Blockade on Nagaland ‘temporarily lifted’

KA bodies appeal Nagaland govt. to fulfill assurances
Economic blockade against Nagaland has been temporarily withdrawn from Friday morning (7 a.m.) based on the assurances given to deputy commissioner (DC) and superintendent of police (SP) Karbi Anglong by their Dimapur counterpart during the meeting held on February 27.
Talking to Nagaland Post over phone, Karbi Students’ Association (KSA) president Bidya Sing Teron said the decision was made based on the “assurances given by DC and SP Dimapur that they would cooperate and support the DC and SP Karbi Anglong to stop all encroachment along border areas of Karbi Anglong.”
He further said “the DC and SP Dimapur had also assured to take action against those encroachers.”
He said that the agitating organizations were appraised of the assurances made by DC and SP Dimapur in a meeting held with Karbi Anglong district administration.
The economic blockade on Nagaland was imposed by several youth and civil organizations from February 25, in order to pressurize the Nagaland government to take effective steps against the alleged encroachment on Assam’s land by people from Nagaland side.
The decision to impose the blockade was announced Sunday by Karbi Students Youth Council, Karbi Students’ Association, All Dimasa Students’ Union, Karbi Anglong Gurkha Students’ Union, Karbi Unemployed Youth Association and others.
However, “if the Nagaland administration does not take any action as per its assurance, then road blockade on NH 36 & 39 may have to be re-imposed on Nagaland in the strongest manner”, presidents of Karbi Students’ Association (KSA), Bidya Teron  and All Dimasa Students Union (ADSU), Vivek Langthasa in a separate press release stated.
Asserting that “the Karbis always want to have brotherhood relationship with our neighbours”, Teron appealed to all Nagaland based civil organizations to take up the issue and “convince the encroachers to desist from unlawful act so that our old aged relationship can persist”.
“The students and civil bodies are of the view that brotherly relationship between the people of Karbi Anglong, Assam and the people of Nagaland should be maintained and for that we must respect inter-state boundary”, KSA and ADSU said.
Concerned for the “trouble and sufferings that the people of Nagaland had to face during blockade”, KSA and ADSU said “we feel it our responsibility to show goodwill gesture to the people of Nagaland after giving assurance for needful action from district administration of Dimapur”.
On February 27, a coordination meeting was held between Dimapur and Karbi Anglong district administration along with police at Bokajan to discuss on the prevailing situation.
It maybe mentioned that the agitating organizations  in Karbi Anglong had also alleged that a section of people from Nagaland have encroached on a large portion of land inside Dhansiri Reserve Forest area which they claim was “well inside Assam’s border line”.
They stated that the continuous encroachment on Karbi Anglong land by people from Nagaland was “unacceptable and unjustifiable.”
They also alleged that a large track of forest land has been intruded by cutting jungles, constructing road, houses and even challenging the Assam police.
“This act has led us to believe that there is a patronage from Govt. of Nagaland in the whole encroachment activities”, the organizations stated.
They have appealed the Nagaland government and civil bodies to persuade the people to end the alleged encroachment. Despite other appeals to the chief minister of Assam and chief executive member of Karbi Anglong, these organizations said that  they too have failed to stop the encroachment.