Arunchal shall not be affected by proposed Naga pact: AAPSU

Amid efforts to finalise the Naga peace deal, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU) has categorically stated that the proposed agreement to resolve the decades-old Naga problem should not affect Arunachal and its people in any way.

AAPSU, which is the apex students body of Arunachal Pradesh, strongly opposed any attempts to change the territorial jurisdiction of the state or any any kind of adminstrative intervention there while reaching final solution to the seven-decade-old insurgency problem in Nagaland.

The union also demanded that the state government, all 60 legislators of the assembly, the three Arunchal MPs-two of Lok Sabha and one member of Rajya Sabha- and the political parties, make their stand clear on the vexed issue.

"The AAPSU strongly opposes any attempts to change the territorial jurisdiction of the state or any kind of administrative intervention in the state while reaching the final solution," AAPSU president Hawa Bagang said.

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland--Isak-Muivah faction (NSCN-IM)'s vision of Nagalim or Greater Nagaland is to bring all Naga-inhabited areas in the Northeast under one administrative umbrella.

The map of Nagalim, released by the NSCN-IM a few years ago, spreads over 1,03,473 sq km beyond the 16,527 sq km area of Nagaland.

It includes the Anjaw, Changlang, Lohit, Longding, Namsai and Tirap districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

NSCN-IM, the major insurgent group in Nagaland, as well as rival factions, claim that these areas, primarily Changlang, Longding and Tirap districts are dominated by Nagas.

Successive governments in Arunachal Pradesh have time and again made it clear that they would not compromise on the states territorial integrity.