DIMAPUR, MARCH 2 (MExN): The Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC), Kohima on Thursday disparaged the statement made by former Nagaland Chief Minister, TR Zeliang at an election rally in Tamenglong, Manipur that he was “dislodged” not because he lost the support of the MLAs but because of being from a minority tribe in Nagaland.
In a hard-hitting rejoinder, Media Cell, NTAC said Zeliang had totally miscomprehended the state of affairs to be such as because of him being “from a minority tribe” and dislodged as chief minister and “unable to assimilate his own scheming any further had to spew out on Tuesday, February 28 during an election rally at Tamenglong in Manipur…” It reminded that the demand of the people of Nagaland was for him to step down by owning moral responsibility for the loss of lives in the aftermath of declaration for conduct of ULB elections in Nagaland under his government.
The NTAC said, “all recognized Naga tribes of Nagaland are equal and there is no different categorization as he might in his wildest imagination naively think and the most sympathetic nods of people in Manipur, and outsiders as they cannot change this statement of fact back here in our Nagaland.”
The NTAC also said it was flabbergasted by the “blabbermouth statements made by TR Zeliang and Yitachu in Manipur that central forces offered by the Centre could have been brought in to contain the protesters in Nagaland and held on to the seat.”
It pointed out that the actual content of reply letter to TR Zeliang’s request officially made as Chief Minister of Nagaland vide DO letter No. CMN/19/HOME/2014 dated 9th February, 2017 addressed to the Union Home Minister on law and order situation however portrays a disappointingly opposite story, a full scale disinclination of the Centre to interfere.
It also referred to the statement made by Union Minister of State Kiren Rijiju in an NDTV talk show that the “ongoing movement in Nagaland was an internal issue of the state and the centre fully aware that law and order being a state subject emphatically opted out.”
The NTAC maintained that all the hardships and losses that had happened to the people of Nagaland would not have seen the light of the day had TR Zeliang in the first place listened to the voice of the people and stepped down gracefully.
Moreover, the wrong legal advice which Yitachu has been vociferously advocating was the basis for the government to go ahead with conduct of ULB elections against the wishes of the people and the elected government under the leadership of TR Zeliang miserably failed its role and responsibility of fulfilling the Constitutional obligation vis-a-vis safeguarding Article 371-A, it added.
