The Confederation of Nagaland Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CNCCI) has expressed serious concern over a recent press release issued by the Federal Republic Government of Nagaland (FRGN), directing all shops across Nagaland to remain closed on Sundays and calling on non-Naga business establishments to shut down their operations altogether.
In a statement, the CNCCI said Nagaland must respect the sanctity of Sunday worship and remain mindful of church service hours, including services held on weekdays. However, it maintained that religious observance must be balanced with practical realities and should not be used to justify a blanket ban on Sunday trading.
The CNCCI pointed out that businesses operate on Sundays in the United States and other Christian-majority countries, depending on local laws and circumstances, despite Christianity having been introduced to the Naga people by American missionaries.
It said ensuring employees receive one day of rest each week should not be confused with imposing a blanket prohibition on Sunday business operations. Decisions on trading hours, it added, should be guided by genuine business considerations rather than emotional or moral policing.
The organisation demanded that the Government of Nagaland publicly clarify who governs the State—the elected State Government or the FRGN. If the directive has no lawful authority, the government must immediately investigate the matter and take stringent action in accordance with the law.
The CNCCI said it had consistently championed Naga businesses and encouraged entrepreneurship among Naga youth under its guiding principle, “Naga First”. While supporting and empowering Naga entrepreneurs, it said, the organisation recognised that hundreds of non-Naga business owners had already closed their establishments and relocated on their own.
However, the CNCCI asserted that promoting Naga entrepreneurship could not mean excluding other communities from lawful economic participation. It said it would continue to stand firmly for Naga enterprise while opposing coercion, discrimination and attempts to undermine the rights of legitimate businesses.
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Highlighting the growing reach of Naga entrepreneurs, the organisation said that over the past decade, Naga businesses had expanded beyond Nagaland, supplying goods and services across India and to international markets. Their achievements, it said, demonstrated that economic progress was driven by enterprise, innovation and wider commercial engagement rather than isolation.
The CNCCI warned that directives forcing businesses to close on ethnic grounds, even when presented as measures to protect Naga enterprise, could set Nagaland’s economy back by centuries. No economy, it said, could function in isolation.
Citing China’s economic transformation following the opening of its economy, the organisation said investment, technology, expertise, services and access to wider markets were essential for growth in today’s interconnected global economy.
It cautioned that directives compelling businesses to shut down on ethnic grounds could weaken investor confidence, create unnecessary communal tensions and seriously undermine Nagaland’s economic aspirations.
“Putting Naga interests first” was the future of Nagaland, the CNCCI stated, but it stressed that this must mean empowering Naga entrepreneurs rather than pushing the State towards economic isolation or allowing ethnic discrimination to threaten peace and prosperity.
The organisation also reminded the FRGN that the Naga public had mandated the Naga national movement to pursue the Naga political issue. It urged the organisation to remain focused on its core political objectives instead of diverting its resources and energy towards matters beyond its mandate.
Describing the directive as a serious and potentially threatening development, the CNCCI urged the State Government to immediately investigate what it termed an unauthorised diktat and initiate prompt legal action against those responsible.
It further demanded a public assurance from the government that it remained in charge of the State, along with a clear explanation of the directive’s legal status and the action taken in response.
While acknowledging that the ongoing festive season made it undesirable to inconvenience the public, the CNCCI warned that it would be compelled to take its own course of action if the government failed to respond promptly and decisively.
