Lamka, 2 September: The Zomi Council (ZC) headquarters, Information and Publicity Department, issued a press statement noting that “the reopening of the NH-2 serves the majoritarian Meitei community, not the marginalized.”
In the press statement, the ZC pointed out that “the proposed reopening of NH-2 (Dimapur–Imphal road) is not for us,” terming it a move designed solely to serve the majoritarian Meitei community, while the people of Churachandpur (Lamka) continue to suffer shortages, hunger, and unending sacrifices.
“In this context, it would be nothing short of betrayal for the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), or any other body, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that would not safeguard the interest of our people,” the Zomi Council stated, further asserting, “We cannot endorse such an idea of agreement as it would abandon the very community we represent.”
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The Zomi Council went on to inform that families here have queued endlessly for a cylinder of gas that never arrived, waited for meagre supplies of rice to feed their children, and carried the heavy burden of sacrifices day after day.
In spite of this, the ZC statement said, others reaped the benefits of their suffering.
However, the plain fact is that NH-2 remains beset with illegal taxation and extortion, with anti-social elements ruling the roost both inside Nagaland and along the entire stretch of the highway up to Imphal, the state capital of Manipur.
Unless and until these anti-social elements and gangs of licensed extortionists are rooted out, reopening the NH-2 would tantamount to promoting goondaism and robbery.
Since the closure of NH-2, significant benefits have percolated to the people of Churachandpur district because, when it was in operation, time and again 20 percent of the FCI items supplied for the people of Churachandpur were pilfered or siphoned off by valley-based anti-social elements.
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But this percentage of items—and in certain cases even more—has been saved while transporting via Mizoram, which has amply benefited the people of Churachandpur.
For reasons best known to all, the idea of free movement is neither desirable nor realistic.
Noting that since May 3, 2023, the ZC said, “Our people have endured relentless human rights violations—killings, arson, displacement, and unspeakable trauma,” and further asserted, “To speak of free movement without first giving redressal to the multiple atrocities inflicted on us is a deprivation of human rights to thousands of innocent victims.”
The ZC again said the call for ceasefire is a sign of misguidance and an attempt to influence people to toe the line of some vested-interest leaders, while also stating the fact of the violence by claiming they are not the aggressors.
It said, “We did not march into other homesteads but only defended ourselves. Villages were set on fire, but only to save their children from the flames.”
“To demand a ceasefire from the victims while ignoring the crimes of the aggressors and their anti-social collaborators is not neutrality but a glaring injustice.”
It warned the KZC to stop indulging in activities that do not serve the people, while reminding them that the so-called VIP treatment they enjoy is undue—an award for being puppets. Such indulgence is not leadership but betrayal.