DIMAPUR:
The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), on June 3, said a new confusion has arisen in the minds of people over a statement regarding the demand of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) for a Naga flag and constitution in any settlement to the Naga issue.
NPCC president K Therie said that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nagaland Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Temjen Imna Along have clarified the stand of the government of India on the issue and there is no change in the Centre’s stand.
When the Union Home Minister himself has made the stand of the government of India clear on the issue, how can the Assam Chief Minister and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convener Himanta Biswa Sarma give such an assurance, Therie asked.
“If there is room for accommodating these demands then what is withholding the government of India from implementing the solution?” he asked. Therie, in a statement issued on Friday, said that the statement must be clarified clearly before the people to clear the confusion that has arisen.
The statement in question was made by ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) MLA Imkong L Imchen, where he had said that Sarma has asserted that there is sufficient “room for accommodating the demand of the NSCN-IM“.
“He (Sarma) was quite positive about the flag and constitution demand of the NSCN (IM). The way he explained I was quite satisfied,” Imchen had told a local newspaper, while adding that the Sarma was quite upbeat that a settlement will arrive sooner than later. Imchen, however, said Sarma will not be directly involved in the negotiations, adding, “We require his good office’s intervention, especially as the NEDA convener.”
Earlier on June 2, Sarma had met the core committee on the Naga political issue, led by its convener and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, behind closed doors at Chumukedima police complex in Dimapur.
Therie further said it looks like the Naga flag and constitution are tailed with competencies according to Imchen. He said Imchen, who recently joined the NDPP from the Naga People’s Front (NPF), also admitted that he has not read the competencies.
“We demand the competencies to be made transparent if they are likely to impact Nagaland state boundaries and Nagaland people. We want to make it clear to negotiating parties that Congress will not support blindly,” Therie said.