GUWAHATI, June 15: Global Naga Forum, a public platform comprising Nagas living across the world, has requested the Assam government to safeguard the historical and political rights of the Rengma Nagas people living in the state.
In a letter to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, GNF convener, Chuba Ozukum and co-convener, Rosemary Dzuvichu drew the attention of the state government towards the “plight” of the Rengma Nagas living in Assam.
“The contemporary history of the Rengma Nagas in Assam has accordingly been characterised by their inequitable and unjust treatment by colonial powers and by circumstances prevalent in the post-colonial jostles for territory and autonomy by various ethnic groups. Despite all this, the Rengma Nagas have consistently sought to assert their historical and political rights over their ancestral lands in Assam,” the GNF letter read.
“The GNF is happy to know that your government, with the recognition of the central Indian government, is actively pursuing conflict resolution with ethnic groups in Karbi Anglong through the creation of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC). We believe that this will have a positive impact on bringing much-needed peace in our region,” the letter to the chief minister read.
“Nevertheless, even as you work with the KAATC, we plead with you to take heed of the history of the Rengma Nagas in Assam. Our fervent hope is that the past sidelining of the historical and political rights of the Rengmas stays in the past, not to be repeated in the present and future,” the GNF stated.
“Rengma Nagas in Assam are peace-loving citizens and have not pursued conflict with other ethnic groups under the so-called Karbi Anglong areas,” it stated.
The GNF representatives further pointed out that the Rengma Nagas in Assam were dependent on the outcome of the ongoing Centre-Naga political dialogue “for some way forward in their own journey towards greater autonomy, whether they are integrated with other Naga-inhabited areas under one administrative roof, or through an Autonomous Territorial council for Nagas in Assam.”
