Mokokchung, 3 July (MTNews): The Chungtia Medemchanger Putu Menden has excommunicated T Chalukumba from the village, who contested in the elections to the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly held earlier this year in February.
According to a public notification published by the Chungtia Medemchanger Putu Menden on a vernacular newspaper on 2 July, the decision to this effect was made by the Putu Menden at its meeting on 30 June. The Putu Menden is the supreme authority of a village in the traditional Ao Naga polity.
The Putu Menden charged the former candidate guilty of violating ‘sobaliba’ against Chungtia village for which he has been excommunicated for life. This means that his citizenship of the village has been invalidated. ‘Sobaliba’ is an untranslatable Ao Naga term which can be loosely inferred as a set of sacrosanct customary codes that ought to guide the conduct of a person in life.
The Chungtia Medemchanger Putu Menden further cautioned that any villager accommodating him in the village would be barred from community life (ki atang).
It may be mentioned here that T Chalukumba contested the election on a Janata Dal (United) ticket from the 28 Koridang seat.