CCYO lifts hunting prohibition in Centre Chakhesang area after Government fails to meet demands
The Centre Chakhesang Youth Organisation (CCYO) has announced the commencement of the first phase of a “Non-Cooperation Movement” against the Forest, Environment & Climate Change Department following the expiry of its seven-day ultimatum to the Chief Minister of Nagaland over the detention of Vezhoto Hesuh.
In a statement issued on Monday, the CCYO said that in view of the Government’s “failure to fulfil our demands in toto”, the organisation would begin the movement from the intervening midnight of October 5 and 6 throughout the Centre Chakhesang area.
The organisation declared that from the said date, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 would be “treated as unacceptable and non-operative” within the Centre Chakhesang area. It consequently announced that the “existing prohibition on hunting is lifted” within the area with effect from the same date.
The CCYO also said that entry of outsiders, including personnel of any government agencies, into Centre Chakhesang villages would continue to remain prohibited until further notice. “Trespassers will be at their own risk,” it stated.
The organisation further said its prohibition on photography and videography within the CCYO jurisdiction would continue to remain strictly in force.
The CCYO said it had “exhausted all reasonable avenues of waiting for an appropriate response from the Government” and that despite the seriousness of the issues raised, its demands had not been satisfactorily addressed.
The organisation said it was “compelled to take this decisive step in defence of the rights, dignity, customs and traditional practices of the people”.
Invoking Article 371A of the Constitution, the CCYO said the provision recognises and provides special constitutional protection to the “distinctive identity, customary laws, social practices, traditional institutions and land and its resources of the Naga people”.
“Article 371A is not merely a historical provision; it represents a solemn constitutional recognition of the unique relationship of the Naga people with their customary institutions, traditions, land and natural resources,” the organisation said.
The CCYO further stated that Naga communities had for generations lived in close relationship with forests, land and wildlife, and argued that traditional practices and customary institutions “cannot simply be disregarded in the name of departmental enforcement”.
It said it would “no longer accept a situation where customary practices of the people are subjected to selective or arbitrary departmental action” while the constitutional safeguards under Article 371A were, in its view, not adequately recognised.
The organisation reiterated that its stand arose from the continued failure of the Government to address the grievances surrounding the detention of Hesuh, as well as what it described as the broader issue of the treatment of Naga customary practices by the Forest Department.
The statement was issued by CCYO president Dode Nakro.
