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At least four frontline students' groups on Saturday appealed to the state governments in the Northeast to step up security as Naga militants were issuing quit notices to non-tribal villagers.
"Militants of the outlawed National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Issac-Muivah) are roaming parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, and threatening non-tribal villagers to leave their homes," Apurba Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP), a radical students' group in Assam, said.
"We want the respective state governments to immediately step up security along the border villages with Nagaland state so as to prevent any violent incident," Bhattacharya told IANS.
The AJYCP, Karbi Students Association of Assam (KSAA), All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU), and the All Dimasa Students' Union (ADSU) - all influential students' group active in Assam and Manipur, bordering Nagaland - warned the NSCN and other over-ground Naga groups against intimidating villagers.
"People would be forced to take to the streets and launch a counter-movement if the NSCN or other Naga groups harass our people," said a resolution adopted at a joint meeting of the four students' group held in Assam's capital Guwahati.
"There is a sense of fear and panic among non-tribal villagers living in the areas bordering Nagaland due to the threats," the resolution added.
The NSCN (I-M) is fighting for an independent tribal homeland and its ceasefire with the Centre has run into rough weather with the rebel leadership insisting on extending the truce jurisdiction to all Naga-inhabited areas in the Northeast, a move vehemently opposed by the other states.
The three neighbouring states, which have sizeable Naga populations, feared the Centre was planning to shave off tracts of their territory to create a 'Greater Nagaland' - a concept mooted by the NSCN (I-M).
There are some 500,000 Nagas inhabiting parts of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Indo-Asian News Service
Anti-ceasefire Agitation in Manipur: Complete Coverage
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