17-point resolution of the NERPF

A meeting of regional political parties of the north eastern region was held at Guwahati, Assam on 20th October, 2013. The following are the resolutions that have been unanimously adopted by the meeting.

1. The representatives of the Regional Parties of the North East India, meeting at Guwahati on 20th October, 2013, have unanimously resolved to form the North East Regional Political Front (NERPF) with head quarters at Guwahati and with representation of all Regional Parties of the NE India. The Front will work to safeguard territorial, cultural, social, political and economic rights of the people of the Region and will continuously strive to 'protect the distinctive identities of the ethnic tribes, and all the people of the region. The Front will be expanded in future with inclusion of representatives of more Regional Parties of the NE India. There will be at least one meeting of the Front in a quarter and the, meetings will be hosted by member parties of the Forum in their respective states. The initial formation of the Forum will be with four representatives of each party attending this meeting. The first meeting of this forum will be held in Nagaland.

2. The NERPF vouches serious concern that the Govt. of India has not taken effective steps to stop infiltration of migrants from across the border and has not taken steps to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators from the Region. The Front call upon the centre to immediately enter into a treaty with the Govt. of Bangladesh to deport all the infiltrators from the Region.

3. The meeting further resolves that the Govt. of India should immediately cancel the agreement with Bangladesh to hand over a large chunk of area of NE Region to that country. The Front express serious concern that in agreeing to hand over land to Bangladesh, the Government of India has violated the rights of the states and acted arbitrarily against the principle of sovereign Government.

4. The meeting of the NERPF unanimously calls for immediate scrapping of the draconian "Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA)" and stop its use in all forms in the NE Region. The meeting calls upon the centre to declare immediately the scrapping of the Act.

5. The Front express concern at the continued incursion by China in to Arunachal Pradesh and calls upon Government of India to take up the matter immediately with China and prevent any future incursion.

6. The Front express serious concern at the actions of the Government of China to build massive dams in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra (called Tsangpo in China) and attempts to divert the river. The Brahmaputra is the lifeline of the NE Region and any attempt to interfere with the natural flow of the River should be considered as an act of aggression. The Front condemns the lack of seriousness on the part of Government of India and asks the Government of India to take strongest possible steps to stop the designs of the Chinese Government against the NE Region.

7. The NERPF is concerned at the lack of security of students of the NE Region pursuing higher education at Delhi and other places and the parties call upon the Government of India to take up stringent measures to protect students particularly girl students of the region. The parties further express concern that working ladies from the Region are being subjected to physical attacks, indecent behavior and insults outside the Region. Such activities must be stopped forthwith.    

8.  The NERPF calls for constitutional safeguards to all indigenous people of the region and protect their political, economic, social and traditional rights.

9. The front demand 80 percent reservation for sons of the soil in all central, semi-central, public sector arid private sector jobs in the region.

10. The NERPF calls upon the Govt. of India to implement the "Look East" policy in letter .and spirit, rebuild the Indian portion of the Stillwell Road and open an immigration office at the border, helping cross border trade and commerce. The NERPF also urges the Government of India to extend four-lane National Highway to Imphal in Manipur.

11.  The NERPF Strongly expresses its resentment against the destruction of ecological balance in the region, through erection of large number of huge dams in the region without properly addressing the environmental issues, causing immediate and future suffering to the people in the downstream areas.

I2. The meeting resolves to organize a mass rally to raise the burning issues of the region and representatives of all the regional parties will attend and address the rally.

13. The NERPF opines that the polling by EVM is not fool-proof and there are instances of tampering With the EVMs. The meeting demands that either the EVMs be abolished or they should be supported with paper slips in all election, as was used in some bye-elections recently (VVPAT). If this is not possible the system of universal adult franchise should be reverted back to the ballot paper.

14. The NERPF calls for a fresh look into the whole issue of Centre-State relations in the true spirit of federalism and a thorough review of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The Front demands a comprehensive amendment of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution with devolution of powers to the States in all matters, excepting to those pertaining to Defence, External Relations, Currency and External Trade. In particular, the Front asks for scrapping of the Concurrent List and to transfer all the subjects in this List to the State List.

15. The Front is very critical of the piecemeal way in which the .Government of India deals with the problems of insurgency in the region. Instead of taking a total approach to find a permanent solution to the problems, the Government has handled the problems in an adhoc, half-hearted manner by dealing with one outfit at a time and has created a situation for other outfits to assume prominence and aggressively pursue their demands. In none of the situations, the Government of India has taken the people of the respective State into confidence or has pursued a policy of wider consultation.

16. The Front express its deep concern that the Government of India has started fencing in part of Manipur- Myamnar international border without taking the people of Manipur into confidence and in the process, has given away large chunks of land to Myanmar. The Front calls upon the Center to immediately make its plans public and to desist from giving Manipur land to Myanmar.

17. The Front resolves to act as an active facilitator to resolve the decades old political insurgencies and political issues of the region immediately so as to usher in an era of peace for sustainable development in the entire region.