Chang, Yimchunger groups sign pact to pursue peace

EMN KOHIMA, August 24 Leaders of the Chang organization, the Chang Khulei Setshang (CKS) and Yimchunger community organization, the Yimchungru Tribal Council (YTC), have reached an agreement in a meeting on August 20 ‘to unequivocally pursue the current hard earned peace till the situation is permanently resolved between the Changs and the Yimchungru’. Earlier this year, members of both the communities engaged in violence over issues associated reportedly with land ownership. According to a press statement issued to the media, convener of the team of mediators, Tali Longkumer, the meeting was conducted on August 20 in the conference hall of the commissioner’s office under the initiative of the mediators appointed by the government of Nagaland. During the meeting ‘in-depth discussions’ were conducted ‘in a cordial atmosphere’, they informed. The press release also stated that various other agreements were agreed upon during the meeting. They include regular meetings between the CKS and YTC as a confidence-building measure, pursuit the spirit of the tripartite agreement made on April 8, 2015, interaction with affected villages of both the tribes, recommendations for assistance or resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected families of the recent conflict, and a pursuit for final settlement of the land dispute through customary laws and practices as desired by both the CKS and the YTC.