NH-29 villages to observe 6 hour ‘shutters down’ on June 11

Published on Jun 9, 2025

DIMAPUR — The National Highway Area Village Councils’ Forum, comprising 13 villages located along the four-lane stretch of National Highway 29, has announced a six-hour ‘shutters down’ protest on June 11 from 6 am to 12 noon.
The protest is being organised to express “resentment, anguish and unhappiness” over the unresolved May 23 incident at Unity village and other concerns related to ongoing factional activities in the state.
According to a statement issued by the forum on Monday, the protest comes in the wake of the “dastardly act” committed at Unity village, for which several perpetrators were reportedly named in the FIR filed by the Unity Village Council but are yet to be apprehended.
The forum alleged that “Ceasefire Ground Rules have been blatantly violated by almost all the factions which have entered into Ceasefire Agreements with the government of India on numerous occasions and the defaulters walk away with impunity and indulge in similar criminal activities without any fear of the law or of any repercussions.”
Further, designated Ceasefire Monitoring Offices have been converted into “safe havens for criminals who commit crimes and take refuge in these offices,” and the security forces or law enforcement agencies are “left hapless owing to defective restrictions contained in the CF Ground Rules which restrain them, the law enforcers, to enter these places and apprehend the culprits,” it stated.

The forum also raised concerns over the impact of factional activities on the general public, citing issues such as “illegal taxes on business establishments and traders, on village councils… abduction and torture of innocent civilians.”
It further criticised the “deafening silence” of the government of India over the Naga political issue, even though the peace talks were reportedly concluded on October 31, 2019.
As part of the protest, black flags will be displayed in front of all shops and business establishments along the NH-29 corridor. The forum has appealed to all “like-minded villages, business bodies and urban local bodies” across Nagaland to join the protest in solidarity.