DIMAPUR, Feb 5 - Even as indefinite restrictions on opening of government offices and plying of government registered vehicles in Nagaland continue, normalcy is returning to the State slowly after a series of bandhs.
Two days after government offices and vehicles were vandalised and set on fire, the State capital Kohima saw educational institutions and banks opening and business activities kicking off on Saturday. Public transport which remained off the road during the bandhs also operated during the day.
However, prohibitory orders are still in force in some areas of the capital.
Angami Youth Organisation (AYO) volunteers locked the Civil Secretariat and several government directorate offices yesterday. Although the situation remained slightly tense, no untoward incident was reported. There was no bandh today. However, the restriction on government offices and movement of government-registered vehicles will continue from Monday, the AYO stated.
Dimapur too saw normal activities resuming since Saturday. The Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) further scaled down the restrictions enforced with regard to the ongoing bandh in Dimapur. The committee informed that all banking institutions will be allowed to open from Monday.
While asserting that the boycott of Nagaland State Government offices, officials and vehicles will continue, the JCC requested all business establishments in town to put up black flags as a mark of protest against the State Government and its actions.
It further demanded that the government should issue an official notification with regard to the nullifying of the Urban Local Body polls. While warning that the ongoing agitation would be intensified if the State Government does not step down, JCC convenor Supu Jamir said the action of the government is not in consonance with the concept of democracy and as a consequence the Chief Minister is liable to step down on moral grounds.
Meanwhile, Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) has vehemently condemned the statement of Chief Minister TR Zeliang for blaming the democratic protest of the tribal bodies and JCC that led to the death of two youths and causing injury to others during the police firing in Dimapur and Longleng.
The NTAC at a meeting on Saturday resolved to take the democratic struggle of the people of the State to its logical conclusion.
�If Chief Minister Zeliang has any sense of modesty and reason, he must understand that his accusation was a mockery of democratic principles and commonsense and calls for befitting punishment,� the NTAC stated. It said instead of listening to the people�s voice, Zeliang rather chose to justify that he had the support of 42 MLAs while alleging that they were �forcefully confined within his bungalow� in order not to step down.
