Nagalim: NSDZ Project Accused Of Threatening Naga Culture
The Kohima Lotha Hoho (KLH) stated in a press note that the proposed Nagaland Special Development Zones (NSDZ) “undermines Naga customary practices and values of life in relation to their habitation, ownership of land and its resources and their inalienable co-existence with their resources”, threatening Nagalim ancestral heritage and prosperity.
Below is an article published by Morung Express:
KLH informed that it conducted meetings on the NSDZ and stated that the proposed development will not only deprive Nagas of their land and resources but “also is an insult to the egalitarian Naga society and the principles of democracy.”
It added that “taking their land for permanent settlement to non-Nagas from across the sub-continent or the world as proposed in the NSDZ is an invasion of their homeland and deprivation of human rights.” Terming the NSDZ as a “negation to article 371(A),” the KLH stated that any development in Nagaland “should be an opportunity for Naga educated unemployed and entrepreneurs and not for non-Nagas.”
The KLH reminded that the NLA is not mandated to legislate “anti-people laws but to safeguard the Naga interests.” It cited the Ladaigarh Government Primary school in Longleng, which it stated “is well within Nagaland, now occupied by Assam Police.” It further cited the Changpang oil field, inaugurated in 1973, “now taken by Assam and renamed as Borhola.”
Before initiation of any development programmes in the border areas, the KLH demanded “immediate revocation” of the 1972 border agreement, which it termed as a “total sell out of Nagas’ land to Assam.” It further called for “immediate restoration of the ancestral land.”
The KLH further extended its support to all Naga organizations and affected landowners to oppose the proposed NSDZ. It asserted that the Hoho “will not allow its implementation in the Lotha homeland until the demand for the restoration of land to the rightful owners forcefully occupied by Assam is met.
