NNQF and CTAN condemn “betrayal” of Sao Chang College students

The Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF) and the Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN), in a statement, have condemned what they call the “appalling betrayal” of students at Sao Chang College, Tuensang, amid the controversial regularisation of 147 contractual assistant professors.

Calling it “a matter of deep shame,” the two groups accused certain educators of resorting to “deceit, coercion, and intimidation” to secure their absorption into government service. Under the guise of “mere procedural formalities,” student leaders were allegedly “misled and pressured into signing letters of support they neither fully understood nor truly consented to.” Students who resisted were “threatened with severe consequences,” an act NNQF and CTAN described as “an unconscionable abuse of power within a space meant for learning and growth.”

The organizations invoked pointed questions on the moral fabric of the teaching profession in Nagaland, asking, “Where is the diligence that an educator is sworn to uphold? Where lies the sincerity that ought to define a teacher’s calling? What has become of the honesty that forms the very foundation of the teaching profession?”

According to the joint statement, the emotional toll on students is profound. The young learners have been “stripped of their peace of mind, robbed of their academic focus, and burdened with fear and disillusionment,” it said, warning that the “scars” left by this episode “may take years to heal.”

Yet, the NNQF and CTAN see in the students’ resistance a glimmer of hope. “By courageously speaking the truth, the students of Sao Chang College have shattered the façade that sought to conceal a deeper rot,” the statement said, adding that their stand had “illuminated the murky and corrupt processes underlying the illegal regularisation of contractual assistant professors” — a move that “violates merit, disregards due process, and mocks the aspirations of thousands of deserving, qualified candidates.”

Far from viewing the scandal as an isolated case, the NNQF and CTAN framed it as symptomatic of a wider systemic decay. “This is not merely a college issue; this is a battle for the soul of our education system, for the future of our youth, and for the dignity of fair and honest governance,” they declared.

Issuing “a fervent call to every conscientious Naga citizen,” they warned, “If we remain silent in the face of such brazen illegality and moral decay, we become complicit in the erosion of our children’s futures and the collapse of the principles we hold dear.”

The two organizations demanded “an immediate, transparent, and independent investigation” into both “the coercion of students and the larger illegal absorption process,” and insisted that those responsible must be held accountable “not merely for administrative irregularities, but for the ethical and moral crimes they have committed against the students, the system, and the people of Nagaland.”

Pledging solidarity with the students of Sao Chang College, NNQF and CTAN vowed to stand “shoulder to shoulder, in this righteous fight for justice, for truth, and for the future of the Naga people.”

MT