DIMAPUR, JULY 6 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has expressed “astonishment” at what it said was the “misleading statement issued by the State government on the charges of the Governor, RN Ravi with regard to the perilous law and order situation and his caution to enforce Article 371 A (1) (b) of the Constitution of India.”
A press release from the NPCC Working President, Khriedi Theünuo said it is a “well known fact that the contents in the Constitution’s Article 371 A (1) has four different clauses from (a) to (d) with which the State of Nagaland was created in 1963 and has been functional since then.”
The party added that it is the four provisions of Article 371 A (1) (a) that grants special rights to the Nagas to do away the Acts of the Parliament with a mere resolution in the State Assembly, which has been the precedence from time to time.
“However, the rest of the clauses, including Article 371 A (1) (b) is regarding special responsibility given to the Governor of Nagaland with regard to law and order in the State,” the NPCC reminded.
The special responsibility as enshrined in the Constitution can only be done away with only after the President of India is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the Governor to have special responsibility, he can direct the Governor to cease such responsibility, the Congress said.
In the present context, the NPCC opined that “the passing a mere resolution in the Assembly on December 17, 2013 to do away the special responsibility granted to the Governor is unjustified, because neither has been there any amendment or rectification made by the Parliament concerning the provisions of Article 371 A (1) (b).”
The Congress asked the State Government to put the record straight and said that if at all it wishes to do away with the powers of the Governor on law and order situation, the government should do it procedural, lest the State of Nagaland may face Constitutional crisis.
Calls for removal of PDA govt
Meanwhile, another press statement from the NPCC Communication Cell stated that the NDPP’s recent rejoinder has “only exposed their leaders.” It claimed that the current confusion of NDPP and State Government on law and order situation “is fully apparent.”
With regard to the ULB elections of 2017, the NPCC said that the Judicial Inquiry Commission report has been suppressed for over 3 years despite running the government. “Instead of blaming the opposition parties, NDPP should make the JIC report public and take necessary action on those responsible behind the unrest and destruction,” it added.
The Congress also said that the recent JIC on the Tuensang returnees’ fiasco “has only ended up with the state cabinet pleading with ENLU and ENPO to forgive and forget.” On Naga political issue, the Congress accused the NDPP and its partner BJP of “only paying lip service.”
“In Jan/Feb 2018, despite calls from every quarter for ‘solution before elections,’ it was NDPP and BJP which went ahead and filed their nominations betraying the aspirations of the people. They further coined ‘Election for Solution’ to fool the people and more than two years down the line, the goalpost or timeline for Naga political solution keeps shifting,” the NPCC stated.
Claiming that the PDA government is the “biggest obstacle to the final peace agreement,” the NPCC asked the Governor to urge the Centre to remove the State Government.
