ELNCCA backs FNCC stir; flags encroachment
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, July 18 2025: Eastern Liangmai Naga Chief Chairman Association (ELNCCA) has extended its "strong and unwavering" support to the Foothills Naga Co-ordination Committee (FNCC) and endorsed the three demands raised in the FNCC press release dated July 15 .

In a statement issued on Friday, ELNCCA said that the demands echo the collective concerns and aspirations of the indigenous Naga communities inhabiting their ancestral lands.

The association expressed deep concern over what it described as "ongoing attempts to rename roads and alter nomenclature" in indigenous Naga territories.

It alleged that such actions are being carried out through manipulations involving certain Kuki elements in collusion with government agencies.

ELNCCA said that these unilateral decisions, made without public consultation or indigenous consent, violate the historical, cultural and territorial rights of the Naga people and must be condemned and reversed.

The statement recounted that Naga forefathers, guided by Christian values and humanitarian compassion, had once provided refuge to Kuki communities fleeing Burma, allowing them to settle temporarily on Naga land.

However, ELNCCA alleged that this gesture of goodwill had been misused.

Historical records and official documents show a persistent pattern of land encroachment by Kuki groups in Indigenous Naga territories.

The association termed such acts as a betrayal of trust and a form of territorial aggression that would no longer be tolerated.

In its statement, ELNCCA urged the Government of India to immediately dismantle all Kuki Suspension of Operation (SoO) camps and alleged militant training centres illegally set up on indigenous Naga ancestral lands.

It also called on the Centre to halt the renaming of roads and landmarks within Naga territories and to take effective measures to prevent further encroachment.

The association further demanded that no new SoO camps be established near the peripheries of Naga foothill villages, particularly in areas close to the proposed Haflong-Imphal National Highway and Asian Highway routes, which it alleged are being used as strategic locations to assert control and provoke future conflict.

ELNCCA also appealed to what it described as "lesser-known Kuki organisations" such as the Young Kuki and World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC) to refrain from provocative statements and actions that could destabilise peace.

The association warned that past provocations had resulted intensions that required makeshift reconciliation efforts, including monetary or livestock compensation.

While reiterating that Liangmai people are rooted in Christian faith and have shown patience and forgiveness, the association declared that no further compromises would be made regarding their land, identity or dignity.

The statement called for continued prayers for peace, justice and divine wisdom, and also issued a firm warning that any attempt to manipulate or expand territorial claims in the name of peace would be firmly resisted.

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