The Central Nagaland Students’ Association (CNSA) and the Dimapur District Citizens’ Forum (DDCF) on Tuesday opposed an appeal by two organisations to send the returnees to their respective districts instead of quarantining in Kohima.
The Kohima Village Council (KVC) and Angamimiapfü Mechü Krotho (AMK) have appealed to the authorities that all the stranded people of Nagaland returning from various states be sent to their respective districts instead of quarantining them in Kohima.
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The CNSA, the apex body of three student organisations of Ao, Sumi and Lotha tribes, said any infrastructure built by the state government cannot be hijacked by any individual or groups.
The CNSA in a statement said Dimapur and Kohima, which have better infrastructures and facilities, should not object to using of these facilities by “our own brothers and sisters”.
Expressing shock at the statements of the KVC and AMK, the DDCF said it is uncalled for during this time of pandemic crisis when all the developmental activities of the state are concentrated in the state capital of Kohima.
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What is the use of setting up the BSL-3 lab in the state capital, if the people from other districts are to be restricted from staying in Kohima, the Forum asked.
CNSA said the Naga people have been grateful to the people of Kohima for generously donating the land for the state capital.
It also said the Naga people at the same time have been tolerant to the excesses committed by a few unscrupulous individuals and groups subjugating all other Nagas in different forms.
Opposition to the use of common infrastructure by the Naga people in this precarious situation raises a big question for every sensible person to ponder upon, it said.
The Association said the Naga people, of late, have been silently observing how a few individuals and groups have been dictating and ruling the state through influence and coercion on all policy matters and governance of the state.
It said if the burden is too heavy on any community or group the state government should equally divide the developments and share the state budget equally among all districts.
The Association also demanded mini secretariat for all district headquarters and decentralisation of the administrative and financial powers to each district immediately.
It urged all right-thinking individuals and leaders to support its move for the safety and security of all Naga citizens as equal members of the Naga family.
It said having a capital and investing everything in a single basket is providing to be detrimental for a just society.
The DDCF said even after being the entry point for all the stranded people and housing the majority of the returnees in its quarantine centres and without any functional virology laboratory, the denizen of Dimapur never complained.
They have warmly welcomed “our stranded brothers and sisters” back home.
It hoped that all the other districts too would do the same.