Dimapur, Jan. 27 (EMN): The United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA) on Sunday appealed to the civil and police administrations at Nagaland’s border areas to be active in matters of “border issues.”
Or else the UNTABA would be “compelled to even picketing the offices of the border areas civil and police administrations,” according to a statement from the association on Sunday. “The recent constructions of border outpost (BOP) in the jhum fields of Lirmen village areas, in the Wameken village jhum fields last year and at Indisen village lands near Dimapur town recently, the authorities in Assam have been constantly trying to open BOPs in all the border areas which falls legitimately under Naga people.
“In matters of opening BOPs from Nagaland side, the district civil and police administration of Dimapur in particular, have already submitted the feasibility report of opening a BOP at Rilan village areas by commissioner of police after undertaking all the necessary formalities to the commissioner, Nagaland for immediate consideration,” it stated.
However, the association expressed disappointment at the “indifferent attitude and lack of initiatives in addressing the recurrent developments from Assam side” by the government of Nagaland.
“It is to be noted that the border issue between Assam and Nagaland is still under litigation process in the Supreme Court of India for the last 30 years now spending more than INR 30 cr. from the State Exchequer through the Commissioner of Nagaland who looks after the Border Affairs department without a hope of any tangible outcome because the subsequent government of Nagaland has never been serious on the issue in spite of all the bilateral and trilateral agreements made between the two state governments and government of India.”
The association maintained that the advocate general of Nagaland should be an indigenous Naga “who knows the real history of the land and the Naga people.” It also condemned the “highhandedness of the authorities of Assam” and urged them not to assert authority unilaterally.
