Morung Express News
Dimapur | February 3
Putting the peace issue right up front before the people of Nagaland, new Governor K. Sankaranarayanan said that it is the combined responsibility and the bounden duty of everyone to make use of each and every resource available in creating peace. “Economic development requires peace. This is the view held by many. Others say that with development comes peace. The issue is too important for our future to be left in the realm of debate”, Sankaranarayanan said during his address at the civic reception held in the State Academy Hall on Saturday soon after been sworn in as Governor.
“Would peace make our economy efficient and competitive? Would it make the lives of our children safer and better? If the answer is yes, then all of us have a bounden duty to employ all our ingenuity in creating peace”, the Governor said while also reminding that the democratic way of resolving issues is by the power of argument and the art of negotiation.
Earlier in his message to the people of Nagaland on the occasion of assuming the office of Governor, Sankaranarayanan while acknowledging that the ceasefire between the Government of India and the underground groups had led to some respite however pointed out that “peace remains imperfect and fragile, marked as it is by threats, extortion and factional violence”. “These constraints prevent the society from achieving its full potential. The well being of our families and of our future generations is at stake”, he said and therefore called upon political leaders, the NGOs, Church leaders, the intellectuals, government servants, the security forces, village elders and the youth to redouble their efforts for bringing about a qualitative improvement in the prevailing atmosphere.
On the economic front, the Governor said he had been informed about the emphasis being given to agriculture and allied sector and about efforts to promote tourism. “I will look forward to interactions with the policy makers and the civil society to understand how we plan to take the State forward”, Sankaranarayanan said. He related that people in Kerela have improved their living standards by cultivating cash crops, by achieving a high level of literacy, by promoting tourism and by exploring employment opportunities with the country and abroad.
