Dzuko dispute issue : SAPO, SAYO target Mao community, again
Source: The Sangai Express
Kohima, June 24 2015 :
In yet another disturbing act perpetrated by Southern Angami People's Organization (SAPO) and Southern Angami Youth Organization (SAYO), two cloth shops belonging to Mao community were vandalized and Mao Union, Kohima unit president physically assaulted and his mobile phone damaged in the crowded Kohima town at around 3.15 pm today.
According to reliable sources, SAPO and SAYO volunteers numbering around 20 to 30 appeared at the scene and vandalized the two shops run by Mao owners identified as Salew Athikho of Shajouba village and Loli of Kalinamai village.
The assaulted union president has been identified as Athikho (45) of Kalinamai village presently residing at Kohima town serving as a lecturer at Modern College, Kohima.
Kohima police arrived at the scene after the crime and took up a case regarding the incident.
Meanwhile, the Mao Council has strongly condemned the incident.
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A Council statement said, "The Mao Council is deeply disturbed with the violent approach of SAPO and SAYO over the ongoing Dziiko and Koziiri encroachment issue.
With repeated act of harassment and harm caused to Mao community in the past one month, the Mao community has been tested beyond human tolerance and Mao people will not hesitate to react effectively.
We demand the authority concerned and police department to book and punish the culprits at the earliest" .
Referring to ongoing Dziiko/Koziiri boundary dispute, the statement said that Mao people have never claimed what belongs to others but protested the massive encroachment into its ancestral boundary.
Looking for a peaceful solution to the present crisis, the Mao Council has been exercising tolerance and creating room for settlement through negotiation, the statement said.
However, it is unfortunate for SAPO and SAYO to indulge in violent means to address the present situation deeply hurting the sentiments of Mao community, the statement said.
With constantly harassing Mao people/leaders on the National Highway, serving quit notice, damaging vehicles, intimidating innocent civilians, vandalizing shops and physically assaulting Mao people and their leaders, the Mao community cannot be taken for granted.
Here, the prolonged silence of the Nagaland Police and Nagaland Government is a matter of concern, it added.
As such, the Mao Council demanded the Nagaland Government to immediately intervene and protect innocent Mao people to prevent escalation of the present tension between the two communities.
The statement said that the Mao Council expresses its solidarity to the victims and Mao Union, Kohima president.