DIMAPUR, JUL 25 (NPN): Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has urged the state government to put on hold or scrap the proposed oil and natural gas exploration in the “so-called” Disputed Area Belt (DAB), contending that the agreement was signed without the consent of the affected landowners and before resolving the Naga political issue.
NTC president C. Pankathung Lotha and general secretary C. Onen Walling said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Centre and the governments of Assam and Nagaland was executed without the endorsement of the indigenous landowners residing along the disputed areas. NTC claimed there was no “disturbed area belt” and alleged that it was made so at the instance of Assam government “just to grab our land and take the oil by force.”
It also criticised successive state governments for failing to reclaim what it described as ancestral Naga lands. NTC maintained that the oil and gas exploration exercise should be declared “null and void” or scrapped, arguing that the Naga landowners were not party to the MoU and their consent had not been obtained.
Further, NTC asserted that priority should first be given to resolving the long-pending “Indo-Naga” political issue, followed by official demarcation of state boundaries. Only after these issues are settled, NTC said, should oil and gas exploration be taken up.
Questioning the urgency of the proposed exploration, NTC said Nagas had lived for generations without revenue from oil and gas resources and argued that the state government should not rush into sharing resource revenues before resolving outstanding political and territorial issues. NTC appealed to the state government not to enter into political or economic agreements in the future without public consultation and support, stating that such accords should ultimately serve the interests of the Naga people.
Sunday, July 26, 2026