DIMAPUR:
The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), on September 29, expressed serious concern over Union Home Minister Amit Shah summoning the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) to discuss its demand for ‘Frontier Nagaland’ state.
“The Union home minister summoning the ENPO to discuss the demand for Frontier Nagaland state on October 18, 2022, is a serious concern for the Congress and perhaps for all those who love Nagaland,” NPCC president K Therie said in a release.
According to Therie, the subject is to divide Nagaland which might even result in the state losing Article 371(A) the way Jammu and Kashmir lost Article 370.
He said the Union home minister may also make a promise in the manner he did to the “insurgent Kukis” for votes.
The state Congress demanded the United Democratic Alliance running the government in the state make its stand clear to the people and the government of India on the demand for Frontier Nagaland state.
On August 26, the ENPO resolved to abstain from participating in any state or central election process till its demand for separate Frontier Nagaland state is met.
Therie alleged that it was the design of the government of India to counter the demand for Naga integration, fuelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and alliance Naga People’s Front (NPF) government’s negligence, suppression, injustice and inequality in development activities and job distribution.
Saying that the Congress had appealed to rethink on the demand, he said the party assured to relocate the department of underdeveloped areas and committed a mini-secretariat at Tuensang which is situated in eastern Nagaland. He said the objective was to enable planning, supervision and disbursement of payments there itself.
Lamenting that the proposal was rejected by the poll mandate, the Pradesh Congress chief said: “We still feel there is a need to pay special attention in matters of road connectivity and other basic infrastructures.”
Alleging that Rs 300 crore meant for eastern Nagaland vanished into thin air, Therie said other funds are drawn with no significant works seen on the ground for the last 20 years.