Schools, cultural groups skip R-Day participation in Dimapur    

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Jan. 26: As India celebrated the 70th Republic Day on Saturday, the district administration of Dimapur also joined the rest of the country by organising a programme at the Dimapur District Sports Council (DDSA) stadium, in Dimapur. Metsubo Jamir, minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs attended the programme as the special guest and unfurled the National Flag.

However, the Republic Day celebration in Dimapur failed to draw public participation as several Naga civil society organisations responded positively to the call of the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and boycotted the event in view of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 being passed in the Lok Sabha.

Schools in Dimapur also withdrew from celebrating the Republic Day on Jan. 26 after the NSF requested all the educational institutions to stay away from any sorts of celebrations related to the occasion over the Citizenship Bill.

As many as six schools from Dimapur—who were mentioned in the day’s programme for parade—boycotted the event and did not participate in the parade, leaving only eight units from the district administration, including 173 battalion CRPF; 1st NAP battalion; Police Commissionerate; 15 NAP (IR) Mahila battalion; Nagaland Home Guard; Excise Directorate; Ex-Servicemen; and 5th Assam Rifles Band to perform the parade.

To add to the list, Lanu Zunga Cultural club and Loyilo Cultural club also boycotted the cultural show. However, the Dimasa Kachari Cultural club attended the programme and presented a ‘BAI-DIMA’ dance. BAI-DIMA is a dance form of the Dimasa, usually performed to welcome and honour visiting guests of high social status. In present times, the dance is also performed during auspicious occasions, such as festivals, birthday celebrations, and marriage parties, to name a few.

It may be mentioned that the NSF had earlier directed all the federating units and sub-ordinate bodies to boycott the Republic Day 2019 in their respective jurisdiction and asked all the educational institutions and the students in the state not to participate in any event related to the R-Day celebrations.