After a lull of some years in the state, Dimapur town witnessed a bomb attack in the middle of the town and in one of the busiest streets on the evening of May 29, 2017. The attack left five people injured with one succumbing to the injuries by late evening, reminding the denizens of those turbulent years before the ceasefires and before the process of reconciliation was initiated by various organisations among the armed factions. Except for the series of bombs attacks in 2004 on civilians perpetrated by agents outside the state, the present case will be the only one such case wherein a spot teeming with civilians was targeted. However what is more shocking in the present attack is that the eyewitnesses recount that the persons who lobbed the bomb seemingly looked like locals in appearance.
The typical Naga understanding, whether it is official or unofficial, is that the Naga armed groups are not supposed to attack unarmed and innocent civilians. The concept of creating terror and attacking innocent civilians is an act that is considered cowardly and detestable by any Naga. It has also almost attained legendary status that the Naga armed groups do not blindly and without any reason attack security personnel in civvies. The greatest testimony of this unwritten code was given by RN Ravi, the Special Interlocutor for the Naga talks himself to the media in 2015. There are cases where this unwritten code have been violated but those are stray incidents and considered aberrations.
It is not known whether the recent bomb blast targeting a chemist was related to demands for ‘tax’ from some of the groups or was related to some personal enmity with the proprietors. Unless it is a case of mistaken identity, the customers being the target is also quite unlikely. However whether the target is correct or not, the attack on an area with civilians and shoppers is condemnable. The PR value of the Nagas as a whole in the mainland also takes a beating every time such crimes are committed. It is not only the duty of law enforcing agencies but should be the endeavour of all peace loving citizens to assist in apprehending the perpetrators of such crimes.
