People from all walks of life came together participating in the mass public walkathon movement called by the Eastern Naga Students Federation (ENSF), on the backdrop of ‘Frontier Nagaland’ statehood demand and in support of the 26 August 2022 resolution of the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) to abstain from participating in any state or central election process till its demand for a separate ‘Frontier Nagaland’ state is fulfilled.
The walkathon was held in all the administrative headquarters within the ambit of Eastern Nagaland that include six districts – Tuensang, Mon, Longleng, Noklak, Kiphire and Shamator. Federating units under ENSF submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister through the respective District Deputy Commissioners.
In the memorandum, the federating units under ENSF appealed to the Prime Minister to immediately and proactively look into the legitimate demand of the Eastern people for ‘Frontier Nagaland’.
Konyak Students Union President submitting memorandum addressed to the PM through DC Mon.
The Eastern people have alleged that the successive Nagaland state government has neglected the eastern region for the past 59 years since the attainment of statehood in the year 1963.
“The region has been deprived from basic necessities of life such as Education, Health services and Economy which is no doubt a direct threat to the security of the Nation,” the memorandum stated.
It reminded that ever since the inception of the colonial rule in India, the eastern most region had remained free from any colonial rule. The memorandum stated that it was only in 1948 that the seven tribes were merged under the banner of North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) known as Tuensang Frontier Division under the Ministry of External Affairs, and Nagaland became a full-fledged state on 1 December 1963 through the amalgamation of NEFA and Naga Hills district of Assam.
The walkathon was held in all the six administrative headquarters within the ambit of Eastern Nagaland.
The people of Eastern Nagaland have faced “ineffable discrimination” in the hands of the “biased and prejudice leaders” since time immemorial and that the understanding vouched between the two entities were never implemented in letter and in spirit, stated the memorandum.
“The 59th years of existence of the state, the eastern most regions still remains as one of the most neglected areas in every aspect of social and economic life and the jurisprudence of Article 371 A of the Constitution of India is highly challenged”.
The memorandum further stated that in the larger interest of the people of Eastern Nagaland and to “protect the rights of its people”, the Union(s) will remain constituent and steadfast in the pursuit of Frontier Nagaland demand till the aspiration is materialized.
