By Matters India Reporter

Kohima: The government of Nagaland on February 2 decided to cancel elections to local bodies held recently and transfer police officers responsible for Dimapur, the commercial capital of the northeastern Indian state.

The move came as protests over reservation for women in elections in Nagaland escalated, with violence spreading across the state capital of Kohima.

More than 1,000 Naga tribal people torched the old secretariat building, which has been converted to the Kohima Municipal Council office. They also torched the office of the Directorate of Transport, ransacked other government buildings and burned cars.

The federal paramilitary forces rushed to the New Secretariat building to ensure the safety of the state chief minister and his cabinet.

Thousands of people began gathering at downtown since morning, carrying the bodies of two people killed in police firing the previous day at Dimapur.

The protestors demanded Chief Minister T R Zeliang and his cabinet to resign and action against policemen involved in the Dimapur firing.

Agreeing partially to the demands, Zeliang informed Neinguvoto Krose, president of the Angami Youth Organization, late in the evening that his government has decided to declare the elections currently underway as null and void and transfer two top police officers of Dimapur. He said this was done to facilitate an impartial judicial inquiry he had ordered into the firing.

The chief minister also appealed the protesters to complete the funeral rites of “the dear departed souls.”

However, he ignored the protesters’ demand for the resignation of his cabinet.

His refusal had earlier provoked the protesters, who then demanded state Governor P B Arya to talk to them. However, the governor was in Itanagar, capital of neighboring Arunachal Pradesh.

What triggered the protest was the decision of Nagaland’s Democratic Alliance government to go ahead with the municipal elections, reserving 33 percent seats for women.

The tribal people claim the move violates their constitutional rights. The Article 371(A) of the Indian Constitution allows them to follow their traditional laws, which do not give women any political right. The groups say that women are free to contest elections, but should not be given any quota.

On January 28, the government decided to push ahead with the elections after an order from the Guwahati High Court turned down the tribal groups’ demand to defer them. The elections, the government announced, would be held in 12 of the state’s 32 municipal bodies.

Curfew had been imposed in Dimapur. The authorities blocked mobile internet services in the state for an indefinite period and put additional security in place.

The protestors have refused to bury the two bodies until the chief minister and his cabinet resign.

Meanwhile, a general shut down continued in Dimapur and Mokokchung districts in solidarity with the protestors.

On February 1, elections to 15 of the 32 civic bodies in Nagaland were conducted amid curfew and protests.

The state election commission postponed elections in eight towns owing to the trouble.

The Nagaland cabinet has decided to set up a judicial inquiry commission to probe the incidents in Dimapur and Longleng and to pay immediate relief to the victims, the chief minister’s office said.

Federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh telephones Zeliang to enquire about the law-and-order situation and backed him for holding the polls.

Nagaland has witnessed widespread protests and blockades since the state government decided to go ahead with civic elections with the reservation for women.

The state election commission postponed polls in Dimapur, East Dimapur, Kiphire, Tseminyu, Bhandari, Wokha, Zunheboto and Longleng where nominations could not be filed because of stiff opposition.

Altogether 36 women’s rights activists representing Northeast NGOs have called for public support to allow 33 percent reservation in urban local bodies to increase women’s participation in the decision-making process.

“The step taken by the Nagaland government would go a long way in empowering women and increasing their participation in the decision-making process,” Binalakshmi Nepram, founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivor Network and secretary-general of Control Arms Foundation of India, said.

They expressed concern that there were a negligible number of women MLAs in the northeastern states.