Senapati CSOs request SAPO to lift restriction, allow students celebrate Christmas at home

Dimapur, Dec. 17 (EMN): Senapati apex civil bodies namely Naga People’s Organisation (NPO), Senapati District Women Association (SDWA) and Senapati District Students’ Association (SDSA) have requested the Southern Angami Public Organisation (SAPO) to lift the restriction on movement of Mao people in their areas over the Kezoltsa-Koziirii land dispute between the two communities.

Appealing the SAPO and Southern Angami Youth Organisation (SAYO) to reconsider their decision, the NPO said students coming home for Christmas and other events during the festive season should be allowed to reach their homes safely and be with their family and friends.

When Nagas on the verged of attaining the long-awaited solution, it said internal embroil could “sidetrack our common aspiration”.

“To live as brothers and good neighbours, it’s important to respect one’s existence and co-exist peacefully,” read the press release.

The NPO also requested the Board of Arbitrators (BOA) under the Tenyimi People’s Organisation (TPO) to take up the matter at the earliest to avoid future problem and urged both the Mao Council and the Southern Angami people to desist from escalating the issue.

Expressing pain over the unrest between “siblings of the same family”, the SDWA said that preventing children, students and families from celebrating Christmas with their loved ones at home is “against our Christian belief”.

The SDWA also requested the leaders of the two communities to uphold and respect the wisdom of TPO/BOA “before whom the matter is pending for peaceful adjudication and settlement without jeopardising the very basic fabric of our brotherhood”.

“We continue to pray and seek the intervention of God Almighty to inspire upon our leaders of TPO, SAPO SAVO and Mao Council with good wisdom and to use all restraints in restoring peace and order in the family,” it stated.

While expressing pain over the travel prohibitory order on Mao people, the SDSA stated that it is ‘empathic to the plight of the student community who are returning home from different corners of the country to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones’.

‘The office appeal for understanding in the larger interest of the student community and exemplify the essence of Christianity by lifting the said order,’ it said.