KOHIMA, APRIL 7 (MExN): NPF President, Shurhozelie Liezietsu today stated that for the last ten years, “the Naga people have been expecting UPA Government in Delhi to take up Naga political issue.” But, the president in a press release stated, “They (UPA) failed to take up the issue at the behest of their leaders in Nagaland because, for them, the 16-Point Memorandum was the final agreement.”
He said that the Naga people boycotted the General Elections in India in 1952 and 1957. But when an interim Government was set up in 1960 as per the 16-Point agreement, election became inevitable. “But the Naga people found that the 16-Point Agreement failed to stop bloodshed in Nagaland because the agreement was made without the consent of the people for whom the agreement was proposed to be made,” he added. Liezietsu noted that when the agreement failed to stop bloodshed, “few leaders like Kevichasa, Vizol, Tajen and few others, whose integrity had withstood the test of time, came together and formed 'Cock Party' to start a new chapter to pave the way for a final political solution.”
Against this backdrop, he said that the NPF “continues to advocate solution to the lndo-Naga political problem.” “Naga political struggle is said to be the longest political struggle in the whole world. This may be due to disunity among the Naga national workers on the one hand and the insincerity of the Government of India under UPA on the other hand,” he mused. Liezietsu stated that solution to the problem rests with the conflicting parties and not with the facilitator/mediator. “We are neither in conflict with the Government of India nor the Naga national workers. Our role is to mediate and, therefore, to appeal to both the parties to come together to the conference table and hammer out a solution,” he said.
Liezietsu stated that “the allegation that Neiphiu Rio had promised to bring solution of the Naga political problem within three months is absurd.” He asserted that the NPF “is always prepared to go to any extent, even risking our political career to support any disseminative move.” In 1998, he noted that, when all other political parties had decided to refrain from contesting elections under the theme 'solution and not election' in order to draw the attention of the Government of India to the protracted Naga political problem, it was the Congress party which “betrayed the Naga people at the last moment by filing their nomination under heavy security as if all their candidates were under Z+Category.” “The Central para-military forces had provided all necessary protection to them. They installed a Government and had run it for five years without the mandate of the people,” the NPF President said.
In 2012, when election was approaching, all the 60 members went to Delhi under the banner of Joint Legislature Forum and told UPA Government that solution to the Naga political problem should be taken up before election, he informed. Lamenting that to this end, “nothing happened,” Liezietsu said that when JPF members met at Chumukedima, to discuss the matter, “the Congress legislators said that they passed resolution to resign from the Assembly provided others are also prepared to resign.”
He iterated that the Nagaland CM had said that “NPF could resign but that should not be the end; once we resign, there should not be any election in Nagaland till the political problem is solved.” According to the NPF President, “the Congress members had said that they could not take such decision at their own without consulting their high command.” “The then Speaker who was also chairman of JLF had given them three days time to consult their high command and come back to the meeting but Congress members failed to turn up to the next proposed meeting which brought the efforts of JLF to an end,” he added.
 MEETING RESOLUTION.JPG)
