Political settlement without restoring Naga lands unacceptable: UNTABA

Dimapur, Nov. 24 (EMN): United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA) on November 24 stated that the much awaited political solution might become unacceptable to the Naga people without restoring the ancestral, traditional, historical and political Naga lands under the illegal occupation of Assam to its rightful owner.

UNTABA has issued a press release as the Naga public eagerly wait for the final solution following the August 3, 2015, ‘Framework Agreement’ and the recent signing of agreement with six Naga national political groups for political dialogue with the Government of India on November 17.

UNTABA chairman Hukavi T Yeputhomi and the general secretary Imsumongba Pongen reminded that there has been no boundary demarcation between the State of Assam and Nagaland since the creation of Nagaland as the 16th State in the Union of India based on the ‘16 Points Agreement’ between the GoI and Naga People’s Convention (NPC) in 1960. It stated that Nagaland state was created basing on Agreement Points No. 12 and 13 that the Inter-State boundary between the two states would be undertaken in accordance with the Constitutional Provision of Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution of India ‘in due course of time.’

“The deliberate failure by the GoI to address this pertinent point of political agreement with the Naga people for all these decades is nothing but to forcibly usurp the ancestral Naga lands approximately measuring to 5000 (4,974.16) square miles under the illegal occupation of the State of Assam,” UNTABA stated in a press release. It pointed out that Naga people at no point of time in the history had ever usurped, encroached, or claimed other peoples land in their neighbourhood.

It pointed out thatthe agreement sought to bring back into Naga Hills District all the forests transferred to Sibsagar and Nowgong districts in the past and to bring under one unified administrative unit as far as possible within the scope of the present proposed agreement. It was agreed that no area should be transferred out of Naga Hill without the consent of the Naga National Council.

Having deliberately failed to include the political agreement in the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly, which was finally adopted in 1950, it stated that Naga people under the leadership of undivided NNC conducted ‘Plebiscite’ on May 16, 1951, so as to secede from India as an Independent nation state.

It stated that the failure marked the genesis of the Naga national movement for self determination.

Stating that Nagas have a clear boundary demarcation respecting each other’s dominion since time immemorial, it stated that Ahom kings had awarded certain areas in Rengma, Lotha, Ao, Phom and Konyak regions called ‘Naga Ghat’ or gifted areas to Naga people. In the later part of British administration during 1922-23 financial records from 23 Naga Ghats taxes had been paid by the tea planters to Naga owners of those Ghats.

After the treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 between British Imperial Government of India and Burma, the British penetrated to Northeast region and by 1837 it started levying taxes from Naga villages in Rengma areas. By 1841, the British Government created Rengma Naga Hills and started direct administration over Naga people and then established the first Sub-divisional headquarters at Asaloo in 1852. It was followed by establishment of separate Naga Hills District in 1866 headquartered at Samagooting, the present Chumukedima, and the boundary was defined in 1867 which was comprehensively defined again Vide ‘Foreign Department No. 3386 P, dated 24th. December 1875 covering all the Naga areas from present Sibsagar district to North Cachar Hills, presently Dima Hasao District in Assam which was again rectified Vide Foreign Department Notification No. 988 E, dated 23rd. April 1884.

It stated that the British Government, after having demarcated the Naga country systematically, transferred Naga land to Sibsagar and Nowgong districts. It added that the rich and fertile lands were declared as Reserve Forests so as to systematically exploit all the mineral resources.

Stating that Naga people had never claimed other people’s land, UNTABA affirmed that it would not give away even an inch of its ancestral land that are under the illegal occupation of the State of Assam.

It added that the Assam government cannot simply over-look the history of Naga people over its territories nor can the Government of India prolong its deliberate attempt to allow the Assam government to forcibly occupy the ancestral, traditional, historical and political Naga lands in Assam.

UNTABA also pointed out that with the ongoing litigation process of ‘Civil Suit No. 2 of 1988’ in the Supreme Court of India, it stated that successive governments of Assam have made all the Naga territories in Assam as a buffer-zone for settlement of people of questionable origins allowing various militant groups to operate against the hapless Naga people living in the border areas.