Demand for separate state in eastern Nagaland gains momentum ahead of polls
Kohima (PTI): The clamour for a separate state in eastern Nagaland has gained momentum ahead of the assembly polls due early next year, with 20 MLAs from the region extending support to a call not to take part in any election until the demand was met.
Eastern Nagaland comprises six districts -- Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak and Shamator which are inhabited by seven tribes of Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir and Yimkhiung.
Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO), an influential body in the region, held a joint consultative meeting with politicians, seven tribal bodies and other organisations from the region on August 26 in Dimapur, where they resolved not to take part in any election until their demand for a separate state of 'Frontier Nagaland' was met.
The assembly election to the 60-member House in Nagaland is due in February next year, while the Supreme Court has also directed the state government to conduct polls to all urban local bodies by January as those are due for more than 12 years.
"The 20 MLAs from the region cannot go against the will of the people. The statehood agitation is a people's movement and we are all with them," C L John, the Eastern Nagaland Legislators' Union secretary and advisor for Land Resources, told PTI.
The ENPO has submitted representations and memoranda to the Centre on several occasions since the commencement of the movement in 2010, the NPF legislator said.
John said that people are angered as the Centre is not replying either in affirmative or negative.
He said the issue was discussed in the assembly in 2012 and a representation was forwarded to the Centre.
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Conspiracy afoot to 'tarnish' image of Dharmasthala: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Aug 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said there was a “conspiracy” to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala.
His comments come amid an ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into serious allegations of mass burials in the revered temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.
“A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant,” he said.
Noting that some Congress MLAs have called for action against those involved in the slander campaign at the legislature party meeting, he said, “ I have told them that action must be taken against those who are indulging in a slander campaign. The CM has also said that action must be taken against such people.”
“I have information on this case. Religious feelings should not be hurt in any manner. Culprits must be punished,” he told reporters, according to a release from his office.
Responding to a question, Shivakumar said the Congress party will not allow the image of any religious place to be tarnished.
“We see everyone equally when it comes to religion,” he added.
The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing claims of mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
The complainant, a former sanitation worker whose identity has not been revealed, alleged that between 1995 and 2014 he was forced to handle bodies—including women and minors—and that some showed signs of sexual assault. He has given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been conducting exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.
