DIMAPUR, JANUARY 30 (MExN): The Working Committee (WC), NNPGs has appealed to all intending candidates for the upcoming Nagaland Assembly elections to respect the Naga people's demand for political solution and not election.
“The intending candidates, in the midst of Indian poll bugle noise, can still hear voices of sanity and take correct decisions for future Naga generations,” a press release from the Media Cell, WC NNPGs stated, and appealed to all “conscience driven candidates to refrain from filing nomination in the ensuing Indian election in Nagaland.”
“It is a time to reinforce Naga political and historical truth to both the GoI and Naga populace. It is a time to shout for Naga legitimate right and not be a slave to any Indian political party,” the WC, NNPGs stated.
It said that Naga history will acknowledge and accord highest respect to such intending candidates and leaders who exhibit such spirit to awaken the Nagas. “They and their off-springs will harvest both visible and invisible blessings and goodwill. They will be deemed pathfinders and true patriots of Nagaland for rekindling the Naga vision,” it said.
The WC, NNPGs said that “once more, the Indian Elections have been forced upon the electorates of Nagaland despite the conclusion of the political dialogue between the Government of India (GoI) and Naga negotiating groups.” It regretted that the “unrestrained voice and demand of the Naga Tribes and Civil Societies for solution and not election have been set aside to allow the so-called democratic exercise.” It is a tool to weaken the legitimate historical and political rights of the Nagas, the WC claimed.
It asked the intending candidates to pause and reflect on the history of political conflict between India and Nagas. It also reminded the Government of India leadership that by 1950, the appeal by Nagas to be left alone to determine their own future if the Britishers left India, was responded with “military operations of unimaginable savagery.”
“The murderous vengeance against innocent Naga men, women and children haunts the Naga psyche till today. The wounds and the scars remain. The destruction of Naga wealth, systematic procrastination, dismantling of Naga culture and civilization cannot be compensated by money or electoral politics,” it stated. Rather, the WC stressed that only an honorable and acceptable political solution will. This is where GoI political leadership and Nagaland state politicians are failing the Naga people, it lamented.
When juxtaposed with the Indo-Naga political talks, the WC, NNPGs said that elections in Nagaland are a “nuisance, an extravagant indulgence and a conference of wanton thieves and braggards to loot the beleaguered Naga populace for another five years.”
Eligible men and women have the liberty to vote or abstain, it said, while acknowledging that many will naturally exercise their vote “believing in the tall poll promises or trusting in the calibre of candidates.” “They are compelled to vote not because they are Indians but the societal structure deems it,” it stated.
