Dimapur, May 28 (MExN): Following reports of purported skirmishes in the border between Assam and Nagaland, the United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA) on Friday claimed that the reports were “far from what had actually happened.”
In a press release, the UNTABA alleged that the incident occurred when a group, along with MLA of Mariani A/C Rupjyoti Kurmi “crossed the boundary by more than 3kms and entered the vicinity of Vikuto village well inside Nagaland.” The Association further claimed that the MLA “forcefully stopped the villagers from continuing their normal cultivation works and destroyed their Areca nut and other crops, while also threatening and abusing the villagers.”
“When the villagers objected to this high-handed behaviour, the armed Assam Police personnel who were brought by the MLA besides his PSO started shooting while they were leaving. The villagers fired two shots from a muzzle-loading gun well after the entourage left,” UNTABA Chairperson Hukavi T Yeputhomi and General Secretary Imsumongba Pongen stated in the press release.
The association further claimed that “this is not the first time Rupjyoti Kurmi has deliberately provoked a situation like this in the border areas,” and alleged that the MLA had “a habit of stirring-up people’s emotions so as to create animosity between the people living peacefully in the border area of the two states.”
It also stated that the boundary issue between the two states is still pending in the Supreme Court of India, making the issue sub judice. To prevent any untoward incidents in the border areas, there are neutral forces (CRPF) to maintain peace and tranquility based on the ‘Interim Agreement’ of 1979 between the two states, the release stated.
Further, citing “biased, fictitious” news reporting, the UNTABA demanded immediate investigation into the incident and called on authorities to affix “appropriate responsibility so as to prevent such unwarranted incidents.” The Government of Nagaland must immediately initiate appropriate steps to review the ‘Interim Agreement’ of 1979 between the two states on the boundary issue, it added.
