The Porbami Youth Organisation has strongly condemned the alleged detention and questioning of Vezhoto Hesuh by the Department of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Nagaland, in connection with photographs and videos posted on his personal Facebook page.
The organisation said the incident had caused “immense stress, anxiety and mental harassment” to Hesuh and his family, alleging that he was subjected to questioning before the circumstances surrounding the social media posts had been properly ascertained.
According to the youth body, one of the posts showed Hesuh affectionately offering a sweet to a monkey while he was in Assam, another showed him admiring a Great Barbet kept in a cage and traditionally reared by a person at Porba Village, while a photograph showed a Spotted Owlet perched on his shoulder.
The organisation said merely posting photographs or videos could not, by itself, justify what it termed arbitrary or disproportionate action unless the circumstances surrounding the acquisition, possession or keeping of the animals or birds were established. It called upon the department to specify the legal provision allegedly violated, the facts constituting the violation and the legal basis for the action taken.
The youth organisation also expressed concern over an allegation that Rs 1 lakh was demanded for Hesuh’s release, describing any such demand as a serious matter warranting an impartial inquiry. It urged the competent authorities to investigate the allegation and make the findings public.
The organisation further demanded the immediate return of the Great Barbet allegedly taken from Porba Village on September 14.
Download Nagaland Tribune app on Google Play
Defending the traditional practice of keeping and rearing the bird, the organisation said Great Barbets have historically been valued within the community for their presence, companionship and distinctive calls rather than for killing or consumption.
It said the bird’s morning call has traditionally signalled the beginning of the day’s agricultural activities, while its midday call served as a reminder for farmers to pause for rest and lunch and its evening call indicated the approaching end of the day’s work and the time to return home.
The organisation argued that the bird’s presence and call also provided companionship to elderly and sick people, children and others unable to accompany farmers to the fields, forming part of the community’s lived cultural environment.
It urged authorities to consider such longstanding social and customary practices in the context of Article 371A of the Constitution, while acknowledging the importance of wildlife conservation and biodiversity protection.
The organisation said its demand was neither for the destruction nor commercial exploitation of wildlife, asserting that the community had a longstanding interest in protecting the environment and biodiversity of its ancestral land.
It also highlighted the involvement of Porba youth and community organisations in biodiversity protection, claiming that the village youth organisation maintains a 24-hour community response and monitoring system to prevent illegal hunting and trapping, destructive fishing methods, indiscriminate collection of forest resources, forest fires, habitat destruction and other activities harmful to wildlife.
The organisation said these conservation efforts were undertaken voluntarily without government salaries or allowances. It alleged that, in contrast, some department officials had engaged in arbitrary detention, harassment, intimidation and unlawful monetary demands under the pretext of wildlife protection.
The Porbami Youth Organisation called for the immediate and unconditional release of Vezhoto Hesuh without any monetary demand and the immediate return of the Great Barbet seized from Porba Village.
