Bonnie Konyak
DIMAPUR | JULY 9
The situation in the border areas of Assam and Mon district has turned volatile with Konyak Union president today advising his tribesmen not to venture into any area near Assam. This was said in the backdrop of the expiry of the 5 pm deadline issued by the Konyak Students’ Union in a representation to Nagaland Commissioner TN Mannen.
The representation stated that though the people of Mon district were in no way connected to the killings near Geleki, they were being put under severe duress through the “so-called economic blockade,” accompanied by disruption of vehicle movements, looting of belongings, commodities, checking and harassment of passengers by members of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) at the border areas of Tizit (Namtola) and Naginimora (Bihubor) since July 7. It was reported that even a laptop computer of a traveler had been lost during the checking.
Detailing the numerous appeals made by the public of Tizit and Naginimora on different occasions, the KSU stated that the public of Mon can no longer tolerate the harassment and that the worsening of situation was inevitable if necessary action was not initiated by 5 pm as assured by the Commissioner. The students added that they had appealed to the public of both Naginimora and Tizit for the deadline to expire so as to avoid escalation of the present situation.
Mannen was contacted after 5 pm. He said that Assam had refused the request to withdraw the blockade and now a meeting was being planned with the Chief Minister and Home Minister on the issue. Though he did not disclose when the meeting would be held, Mannen said that the government would use all means to diffuse the situation and to find an alternative route for the delivery of commodities to the district.
The situation is said to be extremely tense with the blockade severely affecting the passage of people as well as essential commodities to Mon district. According to sources from Naginimora and Tizit, the people are faced with intense scarcity of food after three days of the blockade. Prices of all essential commodities have escalated and the only petrol pump in the district remained shut due to the blockade. KSU President Manpong Konyak said that an arrangement had been made with the Deputy Commissioner of Mon for the supply of essential commodities via Mokokchung, which will reach the destination in 2 to 3 days. He cautioned that they would not be responsible now for any incident arising in the border areas as a result of public anger over being deprived of basic needs.
Meanwhile on the issue of luggage of Mon passengers being withheld by protestors manning the blockade, a student activist of Assam said that this was not the intention of the blockade. While saying that such incidents may have arisen, the students have asked the passengers to file a written complaint at the Assam police station in case any luggage other than food items is withheld by the student bodies.
Reliable sources disclosed that a meeting attended by Assam’s student bodies at Simulguri yesterday decided to continue the economic blockade until the Nagaland government and the Centre punishes the culprits of the killings perpetrated in the Assam-Nagaland border.
However, the AASU has washed its hands off the blockade clarifying that it was initiated by the district students’ body and not by them. AASU advisor, Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya, said that the need of the hour was a people to people dialogue. While condemning the killing, he said that the AASU was closely monitoring the situation in a “positive light”. Expressing concern over the prevailing situation, he said that the student bodies of both states should pressurize the respective governments to find a solution to the vexed border issue and provide security of life and property of the residents. Terming the whole incident as a failure on the part of the governments, he said the NSF, AASU and NESO should work together towards a solution.
At the same time the president of NSF, Imchatoba, also slammed the government for its laidback attitude which had brought about the situation. Saying that it was because of their negligence that the border areas had been infiltrated, he pointed out that it was because people were fed up that the incident had been incited. The root cause of the issue, he said, was because the government had not taken the matter seriously when Alemmongba of Mokokchung was shot dead by Assam police.
He also said the AASU, NESO and NSF had decided to solve the border issue through dialogue and the NSF was banking on the AASU and NESO to respect that understanding. To solve the tension, he reinforced that the economic blockade had to be called off first, to create a conducive atmosphere for dialogue.
