Residents of the Ralan and Yanmhon areas in Wokha district held a peaceful protest and press briefing in Liphanyan on June 6, 2026, rejecting Assam government allegations that local Nagas were engaged in illegal mining. Protesters said the excavation of boulders in the Disputed Area Belt (DAB) was carried out by Assam authorities under the cover of a central government scheme, and demanded an investigation into who authorised and executed the work.
Leaders from Ralan Area Lotha Hoho (RALH) and Yanmhon Area Public Organisation (YAPO) — speaking under the area’s Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) banner — said the Assam Forest Department authorised mining activity in 2022. The organisations accused Assam of using the Amrit Sarovar scheme as a pretext to obtain permits and extract material from the disputed belt.
“Under the name of this ‘Amrit Sarovar’ scheme, they issued permits for nine fisheries (ponds),” said Tsenjamo Lotha, co-convenor of the JCC, adding that several of the ponds fall within Liphanyan village area. Lotha alleged that instead of using funds for fisheries development, earth was excavated, boulders were removed and supplied to the Assam side, and asked how a development project could proceed on land then under adjudication.
RALH President CS Ovung rejected social media reports labelling local Nagas the “hill mafia” and “illegal miners,” citing “permit records” that, he said, trace the activity to the Assam Forest Department. “They are the ones who started the issue, and then now they are blaming the Nagas,” Ovung said.
The protest march from Liphanyan to Tsuchanben unfolded under CRPF supervision and ended outside a makeshift Assam Forest Department camp guarded by armed forest personnel. The camp occupies a building previously used as an Assam government primary school, which leaders say was shut during an eviction drive of alleged illegal immigrants in July 2025.
JCC leaders also alleged that, ahead of World Environment Day, Assam authorities planned to plant 250,000 saplings in the DAB and had cleared land for 5,000 saplings in the Hatidubi area near Tsuchanben under the direction of Sarupathar MLA Biswajit Phukan; the planting was reportedly halted temporarily.
Protesters objected to the deployment of Assam Forest and Police personnel in the DAB, saying it violated the status quo pending before the Supreme Court. “This is the DAB. They have no right to conduct independent patrolling here,” Ovung said, urging that the CRPF — the designated neutral force — should manage patrolling to prevent law-and-order problems.
RALH General Secretary KL Moyo said any development in the DAB must be resolved through bilateral channels. “Unilateral decisions taken by Assam in this area disturb the peaceful co-existence,” he said, calling on both state governments to seek a settlement either through the Supreme Court or direct negotiations.
Leaders reported continuing disturbances in DAB Sector B, which covers the Rengma Reserve Forest, and said Nagas entering the forest face threats of arrest. YAPO President N Thungdemo Tungoe recalled assurances given after eviction operations — noted in the original account as occurring in July 2025 and later referenced as July 2026 — that the status quo would be maintained and an out-of-court settlement would follow the general elections; he said no progress has been made. An 80-year-old elder, Nchumbemo, appealed to Chief Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Neiphiu Rio to negotiate a resolution, stressing the shared history of the Ahom and Naga peoples and saying the boundary has “never been formally partitioned.”
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/assam-nagaland-dab-ralan-yanmhon-residents-decry-illegal-mining-allegation
Category: Nagaland
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Publish Date: 2026-06-06 23:28:00
