Deputy Minister U Win Myint, replying to a question raised by MP U Aung Thein on the 135 tribes in the country during the first session of Parliament recently, had included the Nagas among the 53 tribes of Chin ethnic group, said a joint statement issued by the Myanmar Naga organisations.
The statement strongly pointed out that Naga people are an indigenous group of people in Myanmar and India having their own dialect, culture, customs, long history and distinctive identity. It, moreover, pointed out that the region in which the Nagas are residing in Myanmar has been recognised as the Naga Self-Administered Zone in the 2008 Constitution of the Union of Myanmar according to their culturally distinct identities, geographical territory and population ratio.
The Naga bodies, therefore, said the Minister’s reply in Parliament in which the Nagas have been included among the 53 tribes of Chin ethnic group is totally unacceptable, while adding that the ‘baseless, unacceptable and non-logical reply of the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Population can impact on the national unity’.
Stating that it fully rejects the recognition of Naga people as a tribe of another nationality, the Nagas in Myanmar have asked that an amendment be made in the nationality list issued by the State.
Furthermore, stating that the Nagas are being displayed and featured as a tribe of Chin nationality in the Union National Races Village and Naga traditional attires, tools and utensils, etc, are displayed as Chin traditional items, the Naga bodies have requested for these displayed items to be withdrawn and corrected at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Naga Students Association has also strongly condemned the statement of the Myanmar Deputy Union Minister and termed it as a shock and an insult to the Nagas, particularly in Myanmar.