Joint Tribal Hoho (JTH) Nagaland has also joined in the chorus against the home department’s office memorandum issued on July 7, to all Administrative Heads of Department (AHoDs) and Heads of Departments (HoDs) to provide information in a ‘self-declaration’ form, on whether any of the employees have their family members and relatives in the underground organizations.
JTH through its media cell has appealed on the state government to withdraw the OM since it came at a time when the Naga political groups (NPGs) were in talks with the Government of India. It said the OM had “varied in different context and that it was not “viable” at the present period unless settlement was arrived at.
JTH said while people were eagerly awaiting fulfillment of the commitment made by Nagaland Governor and Interlocutor R.N. Ravi, “to expedite and find an acceptable, lasting solution for the people of Nagaland,” he (Ravi) was instead, handling it differently by terming Naga political groups as “armed gangs”. Further, JTH opined that it may be due to this change that had led the Government of India to accordingly declare the whole state of Nagaland to be a disturbed area for a period of six months under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
JTH reminded the past when under the Act, the armed forces burnt down almost all villages, killed thousands, tortured many and raped women. It said the memory was still “fresh in our mind,” and therefore, demanded revocation of the Disturbed Act at the earliest. JTH also cited a newspaper report of 386 armed personnel in Nagaland tested positive for COVID-19 by making an appeal on the governor to “recall/withdraw armed forces” and to suspend “any sorts of army involvement in public domain until normalcy of COVID-19 is declared.”
Meanwhile, JTH also appealed to “all the National workers to restrain from any sorts of reciprocation in order to maintain peace and to protect the welfare of the people.”