DIMAPUR, AUGUST 29 (MExN): The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has drawn the Government of India’s attention to the fact that the inordinate delay in finding a political solution has become the “bane of the miseries of the common man in Nagaland.”
“The public in Nagaland has been the ultimate victim of the unabated and multiple illegal taxations, all kinds of suppressive and anti-people activities of the selfish authorities; and the armed elements alike under the signed ceasefires during the last 25 years have virtually destroyed everything both in public and private sectors,” a press release from the NTC stated.
It said that the worst victims are the educated youth and the tens of thousands of school dropouts. The NTC claimed that, the State of Nagaland, the second oldest State in the NE India “has gone backward by 25 years in terms of progress and prosperity as proved by the progress of the other 9 years younger States in the NE, who have developed to become quotable model States in India.”
Despite “being funded lavishly by the Union Government,” the NTC stated that, “particularly all through these 25 years period of political negotiations, the unscrupulous elements have transformed the State of Nagaland into their private goldmines.” These elements, both state authorities and armed elements have taken undue advantages on the gullible general public and their facilities, it said. Thus, Nagaland was made to be the safest haven for the exploiters in India, it claimed.
Maintaining that the “sole remedial measure for the existing ailment of Nagaland is the Naga political solution,” the NTC expressed apprehension that the consequences of further delay in finding a solution would be disastrous.
It further observed that the both the GoI and the UDA government in Nagaland have “apathetic and lackadaisical attitude towards sincere conclusion of the peace process though the official negotiations were completed by 31st October, 2019.”
It said that the Prime Minister’s December 1, 2015 promise that the Naga political issue would be resolved within 18 months time “has gone into oblivion.” It observed that the GoI has tendencies to be overwhelmed by “concocted assessments and disinformation fed by its agencies with ulterior motives.” It further stated that the then BJP Secretary, Ram Madhav’s 2018 declaration that the State election would be for solution “has become a shameful betrayal.”
It said that the ball is now in the court of the GoI and it is time for the Union Government to “make it or unmake it without keeping the people of Nagaland in suspense any longer.”
Meanwhile, the NTC said it is aghast at the way the UDA government has been facilitating the peace process all through these years. It expressed disappointment that the Political Core Committee on Naga Political Issue (PCCoNPI) 4 points resolution was “found scuttled and allowed to die a premature death.”
It accused the UDA of being “hell bent against solution.” “Nevertheless, the UDA knows that lest its anti-solution stance be camouflaged with theoretical and theatrical innuendos for solution, it would be costly in the long run,” the NTC said. It further termed the Nagaland Chief Minister “focussing the next Assembly election to superimpose the urgent political solution” as “nothing but a ploy to demean the peaceful process.”
It further stated that the “opinion of the NDPP President that the MLAs are to resign post the attainment of the agreement implies that the MLAs have refused to pave the way.” It alleged that the UDA “frantically hobnobs with those forces - both armed and civil elements to derail solution,” and termed this is as the “greatest sabotage of peace and betrayal of the people in Nagaland.”
The NTC urged the GoI to resolve the issue at the earliest without inhibition. It claimed that the people are “ever ready to have the solution and also ever prepared to handle should there be any consequences.”
