After Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) decided not to attend the special meeting of all tribal hohos at State Banquet Hall in Kohima on May 11, the Zeliang People’s Organisation (ZPO) Nagaland, the apex tribal organisation of Zeliang tribe also announced to skip the meeting but for a different reason.
The Political Affairs Committee of Nagaland convened the meeting to discuss issues concerning the ongoing peace talks and the women reservation policies in urban local bodies among others.
In a press communiqué, the ZPO said the Home Department: Political Branch invited a different organisation to the meeting to represent the recognised Zeliang tribe of Peren district.
The ZPO Nagaland has also sought an immediate clarification from the Nagaland Government for extending invitation to a different organisation to represent the recognized Zeliang tribe of Peren district other than the ZPO Nagaland.
The organisation said it will not be party to any decision or resolution so adopted in the meeting which may later be “detrimental and jeopardizing the future.”
In a letter to Nagaland Chief Secretary, the ZPO Nagaland reminded that the state government has not granted recognition to any such tribes as Zeliangrong in Nagaland except Zeliang.
The chief secretary, therefore, is now solely answerable to the issue that has led to challenging the legitimate and inherent rights of our people as well as other indigenous tribes of Nagaland, it said and demanded immediate clarification.
The NPF through its legislature party member and MLA Imkong L Imchen on May 8 conveyed its decision not to attend the meeting, saying it was not routed through the appropriate authority that is the Speaker and also because no formal intimation was communicated to the leader of Opposition.