'Manipur Nagas want to merge with Nagaland'

Naga National Party said that a survey it conducted in hill districts of Manipur showed that the Naga people in the districts would prefer the districts to merge with Nagaland.

In a move that could create serious repercussions among Manipuri organisations, the Naga National Party (NNP) has said that a two-month survey that it conducted in the hill districts of Manipur had shown that the Naga people in the districts would prefer the districts to merge with Nagaland.

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The NNP said that the study had been conducted "extensively" in the Naga areas of the hill districts and that it had also held meetings in various district headquarters in the course of the survey. Stating 12 reasons for the Nagas wanting to merge their areas with the Nagaland state, NNP said that successive Manipur governments had "exploited the Nagas politically, economically, religion-wise and in terms of development". There were no signs of development in areas such as Poi, Chatric and Challou in the Ukhrul district, among others, it said.

"Opposition to the Indo-Naga ceasefire extension and Naga integration by the Manipur government without considering the aspirations and desires of the Nagas are also some of the reasons why Nagas did not want to live in Manipur any longer," the NNP said. The Manipur chief minister's statement "asking Nagas to leave Manipur without their land" was an insult to the community, the NNP said.

Other reasons for Manipuri Nagas wanting to merge with Nagaland, said the NNP, included the delimitation issue and the introduction of Meetei Mayek in the state.

(By arrangement with Newsfile)