‘Naga seers ready to fight China’

Seers have joined the countrymen in condemning the Chinese action in the Galvan valley of Ladakh, in which 20 Indian armymen were killed on Tuesday. In a statement released in Prayagraj on Thursday, president of Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), Mahant Narendra Giri said slakhs of Naga sanyasi would not hesitate in joining the Indian armed forces to give a befitting reply to the Chinese aggression on the borders. Condemning the attack, Giri said the Indian forces are capable enough to give a befitting reply to the enemy, but if the need arises, lakhs of Naga sadhus can also join their forces to protect our motherland. “Naga sadhus are equally trained in shashtra (religious texts) and shashtre (arms),” he added. Naga sadhus are trained in martial arts and also carry tridents, swords, canes and spears. Said to have once functioned as an armed order to protect Hindus from the Mughal rulers, they were involved in a number of military defence campaigns.