Dimapur, October 31 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RPP) on Monday wrote to President of India Droupadi Murmu, requesting her to “traverse by road instead of riding the helicopter” during her visit to the state on November 2 and 3.
Welcoming the President on her first visit to the State after assuming office, the RPP stated in the letter, that the one and only time a visiting dignitary, whether a Prime Minister or President of India, who travelled by road – from Dimapur airport to the state capital Kohima – was the Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004. “Experiencing the road condition, the late PM was reported to have quipped ‘If this is the best road in Nagaland, it is difficult to imagine how bad the worst is,’” the Party stated.
While the state government is sure to have placed a comfortable itinerary for the visit including a helicopter ride to reach Kohima in 15 minutes instead of a road trip which may take 3 hours for a mere 74 km journey, the RPP reasoned that the often tried and tested cliché ‘Security Reasons’ may have guided the state government’s decision. However, as the “Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of India you’re well aware that Nagaland has been an oasis of peace for the last 25 years, with your Home Minister lifting AFSPA from 15 police stations areas in 7 districts of Nagaland (out of 16 districts),” it underscored, to buttress its point.
Meanwhile, the RPP also stated that the proposed visit coincides with the sesquicentennial celebration of the advent of Christianity in Nagaland and stated that “there was an oversight for which the state government alone may give an appropriate explanation.”
