Eastern Naga Students’ Federation orders schools to ignore strike call

The Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF), the apex students’ organisation representing the eight tribes of Eastern Nagaland — Chang, Konyak, Eastern Sumi, Phom, Khiamniungan, Tikhir, Yimkhiung and Sangtam — has issued a stinging rebuke of the All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association (ANSTA), calling the teachers’ body’s intervention in Eastern-area affairs “audacious and unwarranted” and declaring that ENSF will neither recognise nor accept any directives from ANSTA within its jurisdiction.

In a strongly worded statement from its Tuensang headquarters, the ENSF accused ANSTA — which it described as “a mere welfare grouping of government employees belonging to a single department” — of lacking recognition, legitimacy and jurisdiction in the Eastern region, and said ANSTA had no moral or operational standing to question or challenge the mandate of a tribally constituted apex body. 

The federation said ANSTA’s actions amounted to a “direct affront to the sovereignty, dignity and tribal authority of the ENSF” and alleged that the teachers’ association’s posture was a calculated attempt to “provoke, discredit and destabilise the tribal educational structure” the ENSF claims to have safeguarded for decades.

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ENSF emphasised its legacy and authority as the representative voice of the Eastern people and asked pointedly what mandate ANSTA possessed to interfere in tribal matters, asserting that any statements or directives from ANSTA in the Eastern jurisdiction were “null, void and inconsequential.” The federation also reiterated its role as a protector and reformer of the regional education system, saying it had historically defended teachers and the sanctity of education even amid coercive practices by third parties.

Warning of decisive measures, ENSF said it would take “stringent and uncompromising actions” to protect its members, institutions and student community from external interference. The federation declared that it would not entertain, respond to, or recognise any communication from ANSTA or its functionaries within the Eastern jurisdiction, and cautioned Eastern citizens against engaging with organisations it described as having manipulative or vested interests.

As a concrete directive, ENSF has instructed all its federating units to ensure that no school or teacher under their jurisdiction participates in ANSTA’s proposed pen-down strike, and has warned that any instances of disobedience will be documented and referred for disciplinary action, including permanent disassociation from ENSF privileges. The statement concluded by reaffirming ENSF’s determination to defend the rights of students, uphold the dignity of education, and maintain its position as the legitimate voice of the eight tribes of Eastern Nagaland.