Escalating its campaign for the implementation of the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA), the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) has announced simultaneous public rallies and a dawn-to-dusk shutdown across Eastern Nagaland on July 10, reaffirming its commitment to the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed with the Centre and the Nagaland government earlier this year.
The coordinated mobilisation, which will be held at all district headquarters in Eastern Nagaland, aims to press both the central and state governments to facilitate the implementation of the FNTA “without further delay,” according to a circular issued by the ENPO Central Executive Council (CEC).
The organisation said each rally would comprise a brief public program, a peaceful procession and the submission of a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India through the respective Deputy Commissioners.
The ENPO also called for a peaceful dawn-to-dusk shutdown across Eastern Nagaland on the day of the rallies and appealed for mass participation from the public.
The program was originally scheduled for July 7 but has been postponed to July 10 in view of the Tuluni festival celebrated by the Sumi community. To ensure coordinated implementation, the ENPO directed the constitution of district-level joint organising committees comprising the apex organisation and the respective Tribal Councils. These committees will oversee preparations, logistics and the conduct of the rallies.
The organisation also announced a pre-rally deliberation meeting on July 7 in Dimapur, asking each Tribal Council to nominate two representatives. It said another key agenda of the meeting would be the signing of an undertaking by the Memorandum of Agreement signatories and ENPO executives reaffirming their commitment to the agreement.
The renewed mobilisation comes amid continuing concerns raised by the ENPO over the implementation of the February 5 tripartite Memorandum of Agreement signed between the Government of India, the Government of Nagaland and the ENPO for the creation of the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority.
On May 30, the organisation accused the state government of attempting to dilute key provisions of the agreement by deviating from commitments made during negotiations. It maintained that the FNTA was envisaged as a unique self-governing territorial authority with legislative, executive and financial autonomy within Nagaland and urged the government to uphold the agreement in both letter and spirit.
The ENPO has also reiterated its demand that the state government table and pass the FNTA Bill in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly without diluting any provision of the signed Memorandum of Agreement, maintaining that the arrangement is intended to address the long-standing developmental and governance concerns of Eastern Nagaland.
