Dimapur, August 20 : Following the August 12 upheaval in Wokha which reportedly saw some members of the public venting their fury on two underground cadres and on an office of the NSCN (IM), the anti-corruption platform, the Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) has demanded immediate arrest of the faction’s “town commander.”
Before the situation worsens, the government must arrest the cadre on or before August 23, the organization’s media cell demanded in a press release that was issued to the local media on Saturday.
Besides being the “town commander” of the NSCN (IM) in Wokha, the activist is also said to be a member of the “NCSU and Lotha Class-1 Registered Union.”
The continuing complacence of the government of Nagaland and its agencies to the plight of the people are responsible for such outbreaks of violence, the ACAUT stated. Situations can hold only so much that the people will have no option but to defend themselves if the government fails, it stated.
“It goes without saying that people will take whatever means necessary to protect themselves if the state fails to do so. The recent incident on 12th August, where the office of the town command, NSCN-IM, was ransacked is testament to this fact,” the organization stated.
The ACAUT of Nagaland is “solidly behind” the people of Wokha, the press release continued, referring to a set of joint resolutions from the Kyong Naga community.
The resolutions were passed by the community’s frontal organizations such as the Lotha Youth Hoho, the ACVA and the WDEA, the Team Metamorphosis and the WDAU, and the Wokha unit of the ACAUT.
The resolutions are (given verbatim):
1. That the state’s government arrest the so-called town commander of Wokha, one Mr. Nrikhon aka Albert Lotha, who is also a member of NCSU and Lotha Class-1 Registered Union, within 10 days, that is, on or before 23rd August.
2. That the chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group take serious note of public sentiment and shift out the so-called office of the town command from Wokha immediately.
The ACAUT (Nagaland) is said to have filed an FIR against “the so-called town commander of NSCN-IM on 11th June.”
The organization blamed the government and the police for the situation: “If the police and the state’s government had paid careful attention to the ground reality prevailing at Wokha and taken serious note of the FIR and arrested the town commander, the August 12 incident would not have taken place.”
Rather, the organization stated, “The complacent attitude of the state government has once again resulted in a more vitiated atmosphere for which the PHQ and the state government will have to share the blame.”
Before the situation worsens, the ACAUT stated, the Nagaland government must arrest the “town commander” as per the FIR registered against him and for extortion activities at Santsuphen of Wokha.
“The demands of the Wokha frontal organisations should not be taken lightly for they represent the opinion of the general public. For too long Wokha people have has been left to courageously fend for themselves with the state government remaining a mute spectator.”
Stating that there was a limit to ‘all harassment’ especially those in the nature meted out to the people by the underground groups, the ACAUT cautioned the government: “…unless the government acts swiftly and decisively by addressing the core demands, Wokha is a powder keg waiting to explode.”
Earlier, reports on August 12 emerged from Wokha town that an unspecified number of public members had apprehended two underground activists when the latter were engaged in extortion at a place called Satsupen, near Longsa village in Wokha.
Sources from Wokha had quoted community leaders: four underground activists–factions unspecified–were reportedly collecting “tax” following which agitators apprehended two while the other two escaped.
Thereafter an office of the “IM” was reported to have been ransacked during which agitators emptied it of its files and documents. They were then burnt at the Wokha Police Point, sources had informed then.
