Legislators seek help from officers; say Hornbill Festival and statehood demand are different

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Nov. 21 (EMN): Days after the eastern Nagaland tribes reaffirmed their decision to forgo the much-awaited Hornbill Festival 2022, the Eastern Nagaland Legislators’ Union (ENLU) has requested the Eastern Nagaland Gazetted Officers’ Association (ENGOA) to intervene and help solve the matter amicably.

In a letter issued on Sunday (November 20), the 20 elected legislators of eastern Nagaland requested the ENGOA to mediate between the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) and ENLU with regard to the “deadlock on the issue of Frontier Nagaland statehood demand and the participation of the different tribal units under the ENPO jurisdiction in the upcoming Hornbill Festival 2022”.

‘ENLU is of the stand that the demand for statehood which is political and on the other hand, the Hornbill Festival which is cultural, are two separate subjects, which must not be clubbed together in the present demand for Frontier Nagaland state demand.

‘The latter is the show of the rich culture our land is blessed with to the world and those opportunities to showcase them should be accepted with open arms,’ read the letter signed by ENLU convener and the minister of Health and Family Welfare S Pangnyu Phom and ENLU secretary general CL John, who is also the advisor of Land Resources.

Therefore, the ENLU appealed to the ENGOA to initiate the matter at the earliest for an amicable solution, mentioning that “the matter may be considered as genuine and of at-most urgency”.

The ENGOA, when contacted by Eastern Mirror, said it was yet to assess the situation and therefore could not comment on the appeal as they were yet to hold a meeting on the issue. It added that a decision could be taken and shared only after a meeting.

The president of Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF), Chingmak Chang, had told Eastern Mirror last week that the seven tribes from the eastern region of the state had reaffirmed their decision to not participate in this year’s Hornbill Festival citing “hardships faced by the participants”. 

The Hornbill Festival 2022, which has become a major tourist attraction over the years, is scheduled to begin on December 1, before culminating on the 10th.