Announces ‘Mission Heritage’ to safeguard ancestral land and rights
Mokokchung, May 20 (MTNews): The Ao Kaketshir Mungdang (AKM), the apex students’ organization of the Ao Nagas, announced today that it will be launching what it called “Mission Heritage” to safeguard and preserve their ancestral land and their rights over it. “The Ao Students’ Conference declares that we shall safeguard and preserve our ancestral land and rights at all costs and an appropriate action plan has been charted to pursue it under the banner Mission Heritage,” AKM announced today in a statement issued by its president Nungdokyanger Ao and general secretary Nekme Longkumer.
The “Mission Heritage” declaration came in the wake of the recent alleged cross-border incursions by Assam government agencies. It may be recalled that the AKM had earlier on May 10 issued a statement demanding the government of Assam to restore by May 12, 2022 the signboards that were removed by Assam Forest Guards at AKM Reserve Forest on May 7.
Leveling allegations against the government of Assam for the “problems at the Assam-Nagaland border, in its entirety,” the Ao Kaketshir Mungdang (AKM) today claimed that it has over the years in several occasions reiterated to the government of Nagaland about the same.
It went on to say that the recent incident that occurred at Aokum Village jurisdiction under Mokokchung district, Nagaland, on 7th of May 2022 where signboards of the Reserve Forest belonging Ao Students’ Conference (AM) were removed by Assam government agencies is a case in point.
“Earlier, on 13th February 2020, the Assam Forest Guards and the Assam Police personnel removed the signboards in the same AKM Reserve Forest but were restored by AKM only to be removed again on 7th May by the same party which was flashed in the media,” AKM explained.
AKM has claimed that it is unambiguously clear that the said Reserved Forest belongs to them and that they did not encroach upon anybody’s land. “Further, if any untoward incident unfolds, the Nagaland government shall be held responsible,” AKM declared.