Naga village headmen ridicule Hari Prasad Nepal's statement
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Imphal, December 11 2014: The chairmen of Thonglang Atongba, Akutpa, Harup, Tapon and Makui villages under Sadar Hills of Senapai district have said on Thursday that they condemn the 'misleading and immature press statement' of one Hari Prasad Nepal, 'a self-styled' GB of Irang Part-I .

In a joint release, the Naga village chairmen said that the statement of Hari Prasad has created a lot of emotional disturbances in the mind of all right-thinking and peace-loving Naga and Nepalese communities which have been co-inhabiting for many years.

It said the British India Government brought the Nepalese into the Naga villages in the 1920s without the consent of 'our forefathers' after taking advantage of their ignorance.

The British permitted few Nepali families for grazing their cattle on payment of tax, however no permission was given to them for settlement in the land of the five villages, it said.

The release claimed that the Nepalese of the so called Irang Part-I and Irang Part-II have given up grazing activities and taken up farming activities with the permission of the original land owners on payment of tax.

The Nepalese population grew from few families to hundreds of families within a few decades, it said, adding the illiterate Naga tribal villagers were unaware of the new political development taking place in the State.

It said that during the delimitation exercise in the early 1970s, only the Naga population of Thonglang Atongba and Thonglang Akutpa were under Tadubi Constituency while the Nepalese population under the jurisdiction of the two villages were separated and brought under the de-reserved 50-Kangpokpi Constituency giving undue favour to the Nepalese which resulted in the loss of one ST Reserved Constituency of the tribal community.

The release said every hillock, every piece of land has to be under the ownership of the tribal land holding system and so the claim made by Hari Prasad Nepal that the land belongs to them is completely wrong and highly misleading.

It also said all the chairmen of the Naga villages assure all peace-loving Nepalese population that they stand for peace and tranquility.

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