The Centre and Assam government’s decision to establish the Karbi-Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council was opposed by the Isac-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland or NSCN (IM) since it isolates the ancestral land of the Rengma Nagas in Assam.

“The proposal to create Karbi-Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) in Karbi Anglong, is an agreement to appease the six rebel outfits – Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCKL), United People’s Liberation Army (UPLA) and three factions of Karbi People’s Liberation Tiger (KPLT),” stated an NSCN (IM) statement.

“However, historically nothing is far from the truth and no authority should go far enough to override the interests of the Rengma Nagas who are the legitimate owner of the land under the questionable proposition,” the statement further stated.

Previously known as the Rengma Hills, Karbi Anglong has been “victim of an aggressive influx of outsiders for vested interests”, further the outfit added.

The outfit further stated that the Rengma-Naga issue is one of the major issues for which the Indo-Naga political talks pending a final decision.

“The Naga political movement is all about land and people because land represents economic, political and social power and identity of the people. The Naga people had sacrificed countless lives in the course of the movement,” the report further added stating the outfit’s statement.

“The Rengmas are not lost people or immigrants like others in Karbi Anglong. NSCN, therefore, would not allow the Rengma Nagas to be driven to the edge without considering their historical factual status. Thus, NSCN makes it loud and clear that any agreement that victimises the Rengma Nagas would not be acceptable to the Nagas in general and to the NSCN in particular,” NSCN (IM) further added.