Itanagar: Voices against the alleged atrocities and abductions carried out by the NSCN (K-YA) insurgents continues to grow stronger each passing day in Arunachal Pradesh’s Longding district as over 130 public leaders declared their support to the security forces to tackle and end the menace of insurgents operating in the region on Saturday.
The unanimous decision from the gaon buras, chieftains and PRI leaders came following a security meeting organized by the Longding battalion of Assam Rifles at the circuit house of the district headquarters, officials said.
The meeting, among others, discussed matters related to the spree of kidnappings/detentions of locals and village authorities by the Khaplang-Yung Aung faction of the NSCN and the ways and means to stop the “kidnapping mela”, a term now used by the locals to rationalize the situation.
Addressing the meeting which was also attended by the officers from the district administration and police, the Assam Rifles commandant said that his battalion would make an all-out effort to deny space to insurgent groups in the district.
Appreciating the citizens of Longding and the Wancho community in particular for publicly voicing their resentment against the insurgents, the AR commandant, at the same time also called for the proactive involvement and cooperation of the village authorities urged all to take a united stand against insurgency.
Encourage the cadres of your respective villages to shun the path of violence and surrender before the security forces and police, he told the village heads.
The village authorities on their part pledged that they would no longer concede to the illegal demands of ransom by the insurgents on account of surrender and defections.
They also unanimously decided not to allow any fresh recruitment from their respective villages to any underground organizations in the future.
Also, the entire 48 families of the active insurgents assured that they would make sincere efforts to convince their wards to surrender and join the mainstream.
The Arunachal Pradesh government has earmarked a budget of Rs 5 crore under its ‘surrender policy’ through which all returnees will be taken care of and helped re-join the mainstream.
It may be mentioned here that a massive rally was taken out in the Tirap, Changlang and Longding (TCL) districts on May 30 against the alleged atrocities and abductions carried out by NSCN (K-YA) in the region.
The rally, spearheaded by Wancho Council, the apex body of the Wancho community, was supported by several student and community based organizations of the TCL belt.
According to locals, several prominent public figures have been abducted from the Pumao, Kamhua Noknu, Longphong and Luaksim villages of Longding district in the past two months.
Most of the abductees belong to the Wancho community.
Hubo Wangnaw, the gram panchayat member of Pumao village was allegedly kidnapped by the NSCN (K-YA) a week ago while Tingpho Lukham, the gaon bura (village chief) of Chattong village was abducted on May 27.
While Likham was released on May 30, the whereabouts of Wangnaw still remains a mystery.
Locals believe that he may have been taken across the border to Myanmar.
India and Myanmar share a 1,643 km unfenced border along Arunachal Pradesh.
