Our Correspondent
Kohima, Oct. 18 (EMN): The Senior Citizens’ Association Nagaland (SCAN) on Tuesday alleged that the Intangki National Park was under siege by the NSCN (IM), who had taken control of the Forest department’s establishment thereat.
This was stated during a press conference held at Hotel Ura in Kohima, addressed by Dr. Khanlo Magh, President of SCAN; KK Sema, spokesperson of SCAN with Kuolachalie Seyie, advisor of SCAN, in the presence of SCAN officials -- Dr. R Rose, Gen Secy. SCAN; Dr. P Khala vice-president SCAN; C Pankathang Lotha, Joint Secy. SCAN; and S P Francis, treasurer of SCAN.
Dr. Magh said the association is apolitical and had a number of discussions before subsequently filing a Right to Information (RTI) in regard to the issue.
Sema maintained that SCAN took up action in 2019 as it had came across ‘rumours’ that the supervisory and managerial establishment of the Forest department at Intangki National Park including the staff quarters had been taken over by NSCN (IM).
He stated that SCAN on September 14, 2020, filed an RTI not directly to the Forest dept. as it was ‘skeptical that it would not furnish an honest answer’. They instead filed it to the Public Information Officer (PIO); Interlocutor and Governor’s Secretariat; Raj Bhavan; Govt. of Nagaland, Kohima with the hope that it would influence the concerned department to provide an honest response to the questions raised in the RTI.
The RTI was redirected to the chief secretary of Nagaland on September 15, 2020 who further forwarded the same to the PIO, EF & CC Dept. on September 18, 2020; which was further redirected to the Chief Wildlife Warden, Nagaland Dimapur on Sep. 24, 2020.
Sema said the response of the director, Intangki National Park, furnished on October 12, 2020 was a “vague evasive reply” to the RTI questionnaires as the responses were “indifferent and uncommitted without any definitive confirmation”.
He asserted that SCAN could not take the matter forward at an earlier date due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the ensuing period including slowdown of functional continuity due to change of guard in the association.
He said the chief information commissioner took the initiative and brought the official representatives of the Forest Dept. and the representatives of SCAN together for a face-to-face hearing on September 7, 2022 to review the unresolved pending issue, adding that the answers during the hearing were different.
The association alleged that the department had provided ambiguous statements.
The department said by early 1993-94, the Forest personnel and their families posted at Intangki were ‘all being harrassed by the NSCN (IM) cadres which was a consistent thing’, and the personnel were unable to bear the pressure and they had all left the place of posting out of fear, the association claimed.
The matter was reported to the “higher up” but there was neither any direct order from the state government nor action to make the NSCN (IM) stop the “threat exercises”.
SCAN also sought the government’s response on whether the staff on duty had been issued a notice to vacate their quarters, to which the director of Intangki National Park had replied:“No such vacation order to the Intangki Reserved Forest staff was received.”
However, in the course of being further questioned in the CIC- Court as to whether the staff quarters of the Forest Dept. were now being occupied by the NSCN (IM), the Forest Dept. confirmed this to be a fact, the association claimed.
“It is now therefore an established and confirmed fact that NSCN (IM) has taken over the full control of the Forest Dept.’s Intangki establishment,” it said.
“We are aware that the NSCN (IM) in their competency clauses may not have sought for occupation of Intangki Reserve Forest per say but has been made more than clear that their intention is to take over Intangki so that the Pan-Naga Hoho or whatever rehabilitation after the solution will all be carried out through the Intangki Reserve Forest area (sic),” Sema said.
He further stated that the officials who are posted as forest officers have to obtain permission from the NSCN (IM) to carry out their duties.
‘For the people of Nagaland state, this is not a time for complacency. We need to clearly understand that the final solution must be fair and square for all Nagas no matter where they are. In the absence of sovereignty and integration let our brothers in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh get their share of privileges for their self-dependence through their Autonomous Regional Territorial Council. The Naga people of Nagaland will be happy for them but in the same breath, it needs to be said loud and clear that the people of Nagaland must also have the same uncontaminated privileges without the interference of other brothers from beyond the present boundary of Nagaland. The state of Nagaland cannot whimsically be converted into make-believe Naga Nation without integration and sovereignty, for all Nagas from everywhere to share equal rights with the Nagas of Nagaland while enjoying their exclusive privileges in their own state(s) at the same time in the absence of sovereignty and integration’, SCAN stated.
It asked how much reserves might have been destroyed due to series of logging, as the department had lost supervisory control over Intangki forest.
Further, SCAN called upon the Nagas of Nagaland not to remain silent when the future is threatened, asserting that the Intangki National Park shall have to be protected, reserved and preserved at all cost to prevent climate change and ecological imbalances.