Naga Hoho backs CANSEA demand

Dimapur, Nov. 30 (EMN): The Naga Hoho on Thursday threw its weight behind a rattled collective of Nagaland government employees and called for withdrawal of National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the alleged funding of Naga armed groups by Nagaland government employees. In a press statement, the Naga Hoho stated that the ‘recent activities of NIA in Nagaland vis-a-vis investigation of almost all the departments and arresting govt. officials for providing financial aid to different Naga political groups/national workers may be the exercise of fulfilling constitutional provision and the law of the land, but at the same time the different Indian agencies must look into the problems from social and political perspective’. According to the Naga Hoho, no sensible person could expect conducive atmosphere in Naga areas as the people’s resistance movement has been in the form of “guerrilla warfare”. As such, it stated, any struggling nation cannot survive without depending on the people’s contribution and cooperation. “We strongly feel that be it govt. employees or businessman is providing the assistance willingly or unwillingly but under compulsion and therefore the arrested govt. officials should not be treated as law breakers. In this regard, we strongly appeal to the NIA to ponder with all seriousness and avoid misdemeanours while dealing with such issues. “The conduct of NIA merely on suspicion was uncalled for and beyond tolerance. Arresting of innocent Naga people by armed forces and putting under various sections of infamous laws is unacceptable whereby many were executed and tortured mercilessly in the past,” it stated. It appealed the NIA to stop investigation and drop cases against the government officials as demanded by the Confederation of All Nagaland Service Employees Association (CANSEA) and discontinue with the trial of those arrested persons.