UNC against “politics of encroachment”

DIMAPUR, MAY 22: The United Naga Council has reiterated its condemnation of the “attack on Silent Tangkhul Naga village by a large number of well armed people from the neighbouring Meitei Saijang village on May 3.” A press note by the UNC termed it as an “act of terrorism.”

It added that the culprits and perpetrators who claimed the act and “justified it on the ground of dispute over ownership of land on which the burnt houses stood must be booked under the law of the land.” It also criticised the Manipur government’s move to prohibit entry into the “now declared disputed area” in Silent village and the consequent imposition of 144 CRPC in the area. The UNC stated that, “This is against the law of the land.”

The UNC endorsed the decision of the Aze Longphang, the apex organisation of Southern Tangkhul villages taken in its emergency General Body meeting on May 1 that “any encroachment on Silent foothills will be responded upon suitably.” It alleged that the “politics of encroachment by declaring part of Silent village as disputed land has been adopted with a communal agenda.”  The UNC asserted, “There cannot be any compromise on our rightful ownership of our land, be it in Silent foothills or elsewhere.”  It added that “all Nagas and tribals must be ever alert and vigilant against the sinister designs of communal forces that are out to grab our land through fraud or force.”