Rallies demand Nagaland's split to form new state
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Dimapur, January 07 2011:
Nagas in four Nagaland districts carried out massive public rallies demanding the creation of a new state christened as 'Frontier Nagaland' by bifurcating Nagaland.
The rallies were held simultaneously in the districts of Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire and Longleng today.
The rallies were organised by Eastern Nagaland People's
Organisation (ENPO) .
The ENPO, which is the apex organization of six Naga tribes of Konyak, Khiamniungan, Chang, Yimchunger, Sangtam and Phom belonging to the four districts, has submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister urging him to realize the demand.
"Our demand for the creation of Frontier Nagaland is based on historical facts.
This is something like going back to the earlier arrangement when the entire area was under the erstwhile Tuensang Frontier Division of NEFA," ENPO general secretary Toshi Wungpung said.
Before Nagaland was created in 1963, this entire area was under the Tuensang Frontier Division of NEFA.
Mon, Kiphire and Longleng districts were carved out of Tuensang post-statehood.
Toshi Wungmung alleged that for decades, gross injustice has been done to the people of these four districts by the successive governments, both in the state and at the centre.
"Of the 11 districts in Nagaland, these four backward districts have almost half of the state's total population.
But despite that, they continue to remain extremely under-developed," the ENPO general secretary said.
He added that only three per cent of the total population of the four districts held government jobs.
Ours is "a democratic and people's movement based on fundamental issues.
The people in the four districts have given their wholehearted support to it," Wungmung added.
So far, the Nagaland Government has remained silent, but the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee has appealed to the people of the four districts, called Eastern Nagas, to reconsider their demand.
The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) said, "At a time when the Nagas have expressed their willingness and taken concrete practical steps to reconcile with one another and unite for a lasting Indo-Naga political solution, the Congress appeals to our Eastern Naga brothers [and sisters] to reconsider their stand in the interest of the Nagas in general" .