An organisation of senior citizens in Nagaland has slammed the State government for ostensibly failing to prevent the extremist National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) from encroaching upon a 202.02 sq. km national park.
The NSCN is better known as the NSCN (Isak-Muivah).
Members of the Senior Citizens’ Association Nagaland (SCAN) told journalists that a vast swathe of virgin forest has come under “complete control” of the NSCN (I-M).
SCAN spokesperson and former bureaucrat, K.K. Sema said the organisation filed a Right to Information application at the Governor’s secretariat following rumours in 2019 that the infrastructure of the State Forest Department, including the staff quarters, in the Intangki National Park, had been taken over by the NSCN (I-M).
The national park is in Nagaland’s Peren district.
The RTI application was redirected to the Chief Secretary on September 15, 2020, who then forwarded it to the Environment Forest and Climate Change Department three days later. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and head of Forest Force further redirected the RTI to the Chief Wildlife Warden on September 24, 2020.
“The Director of Intangki National Park furnished a vague reply on October 12, 2020. We could not follow it up due to the COVID-19 situation,” Mr Sema said.
The SCAN took up the matter again more than a month ago and in a meeting with the representatives on September 7, the Forest Department officials confirmed that the NSCN (I-M) had taken control of their establishment in Intangki, Mr Sema said.
The Forest Department officials also admitted that its staff gradually abandoned their duties in the park after continued threats and intimidations by the NSCN (I-M) cadres. Superiors allegedly took no action when the staff reported the matter.
The extremist group’s action, the SCAN said, makes it clear that it intends to rehabilitate its cadres in the occupied national park as and when a solution is arrived at. The NSCN (I-M) had signed the Framework Agreement with the Centre in August 2015, but the issue of a separate Naga flag and a Naga constitution has put the final settlement on hold.
Intangki was declared a reserved forest on May 7, 1923, and was declared a national park on March 3, 1993. The NSCN (I-M) is said to have started occupying the park before it signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997.
Officials of the Nagaland Forest Department could not be contacted while members of the NSCN (I-M)’s “Ministry of Information and Publicity” did not take calls.
Published - October 19, 2022 12:23 pm IST
