GUWAHATI: Protests against 33% reservation for women in urban local bodies (ULBs) in Nagaland spilled over from commercial hub Dimapur to capital Kohima, where the protestors on Thursday evening set afire the office of the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) and around a dozen government vehicles, including a bus. The protestors in Dimapur burnt down a rented house of the chief minister which was located near his private residence at 3rd Mile. Five columns of Army have been deployed to bring the situation under control in Kohima.
The police said around half a dozen government offices, including the regional transport office and private residences also were burnt as the fire spread.The violence broke out soon after a meeting between the government and Naga Tribes’ Action Committee (NTAC) ended.The protestors were demanding the resignation of Chief Minister T R Zeliang along with his ministerial colleagues and had set a deadline of 4 pm, nullification of the polls that took place in some of the 32 ULBs on Wednesday and suspension of police officers who had ordered Tuesday’s firing in Dimapur that claimed the lives of two youth.
Under pressure, the State Cabinet decided to declare the process of elections to ULBs as “null and void” and transfer Dimapur Police Commissioner and the DCP, Dimapur, immediately “to facilitate an impartial judicial inquiry which has been already ordered”.
In a statement issued later in the night, the chief minister appealed to people to not indulge in “senseless vandalism and arson destroying public properties and spreading fear and panic in the minds of peace-loving citizens”. “The government is of the considered opinion that it has been lenient enough to give in to the demands of the agitators even though it was steadfastly abiding by the Constitution to which it had sworn its solemn allegiance. And making unreasonable and unconstitutional demands such as asking the entire Cabinet to tender resignation when the ministry has undisputed, unquestionable majority and support of the entire Assembly, is simply unacceptable and non-negotiable,” the statement said.
Commenting on the fire at the CM’s rented house, Nagaland DGP L L Doungel said: “It is apparently a farmhouse (which the protestors set afire in Dimapur) in an isolated place. It belongs to the CM or his relatives. They are targeting these for publicity.” In Kohima, the protestors tried to burn down the office of ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF).
The incidents came a day after the offices of district magistrate, election department and NPF were ransacked by the protestors in eastern Nagaland’s Mokokchung. Curfew continued in both Dimapur and Kohima.