Guwahati, Jan. 29: In a move sure to raise the hackles of the NSCN (I-M), the Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) has launched a campaign to garner support for the inclusion of Dimapur in the separate ?Dimaraji state? demanded by the outfit.
In a message to the ?citizens of Dimaraji,? the outfit has claimed that the Sundaram Committee appointed by the Centre for ascertaining facts regarding the Assam-Nagaland border had recommended that ?Dimapur should be returned to Assam?.
To substantiate its claim that the inclusion of Dimapur in Nagaland was ?temporary,? the militant outfit claimed that the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had told Naga leaders that ?Dimapur would be excluded from the state of Nagaland within 25 years and told them to make alternative arrangements of a town elsewhere?.
At one point of time, the DHD was imparted training in jungle warfare and also supplied arms and ammunition by the NSCN (I-M).
The DHD entered into a ceasefire agreement with New Delhi and Dispur on December 23. The ceasefire came into effect on January 1 for a period of six months.
The five-page booklet published by the DHD?s publicity wing said members of the constituent assembly had strongly opposed the inclusion of Dimapur in the erstwhile Naga Hills Autonomous District during the incorporation of the Sixth Schedule in the Constitution.
The DHD claimed that Kuladhar Chaliha, one of the members of the Constituent Assembly, had opposed the inclusion of Dimapur on the ground that ?there was not a single Naga? in that town.
At a press briefing ? the first since the ceasefire came into effect ? at the outfit?s 3rd battalion headquarters located in North Cachar Hills district, DHD ?president? Jewel Garlosa told reporters on January 20 that Dimapur has been included in the map of the proposed Dimaraji demanded by them. The map would be submitted along with a detailed memorandum to the Centre soon, Garlosa added.
The outfit is gearing up for the inauguration of the ceasefire monitoring cell at Haflong on February 2 in full military style. Armed DHD cadre would escort the outfit?s president to the venue for the inaugural meeting of the cell, DHD sources said.
The first meeting of the monitoring cell is expected to discuss matters like opening of the designated camp and fix the ground rules for cessation of hostilities by both sides.
The DHD is likely to lodge a formal complaint to the Centre and state government representatives about alleged violation of ceasefire ground rules by security forces.