Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, June 5: Despite the clarification made by the Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) and the business unions that there won’t be bandh in Dimapur in connection with the ANCSU’s agitation, some students still went on to impose a sudden closure of commercial activities on Wednesday.
The Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) had on Tuesday decided “not to encourage” the closure called by student groups of 19 colleges in Dimapur and had asked business establishments, government offices, and other public service agencies in the commercial hub to remain open. The Dimapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) also directed its members to keep their businesses open.
However, shopkeepers and vendors said that several students marched around the town --- Super Market, Nagarjan Police Point, and Circular Road -- and requested to close the shops from 10 am till 4 pm.
One shopkeeper (name withheld) at Wednesday Market (Super Market) told Eastern Mirror that the students arrived at around 10 am and requested to close the shops. ‘While the shopkeepers were about to pack their goods, the goan burah of the area summoned the students and requested them to exempt the market area,’ she said.
“Organising such a sudden closure is not wise as it is the day of Wednesday Market; it happens only once a week. Some people dealing with perishable items will suffer great loss. We totally support the students as I also have children and relatives who are college students. It would have been better if the closure was well organised in a timely manner,” she lamented.
Despite the demand for a sudden closure, many shops chose to open while some resumed their business after an initial halt.
The students gathered at Delux Point, Nyamo Lotha Road to protest and police forces were deployed around the area to avoid any possible riot. While interacting with some students, they were of the view that the closure should be imposed, maintaining that they would not remain tight-lipped unless the demands made by the ANCSU are fulfilled.
General secretary of DNSU, B Mhajan Tsopoe, told this newspaper that the union supports the students but they requested the closure to be postponed for public convenience and the success of the protest.
“We have shouldered ANCSU’s responsibility today. Instead of them monitoring the students, we (DNSU) were the one monitoring. We are also not happy about such hasty decision made by the students. They should also keep in mind that one should not go against one platform. To have an organised closure, we need to take permission from the deputy commissioner, Dimapur Naga Council, and various NGOs. At the end of the day, I hope they felt the pinch about why the DNSU wanted to postpone the closure,” said Tsopoe, adding that the union will not encourage such ‘unorganised closure’ in the future too.
Meanwhile, the officer in-charge told Eastern Mirror that the security forces tried its best to maintain peaceful and safe agitation. ‘There were no report of violence and the agitation ended in a peaceful manner,’ said the officer.
The DCCI clarified in a statement that it is not opposed to the cause of the ANCSU but is against the student body’s sudden call for indefinite bandh without consulting it, which it described as “totally uncalled for.”
“The DCCI had no choice but to see to its welfare and the consumers at large. Further, it would like to make it clear to student bodies and the public that indefinite bandh only leads to massive negative effect not only on the business community but on all front in our daily lives,” read the statement.
It said business was conducted as usual though the Muslim business community didn’t open their shops due to Eid celebration. While urging the business community not to give in to rumours on social media, it thanked the “administrationand Dimapur police for their corporation in enabling smooth conduct of business.”
In the mean time, the DCCI express its solidarity and moral support to the student community who were deprived of their scholarship and condemned the “high-handedness of the state government in dealing with the democratic agitation of the students.”
Vice president of the Naga Women Hoho, Vimeno Legise, has clarified that the video clip that went viral on social media “was not an allegation nor defamation but rather it was a question to clarify and was a personal opinion.”
Legise, in a statement on Wednesday, pleaded to accept her apology saying that “ANSCU sports fund coincided the misunderstanding” and added that ‘it was a question but not to defame or allege.’
