NORTH EAST
|
ACCESS NORTH EAST |
| Headlines Vol. 3 Issue No. 19 | February 1 -15, 2007 |
Nagaland peace process a farce: Konyak body Describing the peace process in Nagaland as ‘a farce’, an apex tribal council has alleged that the Centre is only encouraging criminals to go in for killings through it. Condemning the recent killing of two ‘innocent’ Konyak youths by the NSCN-IM at Kohima, Konyak Union, the apex council of the Konyak Naga tribe, held the Union and state governments responsible for the present state of affairs in Nagaland where civilians were being killed ‘under the nose of the authorities’.At a meeting recently at Mon, which is dominated by the Konyaks, leaders questioned the objectives of the peace process. The meeting was attended by representatives of various Konyak groups and MLAs of the tribe. In a statement, the Konyak Union alleged that when top leaders of the NSCN-IM visited Nagaland in 2004, two innocent Konyak students were killed at Mon. Again on January 13 this year, two more Konyak youths were killed at Kohima while NSCN -IM chairman Isak Chishi Swu held a fast and prayers for reconciliation and forgiveness at its headquarters at Hebron. The meeting at Mon came down heavily on the state government for its ‘ineffectiveness’ in preventing the killing of Konyaks, the largest tribe in Nagaland. Though Konyak organisations and the NSCN-K insisted that the two youths killed on January 13 were not connected to any underground group and worked as mechanics in a garage at Kohima, the NSCN-IM claimed in a statement they were NSCN-K activists and were involved in the killing of an NSCN-IM ‘captain’ in Kohima recently. The apex Naga students body, Naga Students Federation (NSF), has expressed concern at the spate of killings and called upon leaders of underground groups to understand and respond to the cries of the people. NSF, in a statement, said the killing spree fuelled by tribalism ruined the image of the political struggle for which many Nagas had sacrificed their lives. It sought an immediate halt to senseless hostility among Nagas. NSCN-IM chairman Swu, who is the ‘yarabu’ (president) of the underground government, reiterated his recent ‘proclamation’ on truth, forgiveness and reconciliation, but alerted members of the ‘Naga Army’ to be cautious so that their adversaries could not exploit the situation because of this gesture. Swu, now at camp Hebron, issued the proclamation after a three-day fast and prayer session on January 13, saying the groups and individuals who had committed ‘serious political mistakes’ should seek forgiveness from the Naga people.
|
Your Visit No
Since April 20, 2000