GUWAHATI: For the first time in the history of Nagaland, the state government has asked all its employees to self-declare, in writing, if they have any family members or close relatives in the various insurgent groups.
"As per instructions, all the Administrative Heads of Departments and all the Heads of Departments are directed to obtain information in the self-declaration form attached herewith, from all government servants under his/her department/office regarding family members and relatives in underground organisations and submit (it) to the Home Department, Political Branch latest by 7th August, 2020 positively," a July 7 office memorandum, apparently approved by Chief Secretary Temjen Toy and signed by Principal Secretary (Home) Abhijit Sinha, reads.
Employees who do not have any family member or close relative in the rebel groups, they will tick "No" in the self-declaration form. But those who have, they will write the names of the person and his organisation and the position/rank held by the person in the organisation. Such government employees will also have to write the nature of relationship.
It was not immediately known at whose instruction the memorandum was issued – Governor RN Ravi or Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. The development comes within weeks of Ravi’s stinging letter to Rio on the worsening law and order situation.
In the June 16 letter, which got leaked on social media, Ravi had said the unrestrained depredations by over half a dozen organized "armed gangs, brazenly running their so-called governments" and challenging the legitimacy of the state government without any resistance from the state law and order machinery, created a crisis of confidence in the system.
"Law-abiding citizens, be they daily wage earners, petty vendors, businessmen, shop-keepers, owners of restaurants, road construction companies, entrepreneurs or government servants, are made miserable by rampant extortions and violence by the armed gangs. The state government development departments are under duress to give regular ransom to the armed gangs. 'Town Commands' of these gangs keep the people in towns and its neighbourhood terrorised," Ravi, who is also the interlocutor in Naga peace talks, had written.
Responding to the charge, the CM had claimed the law and order situation in the state had vastly improved compared to years preceding the Centre’s signing of ceasefire agreements with the insurgents in the 1960s and 1990s.
To prove a point, Rio had pointed out Nagaland being awarded the "Best Performing Small State in Law and Order" in 2018 and 2019 by The India Today Group State of the States survey. He said the award was testimony to the state’s improved law and order situation.
The state government, through the Information and Public Relations department, had also issued a 20-point statement – much of it with data collected from National Crime Records Bureau – which stated, "The state government is of the view that the assessment of the law and order being precarious and grim and having deteriorated and collapsed since August 2019 does not appear to be factual."
Reacting to Ravi’s letter, major insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagalim or NSCN-IM had issued a statement to the media asserting that it does not extort people but levies "legitimate taxes" on them.
Similarly, the Working Committee, Naga National Political Groups, which is a conglomerate of other rebel groups, had denied its involvement in any extortion activities but admitted, "From the inception of our struggle, nominal contribution to the cause has been mandatory. The question of extortion, therefore, does not arise."