Nagas across Manipur unite to rally against division
Newmai News Network
Imphal | August 19
Overwhelmingly responding to a clarion call against the creation of Sadar Hills and Jiribam districts, tens of thousands of Nagas took out rallies in four hill districts of Manipur with a single minded objective of not allowing incursion into their land in the event of the ongoing demands for the creation of the two contiguous districts being granted by the state government. A declaration issued during the rallies has tagged Manipur government as “communal”, playing divide and rule card between tribals, and sought tribal unity to defeat the “hegemony” of the government.
The rallies were held at Senapati, Chandel, Tamenglong and Ukhrul districts today roughly began at 10 am and terminated at 1 pm with tens of thousands of Nagas participating in the programmes. A massive rally was also held at Tamei sub-divisional headquarters in Tamenglong district under the aegis of Liangmai Naga Council (LNC). Expressing invective rants, Senapati District Students’ Association (SDSA) observed that the Congress-led Ibobi government is “irresponsible” and powerless in dealing with the issue of Sadar Hills.
“The Ibobi government is not a responsible government as recent events have shown who powerless it is by not being able to maintain peace within 10 kilometers into Sadar Hills…His warning to crackdown on the agitators only proved lip service,” he said, and added that given the powerlessness there is nothing to expect from the present government.
“Declaration” flyers that were circulated during the rallies stated “the Nagas in the present state of Manipur, under the aegis of the United Naga Council (UNC), have carried out this public rally to register our strong objection to the attempt of the government of Manipur and its collaborators to bifurcate the land of the Nagas through the creation of Sadar Hills and Jiribam districts.”
It charged the state government of playing divide and rule between the tribals of the state and overlooking the four MoUs signed between the Nagas in Manipur and t he state government in 1982, 1992, 1996 and 1998 while dealing with the ongoing political impasse of the creation of Sadar Hills.
The underlying spirit of the MoUs has been “resolution to the conflict on the issue of Sadar Hills will be brought about through a consensus of the peoples concerned in the interest of bringing about lasting peace and harmony between the Nagas and Kukis,” stated the declaration.
The statement charged the government with overlooking the sentiments of the Nagas in the contiguous Sadar Hills: “The government of Manipur has with duplicity once again engineered the space for carving out from the land of Nagas without the knowledge and consent of the Nagas, pitting the tribals against each other.”
The Nagas wish for peace and harmony with the neighboring communities that is based on mutual respect for each other’s right over land and its traditional ownership, it said and warned the “collaborators” of the government not to fish in trouble water which “will only cause grievous damage to the fraternal relationship of the communities.”
“We respect the genuine aspirations and rights of all communities in the sate just as we wish that our aspirations and rights are also respected by the others,” the declaration said. While calling upon tribals to unite against the hegemonic state government, it said that “tribal unity and cooperation is the strength with which we can collectively resist the hegemony of the government of Manipur, which has denied all constitutional rights of the tribals.”
“Tribal unity must therefore be nurtured and promoted by rejecting the divisive police of the communal government of Manipur and building up trust and confidence with each other,” the statement added.
NYF to resist division of Senapati district
Dimapur, August 19 (MExN): An organization from Manipur, the Naga Youth Front (NYF), Tahamzam today expressed strong endorsement of the declaration made today during the mass protest rally against the bifurcation of Senapati district.
“The Nagas in Manipur has not conceded to the divide and rule policy adopted by SPF led Congress O Ibobi Singh against the peace loving Tribal ethnic communities, rather such policy has culminated into disastrous politics. The prevailing issue has been instigated and thrown a bone of contention only to achieve political gains and divide the Kukis and Nagas in Manipur,” the NYF said in a statement today. “For, unity of the two co-existing ethnic groups is an ominous danger to the Meitei dominated Manipur political system and so-called Manipur integration”.
The NYF challenged the “prolonged double standard” of Manipuri organizations such as the UCM, Apunba Lup, AMUCO, TDC and others ‘in addressing their own humanitarian crisis’. “Condemning and opposing the Nagas during agitations and seeking national media and international attentions have been their habitual attitude. Talking powerfully about Manipur’s integrity, they believed in suppressing the voice of the Nagas’ demand for honorable resolution to conflicts in Manipur rather than understanding the permanent neighbor’s plight,” the NYF said.
Supporting the Nagas’ declaration, the NYF said the ‘public declaration’ has reiterated the stand of the Nagas against the “unending discriminative policies of the Manipur government.” The NYF is “equipped with full preparedness ready to defend and preserve its ancestral land, for which it is willing to wage any confrontation with the common enemy,” the organization added. The statement was appended by M Dosupuwa, of the NYF’s information wing.
Ukhrul rally resist Okram’s division attempt
John K Kaping
Ukhrul August 19
A public protest under the aegis of the United Naga Council (UNC) was held in Ukhrul today against the creation of a Sadar Hills District in the Nagas' areas in Manipur state. The protesters from all walks of life in Ukhrul district including students from all the institutions in the district headquarter advised against bifurcation of Nagas' land. They marched through the Ukhrul starts and later converged at the Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) ground for a public meeting.
The protest rally began at 10:00am this morning and ended at 1:30 pm. All business establishments, institutions, offices and vehicular movements came to standstill.
Former TNL president Peter Pheirei addressed the huge public gathering and narrated the history of the Nagas' land and the boundaries and demarcations within Manipur, Assam, Arunachal and in Angkoching range. He quoted records since the time of British rule in Manipur and Assam.
He also narrated British history records written in clear ink about the position of how from the very time the Kuki have been living in the Nagas' land by paying tax to the land owners (Nagas).
President of TNL Solomon Ningshen read out a joint-declaration jointly signed by the presidents of TNL, Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong, Tangkhul Shanao Long, Tangkhul Youth Council and Tangkhul and Naga Wungnao Long. The declaration stated that the protest rally symbolizes the strong objection to the attempt of the government of Manipur and its collaborators to bifurcate the land of the Nagas by creating Sardar Hills and Jeribam districts. The declaration condemned the ‘divide and rule policy’ of the Manipur government. The Manipur government is always accused of playing the comm
unal card and thrown the bone of contention between the tribal of the state.
The statement noted four consecutive memorandums of understanding/ agreements entered into by the Nagas in Manipur and the Manipur government in 1981, 1992, 1996 and 1998 that the "resolution to the conflict on the issue of Sardar Hills will be brought through a consensus of the peoples concerned in the interest of bringing about lasting peace and harmony between the Nagas and Kukis." In spite of this the Manipur government has once again engineered space for carving out the land of the Nagas without their knowledge and consent, pitting the tribal against each other.
