Dimapur, August 11 (MTNews): The Western Sumi Hoho (WSH) has clarified on what it called the repeated allegations by Peren civil society organizations on the issue of boundary demarcation between Peren district and some Sumi villages which the state government has set to put them into the newly created Chumoukedima district (erstwhile Dimapur district).
“Calling Sumis as non- traditional land owners who are encroaching on the land belonging to Zeliangrongs is misleading, uncalled for and very unfortunate. If Sumis have migrated from Zunheboto district of Nagaland state and settled in the vast unsettled wild lands which once belonged to Mikirs and Kacharis, our Zeliangrong brothers must remember that majority of them settled in the present district of Peren are non- indigenous migrants who migrated from the neighbouring state of Manipur,” WSH said in a press note.
WSH said that the Intangki Reserve is now encroached by Beisumpuikam village which is inhabited by migrants of Manipur state who are claiming themselves as traditional landowners. “Other villages like Jalukie New, Jalukie Zandi, Jalukielo, Mhaikam are all non- indigenous settlers from Manipur state. The present Jalukie was formerly known as Panti or Halelu. It was renamed as Jalukie only after Nagaland received statehood in 1963 and Mikirs settled till up to the 1950s there. So the question of ancestral land as claimed by them does not arise at all,” it said.
“On the allegation of WSH turning down the September 2020 meeting for peaceful co-existence during a joint meeting held at Thahekhu Village on February 10, 2021, it was baseless and an unfounded allegation. Right after a few days of the meeting, many plantations at Khehoi village were cut down by miscreants from the Peren side. The WSH made continuous attempts to reach out to the Peren CSOs but no response was received from their side to settle the matter. Even after this incident of cutting down the plantations of neighbouring Sumi villages, such similar incidents and burning down of granaries and huts in the fields have happened several times,” WSH clarified.
On the indefinite bandh imposed on Kiyevi village, the WSH cautioned that it will not remain a mute spectator. “The WSH is ever ready to talk by sitting across the table and sorting out any misunderstanding instead of throwing wild allegations in the press which will only lead to more animosity and bitterness among the brothers,” it stated.