Nagaland: ANATG to begin indefinite hunger strike from today

All Nagaland Ad-hoc Teachers’ Group (ANATG) 2015 batch on Monday announced its decision to resort to an indefinite hunger strike from February 10, as its agitation entered the fifth day without any positive response from the state government.
Speaking to the media persons, ANATG core committee member Zuchanbemo Ezung said the fifth day of agitation concluded without any fruitful outcome from the government.
Ezung said teachers held a peaceful protest at NSF Solidarity Park on Sunday and dispersed in the evening after unanimously deciding to intensify the agitation through a hunger strike.
He, however, clarified that the decision was not taken by the core committee alone, adding it was a collective and unanimous decision of the entire ANATG 2015 batch. He said the hunger strike would be held outside NSF Solidarity Park, near NSF gate.
Ezung expressed gratitude to All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association (ANSTA) for extending support to the agitating teachers.
Meanwhile, ANSTA, in a letter addressed to the commissioner and secretary school education, appealed for immediate resolution of the long-pending issue of regularisation of ad-hoc teachers under ANATG.
Expressing concern over the continued delay in resolving the issue, the association said despite repeated assurances, the government’s response had remained largely indecisive, resulting in prolonged uncertainty and distress among the affected teachers.
It further pointed out that many ad-hoc teachers under ANATG have served the school education department for well over a decade, discharging their duties with sincerity and commitment under difficult conditions, often without adequate service security or financial stability.
ANSTA stated that constitution of High Powered Committee (HPC) following earlier agitations had raised genuine hope of a fair and transparent resolution, but the absence of concrete outcomes even after considerable time had led to growing frustration and erosion of confidence among the teachers.
The association said the present situation was not due to impatience or unreasonable demands from the teachers, but a direct consequence of the government’s lack of visible sincerity and urgency in addressing a long-recognised and well-documented issue. It added that continued delay had adversely affected teacher morale and the academic environment in government schools.
ANSTA said it could not remain a silent spectator while a significant section of the teaching community was being pushed into repeated agitations over an issue already acknowledged by the government as legitimate. It observed that such situations were avoidable and did not serve the interests of students, teachers or the administration.
In this regard, ANSTA urged the government to take immediate and decisive steps to regularise ANATG members without further delay.
The association reaffirmed its commitment to constructive dialogue and cooperation with the government. It expressed hope that the matter would be addressed with the seriousness and empathy it deserved.
ANATG 2015 batch has been agitating since February 4 outside the Secretariat, demanding regularisation of their services.
Meanwhile, members of ANATG voiced unhappiness over a directive issued by the deputy commissioner Kohima, which allowed the hunger strike only between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The members said that a hunger strike was a democratic form of protest and that such restrictions were uncalled for. One member cited that no such restrictions were imposed during similar hunger strikes held by the group in the past.
He said curtailing a democratic form of protest amounted to an infringement of the rights of the protestors.
Citing India’s long history of hunger strikes as a moral and non-violent form of dissent, the member said that Mahatma Gandhi used fasting as a political tool, giving it strong symbolic legitimacy even today. Because of this legacy, the member said hunger strikes were widely seen as an expression of democratic protest, especially when other channels fail.
He further pointed out that under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, peaceful protest — including symbolic acts such as fasting — is protected in principle.
The group informed that it had written to DC Kohima on Monday, stating that it would be intensifying its protest at Solidarity Park.