Wrong for GoI to assume Nagas have no right over their lands and resources: Gen VS Atem

June 8, 2023 39 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 8

Gen (retired) VS Atem, Member of the NSCN (IM) Collective Leadership, said that it would be wrong on the part of the Government of India to assume that the Nagas have no legislative power over natural resources on Naga lands. Gen Atem made the comment in response to queries from media persons on the sideline of a programme commemorating the foundation day of Operation Salvage, a rehabilitation centre for substance abuse, run and managed by the NSCN (IM) at Heningkunglwa village, Peren district, on June 7.

He maintained that the Nagas will not compromise on the “sovereign rights,” which implies exclusive rights of the Nagas over natural resources, either above or below ground.

As opposed to the “sovereign rights”, he said that the Naga people are dancing to the tune of the Government of India. According to him, despite Article 371 (A), the Nagaland government has little say over land as can be inferred from the way the Nagaland government buckled under pressure when it made a move to exploit Nagaland’s petroleum resources. He contended that, contrary to notion of the Nagaland government, and by extension the people, having legislative power over land and its natural resource, he said, “When Nagaland government wanted (made a move) to legislate, they said, ‘No, you don’t have the right to legislate.’”

In the backdrop of the internal turmoil in Manipur, and the interrelated demand for separate administration by the Chin-Kuki-Mizo community, he maintained that any political development as a result should not affect the Nagas. He said that the Framework Agreement (FA) signed with the GoI lives and “We have been telling them (GoI) time and again, not even an inch of our land should be touched.”

On the status of the political talks with the GoI, he replied that the NSCN (IM) has nothing to say when the onus is on the GoI to work out the details according to the FA.