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Naga issue : Unity rally to dispel doubts |
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Dispelling misgivings that Naga society is divided on the issue of integration, Nagaland’s apex tribal organisation will hold a rally in state capital, Kohima, on August 31 to press for the integration of Naga-inhabited areas.
Tribal Hoho and several NGOs, including the Naga Students’ Federation and Naga Mothers’ Association, will take part in the rally organised by the Naga Hoho.
The decision to hold the rally was finalised after initial hiccups when Naga tribal leaders stepped in. Hoho leaders have stressed that integration is the right of the Nagas by birth.
The Naga Hoho appealed to people not to heed rumours intended to break the peace talks, as the dialogue between the NSCN (I-M) and the Centre was progressing “tremendously well”.
However, the Angami Public Organisation opposed the rally, saying it will not allow any procession or strike in Kohima without its permission.
“We have already spoken to the Angami organisation and it has agreed to take back its press release. We will go ahead with the rally on August 31”, Hoho president Horangse Sangtam said over phone from Dimapur.
In a declaration in local dailies, the Hoho said the rally would be a demonstration of our right and will to live together. All our land must be integrated into a single political unit and we shall no longer wait for things to happen to us. It said Nagas shall create their future and destiny and shall not rest till their rights are fulfilled.
Earlier, the Angami Public Organisations release had given rise to speculation that Kohima’s dominant Angami tribe was against integration. The organisation’s president, Mhiesizokho Ziny , could not be contacted even after several attempts.
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