A public rally under the banner ‘Peace and Development’ was held at International Trade Centre (ITC) Dan in Pangsha village, Noklak on 15 September. With developmental activities being hindered through issues of conflict in the area, the rally was called to strengthen and promote peace in the trade centre between India and Myanmar and to make the exchange of goods feasible without boundaries and divisions.
Villagers from around the area attended the rally.
Speaking at the rally, the president of All Pangsha Students’ Union (APSU) said boundaries were made without concern for the people. The Trade Centre was laid opened in 1996 but unwanted firing incidents forced peaceful activities in the area to come to a standstill. Despite demands made to the Government to bring normalisation in the region, no action had been taken which has led the people to demand the chief minister to make the ITC functional again. The president stressed that children should be given education instead of bullets and called for the end of fears being created in the minds of children.
The former president of the Khiamniungan Tribal Council (KTC) L Ngon asserted that the laying of the boundary stone created division among the people who once lived as a family without boundaries. Now, the people hope for better road development, construction and connectivity which will not happen, he added.
The president of Khiamniungan Students’ Union (KSU) in his speech said, “Khiamniungans are not divided. We are not living in two countries; the two countries are living with us. Instead of deploying armies, give good teachers.”
International Trade Centre Dan is in Pangsha village, the last village of Noklak District where the Indo-Myanmar Border pillar 146 is located. The village is 36km away from District HQ Noklak. Through a land donated during the time of S C Jamir’s leadership as the chief minister of Nagaland, ITC Dan was inaugurated in 1996 by the government of Nagaland. The aim and vision of the pioneers was to bring positive outcome and development to both India and Myanmar. However, peaceful activities could only last for a short time. With incidences of firing in the area, trading activities came to a halt in 2015.
The current state of ITC Dan is one of abandonment. The buildings and marketing sheds carry marks of damage caused during the period of conflict.
The public rally on 15 September was organised with the purpose to bring back peace and to recreate unity among the people, giving them back the rights they deserve.
The rally organisers proposed that an Administrative HQ be created, Village Guards be inducted and a medical officer be posted, pointing out that not a single doctor has been entrusted in the area despite a primary health centre being located there.
