Kohima: NSF suspends protest, questions relevance of Naga Club

Kohima: The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) on Tuesday evening suspended the ongoing sit-in protest which demanded the state government to book perpetrators involved in the destruction of the Naga Club building.

The decision was taken during an emergency consultative meeting of the NSF seniors held at the Angami Public Organisation (APO) conference hall in Kohima. Even as the protest has been suspended ‘temporarily’, the Federation said that it will continue to press for justice to be delivered at the earliest.

Following the meeting, the NSF reiterated that it will not recognize the un-mandated group of individuals who claim to be the leaders and sole owners of the club, “which the NSF has been safeguarding as its custodian”.

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“The present Naga Club, as we know, was formed recently by some individuals with vested interest by roping in some descendents of the original Naga club members,” the NSF said.

During the meeting, it was resolved to place in the public domain for the Naga people decide if there was a need to revive the Naga club and if the club was even relevant in the present context.

“The Naga people should collectively decide on the fate of the Naga club and not be misled by narratives which are barely even the half truth. If need be, every tribal Hoho must come together under one roof and decide on the fate of the Naga Club. NSF will extend our fullest co-operation and support towards achieving that end,” the students’ body said.

It was also resolved that the NSF will agree if the Club was properly restructured with the collective mandate of the people of Nagaland.

“Its ideology and principles should be grounded in the contents of the Memorandum submitted by the then Naga Club to the Simon Commission in 1929,” it said.

The seniors and members who attended the meeting also resolved to recommend the incumbent officials of the NSF to restart normal functioning of the NSF office by setting up a makeshift pandal by May 31.

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