MHA to study demand for a separate ‘Frontier Nagaland’ State by ENPO

To study the demand of Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) for a separate ‘Frontier Nagaland’ State, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a three-member committee, which will arrive in eastern Nagaland on December 16. As per reports, the committee headed by Advisor, Northeast, MHA, AK Mishra will be in eastern Nagaland along with other members of the committee including Dr Mandeep Singh, Joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau and AK Dhayani, Director of the Northeast division, MHA.

Eastern Nagaland comprises of six districts — Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak, and Shamator – which are inhabited by seven tribes of Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir, and Yimkhiung. The demand for a separate State has been raised since 2010 asking the Centre to carve out a separate state, and it has recently gained momentum after a delegation of the ENPO on December 6 met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to apprise him of their demands.

The ENPO has further threatened to boycott the Assembly polls in Nagaland next year if their demand for a separate State is not considered. Meanwhile, the committee is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with the ENPO and its talk team, signatories of the memorandum submitted to the Centre, state government officials, seven tribal bodies, Eastern Nagaland Women’s Organisation, Eastern Nagaland Students Federation, village chiefs and senior citizens, according to a press release on Monday. The ENPO has called an urgent meeting of the central executive committee on December 19 after the central committee’s visit.