By Imna Longchar
Dimapur (Nagaland) ,Sept 1: Veteran Naga politician, former Chief Minister of Nagaland and former governor of Maharashtra and Goa, Dr. SC Jamir, on Wednesday said that shifting of Dimapur District Headquarters to Chumukedima can unify Nagas of Nagaland when all the different tribes inhabiting the town develop a sense of belonging as well as ownership of Chumukedima.
Joining around 200 volunteers from neighbouring villages in a social work cleaning up on Wednesday morning ,Jamir elaborated on how during his tenure as Nagaland Chief Minister, his cabinet decided to shift the district headquarter to Chumukedima.
He said just as Kohima district headquarter is located at Kohima, other district headquarters are also located in Naga towns with Naga names and as such Dimapur is not a Naga name, one must remember that even the British rulers located their headquarter at Samagooting (Chumukedima), and not at Dimapur.
“Since Nagaland is considered a hill State, we thought it would be appropriate to situate the District HQ on the slopes of Chumukedima,” Jamir said and also added that however after he left State politics, it was good that the State Government had decided to shift the location to the present site as it has more space with a sprawling area with vast potentials for further development unlike the present location near Assam border.
“The Government has spent so much to construct this magnificent complex and there is no reason why the public should oppose shifting of the HQ to this site. Moreover, we must remember that the District HQ, wherever it is located, does not belong to a particular community – it belongs to all permanent inhabitants of the district,” Jamir further asserted.
Stating that Chumukedima area is inhabited by all the different tribes of Nagaland and shifting of Dimapur district headquarter to Chumukedima can unify the Nagas when all inhabitants develop a sense of belonging and ownership of the town, Jamir said that he an Ao Naga but have moved out of his native village and have even shifted his Church membership to Ao Baptist Church, Chumukedima, as he have decided that he shall “live and die” at Chumukedima for which he also wanted all residents of Chumukedima to consider themselves as belonging to this town, to consider themselves as hailing fromChumukedima and not merely dweller.
Also exhorting the youths to have the determination to excel in whatever they do, the former governor said that the future belongs to the youth of today, and so the youth must impress on the administration to have proper plan and design for the town.
“We must have a blue print for the future. And we must start with wide roads, proper drainages, water supply, Parks for recreation, good schools and colleges and good hospitals in the area. Most importantly, we must do away with tribalism from our minds. Nagas are a family, yet we quarrel amongst ourselves over petty issues. This is very unfortunate,” Jamir added.
“Israel is a small nation surrounded by not-so-friendly Arab countries. Yet, it has not only survived but has flourished in all aspects of life because the people have a strong bond and have the determination to survive and excel,” he further said.
Jamir further urged the citizens of the area to make Dimapur district headquarter, Chumukedima, as and when it is shifted to the proposed site, a model district headquarter for the people of Nagaland.
