ENPO's demand for separate 'Frontier Nagaland' state gains momentum, meet in Guwahati on Sep 15

The ongoing demand for a separate state ‘Frontier Nagaland’ by the Eastern Naga Peoples Organisation (ENPO) has been gaining momentum for the past few weeks, ahead of the assembly polls due early next year. Public rallies under the aegis of ENPO were held in the eastern districts of Nagaland – Tuensang, Shamator, Mon, Longleng, Noklak, and Kiphire, to express solidarity with the ENPO’s demand for a separate ‘Frontier Nagaland’ state. 

The six districts of the Eastern Nagaland region are inhabited by seven tribes – Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Santam, Tikhir, and Yimkhiung. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has extended an invitation for a meeting on the issue on September 15 in Guwahati. As per sources, NEDA convenor and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has arranged the meeting in Guwahati.

At a joint consultative meeting with politicians, seven tribal organisations, and other regional organisations on August 26 in Dimapur, the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organization (ENPO), an influential organisation in the area, decided not to participate in any elections until their demand for a separate state of "Frontier Nagaland" was granted.

Since the movement's inception in 2010, the ENPO has on several occasions, provided the Centre with representations and memoranda.

The 60-member Nagaland House is up for election in February of next year, and the Supreme Court has ordered the state government to hold elections for all urban local bodies by January because they have been overdue for more than 12 years.