DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 28 (MExN): Former Nagaland State Chief Minister, TR Zeliang today said that he has no regrets for vacating the chair of Chief Minister after “some elements resorted to violent means demanding him to step down.
According to a press note from the NPF, Zeliang said this while addressing an NPF election rally at Tamenglong, Manipur. Zeliang further alleged that he was dislodged “not because I had lost the support of the MLAs but because I am from a minority tribe in Nagaland. I had the support of the MLAs but people from outside the Assembly protested violently demanding that I should step down within a stipulated period.”
He reminded that as CM he had not brought in the central forces to stop the protestors. “For the sake of peace and harmony in the State, I chose to step down. But do not be disheartened. The Government is in good hands and better days are ahead,” he said.
On the conditions of the hill tribes of Manipur, Zeliang stated that the NPF can act as a common platform for the various tribes of Manipur to come together and take up causes common to all of them.
Regarding regional and national political parties, Zeliang said, regional parties like the NPF “do not have any High Command at the national level.” “The people are our High Command and we decide according to the wishes and aspirations of the common people,” he said.
“Unlike ours, national parties do not go by the aspirations of the common people and decisions are taken from Delhi which is very far from these remote corners of the country. The tradition of going by the decisions of party High Command is not good for the grass roots people,” the former Nagaland CM added.
He went on to say that the NPF party is one of the oldest regional parties in the country and has grown from strength to strength since “it stands with the people and never betrays the people.” “The sacrifice made by the four NPF legislators who resigned from the Manipur Assembly in protest against the three anti-tribal Bills shows that the NPF does not merely talk but implements its manifesto on the ground. If NPF candidates are elected, they shall work for the different tribes and communities of the Hill Districts,” Zeliang assured.
“We are not enemies of anyone but we shall ensure that the rights of the people are not taken away by anybody. We shall not allow anyone to take away the customary rights of the Hill tribes and communities of Manipur. Let us not walk backward, but walk forward for the welfare of the tribal people of the region,” he added.
He went on to narrate that recent creation of districts like Nonei and Jeribam had further divided the villages of Tousem and Tamei sub divisions and that the Zeliangrong people were “badly divided by being placed in three different administrative states of Manipur, Assam and Nagaland which had made our people minorities in our respective States.
Zeliang meanwhile claimed that since no single political party can get majority in the 11th Assembly, the “NPF will be the deciding factor in the formation of the next election.”
