Tikhir and Yimkhiung councils agree 10-point peace plan

KOHIMA – The Yimkhiung Tribal Council (YTC) and the Tikhir Tribal Council (TTC) have asked the Nagaland government to approve 10 jointly agreed resolutions meant to end the Tikhir-Yimkhiung conflict, under which villagers displaced by last month’s violence would set up new villages and several existing villages would change administrative units.

The two apex tribal bodies sent the resolutions to the Commissioner of Nagaland in a joint letter dated Nov. 9. The letter says they were adopted at a joint consultative meeting at Hotel Grand Vista in Dimapur on Nov. 7, “after thorough deliberation”, for “peaceful co-existence and permanent solution between the two tribes.”

The meeting followed a session at the Commissioner’s Conference Hall in Kohima on Nov. 3 on the conflict in Kiphire and Shamator districts, and a follow-up letter from the Commissioner’s office dated Nov. 5, according to the councils.

What the councils agreed

The resolutions reorganise villages along tribal lines and place each tribe’s villages under a separate administration:

• New Tikhir villages: Tikhir families displaced from Zaonger and Thulun villages may jointly set up a separate Tikhir village under the Kiusam EAC headquarters, on land to be allotted by the Zaonger Village Council. Tikhir families displaced from Longtsunger may set up another Tikhir village under Kiusam, with the site to be chosen by the Longtsunger Village Council.
• New Yimkhiung village: Yimkhiung families displaced from Pokphur may set up a separate Yimkhiung village under Pungro administration, with the site arranged by the Pokphur Village Council.
• Existing villages: Pokphur will be a Tikhir village, while Zaonger, Longtsunger and Thulun will be Yimkhiung villages.
• Administrative split: All Tikhir villages, old and new, will come under Kiusam block and administration, and all Yimkhiung villages under Khongsa/Pungro block and administration. Longtsunger, which the letter says is now under Kiusam, will move to Pungro, and Sangtsung will move from Kiusam to Khongsa administration.
• Benefits in the interim: People of both tribes displaced elsewhere can keep drawing government benefits from their parent villages until the new villages are recognised.
• Land: Families of both tribes will keep ownership of their fields (kheti) even if they live in different villages.
• Sukiur ‘A’: Yimkhiung families displaced from Sukiur ‘A’ village will not return, but the TTC will see that their confiscated properties and fields are returned to them “without any condition”. In turn, the YTC will have a related case pending in the Shamator Dobashi court withdrawn.
• Closure: All existing issues between the two councils “stand resolved”, and neither body will take up fresh issues of a similar nature raised by any individual or organisation in any village.

The letter asks the Commissioner to consider the resolutions “at the earliest possible time” and “without any pre-condition in the interest of permanent peace among the two brother tribes.”

It is signed by YTC president Throngso Yimkhiung and TTC president P. Timong Tikhir. Copies went to the Chief Minister and to two government advisors from the Yimkhiung community: S. Keoshu Yimkhiung, Advisor for Youth Resources and Sports, and S. Kiusumew Yimkhiung, Advisor for Fire and Emergency Services, Home Guards and Civil Defence, and Relief and Rehabilitation.

Nagaland.News has not seen a public response from the Commissioner’s office. Most of the steps, including recognising new villages and moving villages between administrative units, need government approval.

How the conflict began

The dispute turned violent on Oct. 10, when one person was killed and another injured in a gunfight between members of the two communities at Longtsunger in Kiphire district’s Pungro sub-division, ThePrint reported, citing police. Houses were also reported burnt in Zaonger. Police said the trouble began over a festival celebrated by Tikhir residents in villages shared by both communities.

The violence spread to Shamator town on Oct. 11, where at least seven houses were burnt, The Morung Express reported. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were imposed and additional Nagaland Armed Police companies were deployed. Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton, who holds the Home portfolio, appealed to both communities to stay calm.

On Oct. 16, the Shamator Village Council condemned the alleged arson and vandalism of Tikhir properties in the town and sought an inquiry and compensation. The same day, Kiphire Deputy Commissioner Temsuwati Longkumer told the district planning board the situation was “under control” and asked officers to help with the safety and rehabilitation of affected people, UNI reported.

Longtsunger fallout

The resolutions also bear on Longtsunger, where the village council on Nov. 3 revoked the status of three gaon buras it accused of inviting “Tikhir Volunteers” from Kiusam, and expelled the GBs, village guards and families who fled. Under the new plan, Tikhir families displaced from Longtsunger would get a separate village under Kiusam, while Longtsunger itself would become a Yimkhiung village under Pungro.

The Yimkhiung and Tikhir are both tribes of eastern Nagaland, represented together with other tribes of the region in the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO). After the October clash, ENPO president Chingmak Chang urged the two tribal councils to act quickly to stop the violence, ThePrint reported.

The letter spells the village “Longtsonger”. This report uses “Longtsunger”, the spelling used in the village council’s own declaration and in earlier Nagaland.News coverage.