead to conflict, loss of life and property, which we cannot ignore if corrective measures are not taken by the Government of India at the earliest,” it added.

The apex Ao Naga body thus asserted that would not part with even an inch of its ancestral traditional land and urged the Home Ministry to facilitate the withdrawal of approval by the MoEFCC as well as the vacation of encroached land by the Assam Government.

It also stated that Ao Senden sincerely “desires no disputes” and wishes to continue “warm relations” between the sister states of Nagaland and Assam,  and urged the MoS Kumar, to look into the matters and take necessary actions.