Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 10
THE CURRENT Assam-Nagaland border flare-up could not have arrived at a more inopportune moment. Civil society from across lines drawn on the map had only recently held meetings to bolster relations between the two neighbours. The People’s Committee for Peace Initiative and Action from Assam had only last month met with the Naga Hoho, Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights, Naga Students’ Federation and the Naga Mothers Association. The conglomeration had issued a joint statement affirming that the relationship between the two neighbouring states would be based on mutual respect and trust.
Not ruling out the involvement of government agencies, Naga Hoho general secretary Neingulo Krome today said the needle of suspicion was on Assam’s state machineries who wish to break relations between the two sides, as also stated by residents of Assam’s border areas. He chided Nagaland Commissioner TN Mannen for being too hasty in coming out with a statement that Naga villagers in border areas were constantly under threat. Such a comment could further agitate the state of affairs, he implied.
Before the outbreak of the recent border killings, plans had already been drawn for a massive rally at Merapani, a border town which saw wide-scale violence in the ‘80s, to be followed by another meeting at Guwahati.
Chandratiya Gogoi, a member of Assam’s civil society, and professionally a college teacher, said that government agencies were attempting to create a wall between indigenous peoples of both states. “Those involved are not indigenous.” He feels that the border issue has to be solved by the Centre, which so far has been in a state of complacence.
A lecturer of Nagaland University, Dr. Lanusashi Longkumer, shared similar notions. The “new settlers” and government officials who do not know traditional history or who intentionally try to wallop age-old ties are to blame for the spurt in violence, he said. Nagas and Ahoms have over the years practiced rituals for bonding relations, prominently highlighted during festivals. Efforts from the Naga side to hold parleys with Assam counterparts have been made, Lanu added.
And according to Sumar Mahanto, a teacher and a journalist who has studied the border, democratic organizations from both sides should sit across the table together to chalk out differences, albeit without the participation of any political parties. However, to diffuse the current temper, he said, the need to hand over some of those involved in killing three persons at Geleki is strongly felt, he said.
