Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal said today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has all the concern for the upliftment of the people of North East region.
Speaking as the Conference Guest of the inaugural session of the 26th general conference of Naga Students’ Federation here this morning, he said the Central government under the leadership of Modi has been working towards the uplifttment of the North East region and therefore it has come out several projects, which the people of the region should take full advantage of them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has noticed tremendous potentiality of the North Eastern Region in every field, but due to lack of skill development, the potentialities are not shining because of which the PM has launched skill development schemes throughout the country and appealed to the people of the North East Region to take advantage of the Scheme to develop their skills in every field.
Expressing that the North East region has numerous sports talents, he said many sport talents shined in the international arena and recalled the names of Olympian footballer Dr T Ao and Olympian archer Chekrovolu Swuro of Nagaland, along with many Olympians of the region.
He informed that he has already instructed the office of the Sports Authority of India to take up Skill Development Schemes in the region for the sportspersons to improve their ability and talents.
He further assured all possible helps for the construction of the Multi-Disciplinary Sports Project at Dimapur.
He also said the Naga youths have excelled in the fields of art and culture as its various tribes are known for their folk dances, music and colourful costumes.
Sonowal said Nagaland has contributed a lot to Indian sports especially in archery.
The famous Swuro sisters Vesuzolu Swuro and Chekrovolu Swuro and their brother Thupuvoyi Swuro represented India in many international Archery Championships and Chekrovolu Swuro had represented India in the 2012 London Olympics. Kesienguouo Thienuo has also represented India in International Archery Championship.
T. Ao was the first Indian captain of Olympic 1948 Football Team. Sports Authority of India had launched its Special Area Games Scheme to tap Archery and Football talent from Nagaland and there are a few football players from Nagaland who represented India in International Football Championships, he said.
Acknowledging the activities of NSF, Sonowal said “the fact that Nagas have become well known to India and even to the outside world is much because of the contribution of the NSF.”
He said that Naga Student Federation (NSF) is one of the most vibrant organizations not only for the Nagas but also for the entire North Eastern Region.
He said the past delegations of NSF have impressed upon the various Prime Ministers of India and NSF has made a speech even at the United Nations Conference on Indigenous People in Geneva.
UNITE AS ONE PEOPLE IN TRUE NAGA SPIRIT: TONGPANG
Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) Tongpang Ozukum while exphasizing on the need of Naga for transformation, maintained that the Naga society needs a paradigm shift from the grassroot.
“The future of our society depends on the mindset and attitude of the youth, the younger generation. Without our active involvement and participation, without our contribution in all aspects of life, our Naga society will never progress,” he said.
He challenged the student community and the youth to come out of “our cocoon, break the barriers of tribalism, join our hands together, unite as one people in true Naga spirit and with one voice and one vision let us work together for a better a just society for a better tomorrow.”
Stating that Nagas are a big family and it has brothers in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Myanmar, he challenged the gathering to re-affirm the NSF commitment to uphold the principle stand of the Federation and continuously work for “Unified Lim and glory of our people till our goal is achieved.”
Ozukum said that the NSF since its inception has been working restlessly for the welfare of the entire student community, adding that NSF has played a vital role in asserting “Our rights and identity of our Nagas as whole.”
He said that while giving priority to the students’ welfare, the Federation will continue to engage on common issues of common interest whether it is political or social.
Stating that there comes a time in the history of every nation or society that their people must truly reconcile to their past if they are to go forward and embrace future, he said. Today, Naga society has reached such a time. “At a time when even the powerful nations are working together as a team, realizing the danger of surviving as a separate entity, Nagas cannot effort to survive on groupism, factionalism and tribalism. We must truly and fully reconcile the past and come together as one people in order to overcome the challenges that are confronting the Naga society today.”
Expressing concern over the unabated influx of illegal immigrants “into our land,” he said “we have seen, indigenous people fighting for their rights and identity in their mother land. We have come across, aboriginal citizens surrendering their inherent rights and properties to the outsiders.”
He said for the past 30 years or so, the NSF has been voicing the danger of harboring the illegal immigrants.
“The issue of illegal immigrants is an issue where Nagas must come together; it is a battle Nagas must fight together,” Ozukum said.
AASU APPEALS CENTRAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS ON BOUNDARY PROBLEM
The All Assam Students Union (AASU) president Dipankar Kumar Nath today said the central government and state governments must take effective steps to solve interstate boundary problem.
Delivering the solidarity message at the inaugural session of the NSF general conference this morning, he maintained that the relationship between the NSF and the AASU is “old and strong.”
“We keep discussing our common problems. We may meet more frequently to exchange our views,” he said and stressed on the need to move forward together.
“We should not allow foreigners to pollute our social life. We must not allow the foreigners to create communal problems on our soils. The foreigners have created the fundamentalists and the terrorists. They must be evicted forcefully from the whole of the north east,” he said and challenged the NSF, AASU and NESO to work together to implement the Assam Accord so that the foreigners’ base is destroyed.
Nath also stressed on the need to join hands for the central government jobs in the north east.
“The central government should make extra efforts to help our youth to start business. In the academic field, there should be more national institutions in the north east,” he said.
Lamenting that the rest of the country is not aware of the beautiful region of the country and does not know the people of this region, he said. “Our history is not included in the national curriculum. The students of the rest of the country read about the world, but not about the north east. It is time that our resources, our geography, our literature, etc, are included in the national curriculum for the schools, colleges and the universities”.
Naga Hoho president Chuba Ozukum extended greetings on the occasion, which was chaired byt former Deputy Speaker of NSF, N. Kupto Achumi. Invocation was pronounced by Pastor of Khonoma Baptist Church, Tsolie Chase while converner organizing committee, NSN Lotha delivered the welcome address. Cultural performance was presented by Zeliangrong Naga troupe and special songs by Harmonic Choirs and Mughami Melos.
